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Can Fixing & Flipping Be More Beneficial Or Harmful For You?

We all want to make money… it pays our bills, allows us to buy things we want and helps us more comfortably survive. So of course, when someone sees how “easy” it is to buy and flip a home for profit on TV, they want to try a slice of that cake to say they have tasted it’s sweet victory.

Pablo (2)Most people don’t like trying and then failing. But what happens when you try “doing what everyone else is doing” and don’t get the results expected? You could throw up your white flag and be done with it, or, you can isolate what the problem was in the first place and try again.  

Here are some aspects to have in place before you get started on any rehab type project, covered in more detail by this INVESTOPEDIA article, Top 5 Must-Haves For Flipping Houses: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/07/flippers.asp

  • A Group of Experts
  • A Handyman or Knack for Home Improvement
  • A Good Lay of the Land
  • A Good Estimator
  • A Dose of Patience


With the correct value give to these points above, you success and profits could be greatly affected.

In the end, is it more beneficial or harmful for you to fix & flip a home?  That depends on if you like taking risks to accomplish your goals. As I’ve heard before, “Successful people take big risks knowing they might fall hard. But they might succeed more than they ever dreamed.”

Are you looking to invest in a rehab project but still need financing? If your favorite bank has turned you down, give Broker of Sun Pacific Mortgage & Real Estate a call! (707) 523-2099

 

Get Your Hard Money Questions Answered Here….

Even the most experienced conventional Brokers and Lenders might not know what a hard money loan is and how it can be beneficial to you…or them.

I have lost count of how many Realtors, traditional Lenders, friends and acquaintances have asked me the same question: “What is hard money?”.

Get Clear On Hard MoneyWell, the article “Hard Money 101: Everything You Need To Know About Getting Started With Hard Money Loans”, posted by REtipster pretty much answers any question someone could have about hard money. Check it out:
http://retipster.com/hard-money-101-everything-need-know-getting-started-hard-money-loans/

I admit that I had very little understanding about this type of alternative financing when my parents asked me to move back to Sonoma County and work in the family business, after living on the East Coast for so many years. I’m sure glad my wife and I decided to live in Santa Rosa and participate in this unique real estate finance option as it has and can help so many home buyers!

I bought my own home in Santa Rosa using Hard Money as I was self employed and my wife had less than 2 years of tax returns from her W2 job. We couldn’t get a home loan from anyone we called, just kept getting turned down and this was despite us having a 25% down payment. We really did not want to miss out on this house, good area, nice neighborhood and close to a good school. So, we decided to get a Hard Money loan and boy are we glad we did! We found out from the Listing Agent that the Buyers accepted our offer as it was stronger than others, since we could close fast with the Hard Money financing, as it was virtually considered cash and it came from a company that was well known, having been in business for almost 25 years.

Since this time, as the Lead Loan Originator for Sun Pacific Mortgage and Real Estate, I have worked hard to help others understand the benefits of Hard Money financing (also known as Private Money). Sure it has higher interest rates but this is all relative to what one is currently paying in rent or will be paying for rent. Our family’s monthly payments increased by only $200 from our apartment we were renting but it was completely worth it as we got an entire house with a nice yard – and were able to refinance about 9 months later!

So the question really should just be, “Is Hard Money right for me?”. We know hard money is legitimate when gotten from a licensed Hard Money Broker and that it can be very beneficial in the right circumstances…just as it is with other types of conventional financing.

If you have any other questions or are interested in getting a Hard Money loan in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, North Bay or really anywhere in California, please do call me at our office 707-523-2099 and I will let you know how we can help.

Best, Broker – Another Guy in the White Hat

Lead Loan Originator at family owned and operated Hard Money Broker, Sun Pacific Mortgage and Real Estate, serving all of California since 1988!
CA Bur RE license #01858042. NMLS #1221130.

Hard Money Loan of the Month – April

Hard Money Loan of the Month
By Broker, Lead Loan Originator at Sun Pacific Mortgage & Real Estate

75% Loan to Value rehab loan in Oakland, California

Last month a borrower called needing a short term loan on a distressed property in Oakland, which he wanted to fix up and sell (flip).

SaveHe was in contract with a purchase price of $790,000, requesting a loan of $593,000 – a 75% loan to value loan for this distressed property in Oakland.

We got right to it and within 1 day, had loan approval with a 9.75% interest rate for a 3 year loan!

One of our favorite mottos has become, “If we say it can be done, we’ll get it done!”.

This Bay Area rehab loan was a win-win for all.

Our family owned and operated Hard Money financing company, Sun Pacific Mortgage & Real Estate has served all of California since 1988. We have become known as The Guys in the White Hats and we offer short term (1-5 years) hard money loans for residential, owner occupied and non-owner occupied (SFR and multi-units), as well as for some land and commercial real estate.

Our loan amounts range from $100,000 on up through jumbo size mortgages ($400K – $1,000,000+) and interest rates range from 8-12%, interest only.

Click here to learn more about our specific alternative finance programs and rates as well as see more funded loans.

Recently Funded – Here To Help In 2016!

Here’s to you kicking off a fantastic new year in real estate by taking advantage of our alternative financing for you or your clients!

Guys

2015 marked another great year of Hard Money Loans from The Guys in the White Hats. January 2016 is our family company’s 28th year anniversary, serving all of California with our alternative finance programs!

This past year was very busy with many home buyers, home owners, Realtors and investors helped by our alternative financing programs, also known as hard money.

We recently expanded our family ranks and programs we offer, to be able to help even more people in this new year. (You can see our updated rate sheet below.)

We hope the following recently funded transactions through our office, give you a better idea as to how we can help you and/or your clients this year!

Best,
Broker & Broker, The Guys in the White Hats

P.S. We love referrals!

Recently Funded Transactions:

We finance Bridge and short term loans, Owner Occupied purchases and refinances, non-owner purchases for single and multiple units, commercial and some land. Get our financing despite credit score, self employed-difficult to prove income, need fast financing, property a fixer, etc!

Petaluma, CA
Loan Type: Owner Occupied Purchase
Amount: $420,000
Days to fund: 24 days
Reason needed: Credit score below 580

Apple Valley, CA
Loan Type: Owner Occupied Refinance
Amount: $341,600
Days to fund: 19 days
Reason needed: Self Employed with difficult to prove income

Santa Rosa, CA

Loan Type: Refinance of Non-Owner 2nd to handle a balloon payment
Amount: $377,000
Days to fund: 38 days
Reason needed: Had bankruptcy a couple of years back

San Anselmo, CA
Loan Type: Owner Occupied 2nd Business Purpose
Amount: $110,000
Days to fund: 15 days
Reason needed: Wanted to make improvements to the property

Penngrove, CA
Loan Type: Construction Non-Owner
Amount: $225,000
Days to fund: 25 days
Reason needed: Completing construction on a house

San Anselmo, CA
Loan Type: Bridge Loan
Amount: $235,000
Days to fund: 33 days
Reason needed: Wanted to buy another home while selling current one

Ukiah, CA
Loan Type: Commercial 2nd
Amount: $460,000
Days to fund: 21 days
Reason needed: Wanted to buy another piece of property

Click this link for our rate sheet, showing the programs we offer.

CALL TODAY, The Guys In The White Hats at
(707) 523-2099

Get More Buyers To Your Listings Over the Holidays

As a Home Seller or the Realtor listing a house, Holidays are generally considered “slower” or “not the best listing time”. But selling a house over the Holidays can be done if you put some of the below tips to work for you, to drive in more potential Buyers to your listing(s).

Buyahome598After almost 29 years working as a Real Estate Agent in Sonoma County, I have had many a listing that was on the market over the Holidays. Instead of becoming depressed as “nobody would be looking”, I decided to start finding ways to attract interested home buyers.

The below tips are ones I religiously did and one for one got my listing(s) sold – even during the Holidays!

Home Seller and Agent tips of how you can drive in more Buyers to your listings over the holidays:

#1. Simple staging with Christmas colors and items such as putting out scented candles, Holiday towels in the bathrooms, Holiday kitchen hand towels, a wreath on the entrance, etc.

#2. Have CMAs (Comparative Market Analysis) printed out and displayed at the listing, showing the value of the home.

#3. Have loan analysis’s at the listing for Buyers’ use. Many local Lenders are willing to give you loan scenarios for your listing purchase price, especially if they get to put their name and contact info on it.

#4. Have a welcoming curb appeal as much as possible. One should at least have the lawn mowed and landscaping clean.

#5. Post open houses and homes for sale on Craigslist. This is free and you would be surprised how many people search Craigslist!

#6. Post an ad in the local newspaper (such as Press Democrat for a Santa Rosa home sale). These are quite inexpensive and can be quite efficacious in letting a possible Home Buyer know about your real estate sale.

#6. When you do have an open house, posting your open house signs at main intersections and not just around the house itself.

I wish you a Happy Holiday season and hope these tips help you sell your house or listing faster!

Best, Lynn
California Realtor® and Co-Owner at family owned and operated Sun Pacific Mortgage & Real Estate, a Hard Money Broker serving California since 1988! www.Sunpacmortgage.com
CA Bur RE License #01014873. NMLS #361315

Myth Busting About Home Buying – Time To Act Now

This KCM infographic is pretty much to the point.

Potential home buyers aren’t always completely informed as to minimum qualifications for buying a home. Now IS the time to honestly do the work and FIND OUT your home buying qualifications. There are conventional financing options, FHA, portfolio and hard money financing options. Don’t regret not really finding out if you do in fact qualify now to buy a home.

Some of the highlights from this KCM blog to take away:

“Interest Rates are still below historic numbers.
“88% of property managers raised their rent in the last 12 months!
“Credit score requirements to be approved for a mortgage continue to fall. The 723 average score is the lowest since Ellie Mae began reporting on scores in August 2011.
“The average first-time home buyer down payment was 6% in 2015 according to NA”

1
Best, Broker – Another Guy in the White Hat
707-523-2099

Lead Loan Originator at family owned and operated Hard Money company, Sun Pacific Mortgage & Real Estate, serving all of California since 1988!

Original link to KCM post:
http://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/2015/11/13/slaying-myths-about-buying-a-home-infographic/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Blog_Promo

A Local Look: Affordability for Renters, Buyers

By Satinder Haer, Zillow

With the real estate market growing faster than incomes since the recession, affordability is an issue across the country. Is it more affordable to rent or own? At any time, the answer depends on a number of complex, shifting factors: local real estate market conditions, mortgage interest rates and your personal financial situation, among others. However, the data continues to suggest that on a monthly basis, buying remains a better bargain than renting.

Renting is less affordable than ever before while purchase affordability is at an all-time high. Historical data show from 1985 to 2000, renters could expect to spend about 24.5 percent of their monthly income on rent. In the third quarter of 2015, renters spend roughly 30.2 percent of their monthly income on rent—the highest percentage on record. Homeowners on the other hand, are faring even better than they were before 2000. Historically, homeowners spent approximately 21.3 percent of their monthly income on their mortgage payments. Comparatively, Q3 2015 buyers can expect to put just 15 percent of their monthly income toward a mortgage. Renters are forced to spend more of their paycheck on rent than they did before the real estate bubble and bust while homeowners spend less.

California’s real estate market diverges from the national norms. The percentage of income required to afford rent in popular California markets is significantly higher than the national average. In extremely high demand markets such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, renters can expect to spend 48.8 and 47 percent of their monthly income on rent, respectively. San Diego and San Jose rental prices are comparatively more affordable, but still hover above 40 percent. Therefore renters in San Diego or San Jose are spending an average of 10 percentage points more of their monthly income to afford rent than their counterparts in different states.

Even purchasing a home is less affordable in California than in any other state. Only five metros across the nation experienced decreasing mortgage affordability after the Great Recession and four of them are in California (the fifth is Denver, CO). Buyers who want to own in San Jose, San Francisco, Los Angeles or San Diego can expect to put more of their monthly income toward a mortgage than they would have historically. However, buyers still spend a smaller portion of their paychecks on housing than renters in these markets.

Overall, the data show you’ll put less of your monthly income toward a mortgage than a rental payment. If you purchase in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego or San Jose you save more each month than renting. Outside these four hotspots, purchasing a home is more affordable than it has historically ever been. If your goal is to put less of your monthly income toward housing and you have the savings for a down payment, buying may be the way to go.

Info

Zillow

 

Is It Still A Good Time To Buy A House In California?

The answer would be, “YES!”.

Now is still a great time to become a homeowner, especially as shown in the recent KCM blog Buying a Home Remains 35% Less Expensive than Renting!, wherein it states “Nationally, rates would have to rise to 10.6% for renting to be cheaper than buying – and rates haven’t been that high since 1989.” (Original link below.)

Hot-Real-Estate-Market1

In California there are numerous types of real estate financing for a traditional or conventional home loan. However, for a home buyer who has bad credit or poor FICO, needs fast funding, wants to buy a fixer property or is self employed with difficult to prove income, then there is alternative financing known as Hard Money or Private money loans.

No matter if you live in sunny San Diego of Southern California, on up the Pacific coast of Monterey Bay, through Northern California cities including San Francisco, Santa Cruz & Marin, all of Sonoma County and on up through Humboldt to the Oregon border, Hard money financing could be beneficial if your loan has been turned down elsewhere.

Contact your local Broker or Loan Originator and GET PRE-QUALIFIED. Even if you think you don’t qualify – find out for sure! It truly is just a math equation as to what loan program is best for you, to be able to buy now.

Best, Broker – Another Guy in the White Hat
Lead Loan Originator at family owned and operated Sun Pacific Mortgage & Real Estate, a Hard Money Broker serving all of CA since 1988!
(707) 523-2099
www.Sunpacmortgage.com
BRE license #01858042. NMLS #1221130

The KCM blog link:
http://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/2015/10/19/buying-a-home-remains-35-less-expensive-than-renting/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Blog_Promo

Want To Buy a Home But Loan Keeps Getting Turned Down?

Bridge Loan 1Do you have loan approval issues due to poor credit? Are you self employed with difficult to prove income? Or are you just tired of calling and searching for someone who is licensed and trustworthy to help get you the loan you need or want?
If your answer is “Yes” to any of these questions, then read on!
This is where my alternative finance company can step up. We have been in business for over 28 years and I am a licensed California Broker as well as have a National Mortgage License. We have the experience under our belts and the honesty comes in by being family owned and operated with returning customers again and again, as well as referrals from them, since 1988.
Home prices and values are on the rise, which just means if you are thinking of buying a house, you want to do it sooner than later to keep your monthly mortgage payments from increasing.
This is proven quite simply in a recent Press Democrat article “Q3 Market Summary” by Jonathan Soh, Brokerage Manager of Sotheby’s International Realty Wine Country Brokerage wherein he states in the Santa Rosa Marketing Summary (Single Family Homes), “Average Sales Price increased by 3% from $537,967 in Q3 2014 to $555,438 in Q3 2015…”
Anyone who lives in California, or wants to live in California: Southern CA and Northern CA – yes, this includes Sonoma County, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Napa, San Mateo, Marin, etc. – and is having problems getting a loan, give us a call and see how we can help!
Still want proof we can help? Check our what our past borrowers and real estate agents we’ve work with have to say: https://www.sunpacificmortgage.com//all-testimonials/
It can’t hurt to call us at 707-523-2099 and find out what hard money loan programs we have to match your real estate scenario.

Best, Broker – The Guy in the White Hat
Hard Money Broker and Owner at family owned & operated Sun Pacific Mortgage and Real Estate, Serving all of California Since 1988! CA Bur Real Estate ID #01000559. NMLS ID #289456

History Behind Fix & Flip Financing, a.k.a. Hard Money Loans

Historybehindfix
History Behind Fix & Flip Financing,
a.k.a. Hard Money Loans

Knowing exactly what hard money is, and not what someone else thinks it is, can be helpful now and in the future.

In August, the Trust Deed Capital Blog came out with “The History Behind Fix and Flip Financing” (link and article below). This hard money article got me to thinking how many home buyers I have spoken to, as well as numerous Real Estate Agents. A majority of them do not truly know what a hard money loan, also known as private money, and it’s actual benefits.

This type of real estate financing is not only useful for your California “fix and flips” or “remodel & resell” properties but it can be quite helpful to individual home buyers who have been turned down elsewhere for a mortgage or refinance due to poor credit, self employed with difficult-to-prove income, etc. It can also be helpful to an Investor who owns multiple properties and therefore is not qualified for another mortgage on another rental – at least per his bank and local credit union.

Being sure you have an experienced and licensed Broker to help with a hard money loan is very important. You want to make sure you are getting the facts and with integrity.

If you are in Southern California areas like Santa Barbara, Glendale and Arcadia or how about Northern California areas like Santa Rosa, San Francisco and Santa Clara, we are always available to answer any of your questions or help you out with a hard money alternative financing.

Best, Broker – The Guy in the White Hat
Office # 707-523-2099
www.sunpacmortgage.com

Co-Owner and Hard Money Broker at family owned and operated Sun Pacific Mortgage & Real Estate, serving all of California since 1988!
CA BRE #01000559. NMLS #289456

The History Behind Fix and Flip Financing
Posted by Broker Meyer on Tues, Aug 04, 2015
http://www.trustdeedcapital.com/blog/the-history-behind-fix-and-flip-financing?utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=21054979&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8fR8xTNrYRcYQNeGNFTEfWaABY07Bi1wmRTZuVt7ZJvsXT-rjKCu7Ky1QSz4gv_Ibc9FvfTOgYI1NchSLFgtPJvIPZcw&_hsmi=21054979

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