Fix and Flip in San Luis Obispo

It resets to your purchase price the day you close, and there is no homestead exemption for an investment property to reduce it. California reassesses on every change in ownership, and the county publishes the actual rate by tax rate area. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, the most recent report published, those ran 1.10515% in the city of San Luis Obispo, 1.11175% in Paso Robles, 1.11119% in Atascadero, and as low as 1.04915% in Arroyo Grande, with Grover Beach the county's highest at up to 1.14515% because of a street-improvement bond running to 2047. A $1,097,597 San Luis Obispo purchase, the July 2026 city median, bills about $12,130 a year at that rate before any direct charges; the same money in Paso Robles at $777,531 bills about $8,644. Budget your holding-period taxes off your own purchase price, not the seller's assessment. Talk to your CPA about your specific tax rate area.

$1.10 per $1,000 of sale price, and it is flat across every city in the county, charter city included. Even the city of San Luis Obispo, which is a charter city and could levy its own rate, stacks only the standard $0.55 city plus $0.55 county split. A $1,000,000 sale pays about $1,100 in documentary transfer tax, roughly 0.11% of price, with no equivalent of a Los Angeles or San Francisco surtax anywhere in this county. Separately, if you accept an offer within 18 months of taking title on a 1-4 unit property, California Civil Code section 1102.6h requires you to disclose contractor-performed additions, alterations and repairs, with the contractors' names, to your buyer. Keep contractor records and permits organized from day one so that disclosure is a formality. Our fix and flip loan funds draws as work completes, which gives you that paper trail as you go.

Get the quote before you close, because the fire hazard map under your parcel may have changed even if the house hasn't. CAL FIRE's updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps were adopted by the city of San Luis Obispo on 2025-06-17 and took effect 2025-07-17, expanding the high and very high zones in rural and wildland-urban interface areas. A parcel that priced as standard coverage in 2024 can now sit inside a zone that changes both the premium and the defensible-space and home-hardening work your rehab scope needs to cover. Coastal North County is the sharpest example: Cambria is the county's FAIR Plan concentration, and the inland wildland-urban interface leans the same way. A FAIR Plan dwelling fire policy is named-peril only, so it still needs a companion liability policy alongside it. Price the rehab off an actual quote on your parcel, not a countywide rule of thumb.

If your flip sits in the Coastal Zone, it's the appeal window after your local approval, not the permit counter. No countywide data on permit timelines or flip counts has been published for this county, so do not underwrite off a number that does not exist. What is documented is the process risk: San Luis Obispo County has a certified Local Coastal Program, so the county issues coastal development permits directly, but a Board of Supervisors decision in the Coastal Zone can still be appealed to the California Coastal Commission within ten working days of the Commission's receipt of the county's Notice of Final Action, with any appeal required to be heard within 49 days. A flip in Cambria, Cayucos, Los Osos or Avila Beach should carry a loan term that survives that appeal window; a flip in an inland incorporated city generally does not face it.

About 10% of the purchase, plus closing costs. We fund up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab budget, capped to ARV, on a 6-month interest-only term. On a $780,000 Atascadero or Paso Robles purchase, near this county's North County basis, that is up to $702,000 from us and $78,000 from you (780,000 x 90% = 702,000), with rehab drawn against the schedule instead of paid up front. Basis runs closer to $1,100,000 in the city of San Luis Obispo and on the coast, so size your own cash needs off your submarket rather than a countywide figure. Subject to underwriting.

We fund up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of your rehab budget, with the total capped against the after-repair value (ARV). Rehab money is released in draws as the work is completed.

Our fix and flip pricing starts around 9.99%, interest-only, with origination typically 1 to 3 points depending on your experience, leverage, and the deal, and every quote is subject to underwriting. Across the market most flip loans run roughly 9% to 12%. On most flip loans, including ours, interest is charged on the full loan amount, rehab budget included. Paying interest only on rehab funds as you draw them exists in the market, but it is the exception, not the rule.

No. We work with first-time flippers as well as full-time operators. Experience mainly affects your leverage and rate, since a longer track record earns higher loan-to-cost and better pricing. A newer investor can still get funded with a sound deal, a realistic budget, and a clear exit.

We can get you a term sheet the same day on a complete application, and we typically fund within 48 hours of clear title. The main variable is how fast title and insurance come together, which is why a full close usually runs 5 to 7 days. Because we are the lender and underwrite in house, there is no second layer of approval to wait on.

No. Our fix and flip loans have no prepayment penalty, so paying off early when the property sells costs you nothing extra. Terms run 6 months, and because there is no penalty, selling sooner never costs you extra.

We run credit, but this is an asset-based loan, so the property, your budget, and the ARV matter most. We do not ask for W-2s or tax returns to qualify a flip. We will want to confirm you have reserves to carry the project to its exit.