Fix and Flip in Santa Barbara

No countywide or city permit timeline has been published, so budget conservatively rather than off a number nobody can verify. Santa Barbara's reputation for slow entitlements is widely repeated but unverified as of this writing; treat any specific day count you hear as unsourced. What is documented and does carry math is the City of Santa Barbara's Growth Management Program: most lots may add or convert only 1,000 square feet of nonresidential floor area before triggering a Development Plan and design review, and any project above 3,000 square feet needs Planning Commission approval. If your scope stays purely residential that ceiling does not apply, but a flip with a commercial or mixed-use angle should model it going in. Confirm the actual plan-check schedule with the jurisdiction before you set your rehab draw calendar.

It resets to your purchase price the day you close, so the seller's old bill tells you nothing. California's Prop 13 base rate plus this county's voter-approved school and college bonds puts the total ad valorem rate anywhere from about 1.03% in Montecito to 1.18% in the City of Guadalupe. On a $668,983 Santa Maria purchase that runs roughly $7,443 a year at the 1.11278% rate; on a $1,848,325 City of Santa Barbara purchase it runs roughly $19,482 a year at the 1.05404% rate. There is no separate investor rate class on the ad valorem side, so carry that full number in your holding-cost line for the life of the flip. Talk to your CPA about the tax rate area for your specific parcel.

Debris flow, not just wildfire, on any South Coast foothill parcel below a burn scar. The Thomas Fire burned nearly 282,000 acres in late 2017, and rain on the fresh burn scar above Montecito in January 2018 produced debris flows that killed 21 people and destroyed 129 homes. A standard homeowner policy or the FAIR Plan's named-peril dwelling fire form is not the same coverage as debris-flow protection, and the moratoriums that followed the Thomas Fire expired years ago. Get the actual insurance quote into your file before you commit to the appraisal, not after.

Less than you would budget if you learned real estate in Los Angeles. Santa Barbara County's documentary transfer tax is $1.10 per $1,000 of sale price countywide, with no city add-on anywhere, including the charter cities of Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Solvang. On a $1,848,325 City of Santa Barbara sale that is about $2,033, roughly 0.11% of price. If you priced your exit off a bigger California market's transfer tax, this county's exit friction runs an order of magnitude lower than you planned for.

Contractor-performed work, by name, if you resell within 18 months of taking title. California Civil Code section 1102.6h requires a seller of a 1-4 unit property who accepts an offer inside 18 months of acquisition to disclose room additions, structural changes and other contractor-performed alterations or repairs, with the contractor's name and contact information, and permits may be attached. Keep contractor records and permit paperwork organized from the first day of the rehab so this disclosure is a formality rather than a scramble at closing. Our fix and flip loan funds draws against completed work, which gives you a running paper trail for exactly this requirement.

No, and treating the county as one market is the fastest way to misprice a deal. The South Coast is a supply-constrained, high-basis market: a City of Santa Barbara purchase runs $1,848,325 at the median, and the spread on that stock has to come from entitlement or scope, not from price per door. North County runs about a third of that basis, with a $668,983 median in Santa Maria and $597,835 in Lompoc, where a conventional buy-scope-and-sell flip still pencils on price alone. Decide which market you are underwriting before you set your rehab budget, not after.

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.