How To Get A Hard Money Loan! – Brenda Chen

This transcript was generated automatically with Otter, there may be some grammatical errors.

Sean  0:00

So thank you so much for being on the show today. Go ahead and introduce yourself and let us know who you are. And what do you do?

Brenda  0:06

Hey, Sean, thank you so much for having me. So my name is Brenda Chen. And Currently I work at conventus lending. So we’re a hard money lender. And I also run two meetups. So what is the SF Bay real estate club, we have monthly investing workshops, and happy hours and socials. And then a woman’s group called SF girl bosses. So that group is for personal and professional development. So we have retreats, and also speaker events and dinners.

Sean  0:39

Awesome. I’ve been working with your company for a long time now. And most of my hard money loans are originated from your company. So first of all, thank you so much for making my dreams a possibility by giving us these loans.

Brenda  0:51

Of course, you’re super great to work with. And yeah, it’s cool to see what projects we’ve been working on.

Sean  0:57

Awesome. So what are what is it difference between a hard money loan and a conventional loan,

Brenda  1:03

so hard money loan, so the term hard money comes from the hard asset. So it means that the loan is backed by something physical, like the property. And so so the underwriting is different from conventional loans. And we mostly view the asset itself as what what the value is, of course, we look at personal income and, and bank statements and stuff like that. But it’s, we look at both. So we’re really covering ourselves with the value of the property itself. And so that’s how we’re able to close a lot faster. So right now we closed in five to 10 business days for smaller loans, and then 10 to 14 for larger loans. And conventional loans from what I understand can sometimes take like 30 days. So it’s just easier to qualify for since we don’t ask for time tax returns. But But bank loans, I understand that they take much more time to to see if you have the ability to repay and and we do also have those requirements. It’s just not as lengthy as banks.

Sean  2:13

Yeah, because a lot of banks, what they do is they have all these requirements, not necessarily because of their own underwriting requirements, because they sell that loan off to like a government. So like Freddie Mac, or Freddie Fannie Mae. So they have to like go to the SEC strict guidelines. And whereas hard money you guys individually or so you can do whatever you want, right?

Brenda  2:31

We just have more flexibility. So we’re really creative with the financing. So it’s more like a personal life lending service. Whereas banks, you have to fit a certain box, because that’s how well that’s how they’re able to sell the loan, as you said, but yeah, so that’s why it because it’s private lending, we were able to structure loans in a way that works for both the client and the lender. And so that’s, that’s what I’ve enjoy the most, in addition to meeting like, awesome people like you. It’s like structuring loans in a way that makes sense for both the client and the lender. Because as a lender, you’re learning a lot about risk. So what makes something risky? Or what makes something like a good business plan that’s going to be follow through? So I think, yeah, like, we we see lending from the, the operators perspective, because we know how hard it is for you guys. Like you have to pay all these fees and, like soft costs. And, and you know, you want you don’t want to finish your projects as soon as possible. And you have, you know, to juggle a lot of different things like dealing with contractors and all that. So we know that it’s difficult for you guys. And so we want the financing to be really easy for you. And we do that by structuring in things that banks might not do like interest users, like covering your rehab, like ton of buyouts. And of course, like everything might change in the future. But we’re always adapting and trying to make it more of a service than something you need to like jump through hoops to get.

Sean  4:10

Like I said, I work with other hard money lenders before but your guys’s team just like so quick, so efficient. So I always go back to you guys. Because like, Why Why not? You know?

Brenda  4:19

Oh, thanks. Yeah, so I think, yeah, I think it’s it goes down to like, our core values, like are our founders to keep to my Ella, he’s, he’s super aligned with the customer. Because without customers like we’re nothing so like, we were always trying to do our best to, like bring the best rates and, and make things a lot more easy. And I think, right now, we’re also trying to incorporate the tech part of it. So because banks are so big, like, it really takes a long time for them to change with big companies. And they it just more bureaucracy. So with a start up like mentors, like we’re able to really use technology to make the process faster and easier. So because we have that intention of delighting the customer, where we’re also like using the technology and the research says the resources we have to, to make the process easier for you so that you can work on more projects so that you can succeed because our goals are aligned, and that we want you to do as many projects that are the have the high, you know, the returns that you want, so that you can keep coming back. Right? So we want you to keep succeeding so that you can become a repeat client. So it’s a more more like a partnership.

Sean  5:38

Absolutely. What kind of tech are you guys talking about? What kind of metrics do you use to qualify people or deals? How do you determine if this is a loan? You guys want to originate or not?

Brenda  5:47

Yeah, that’s a great question. So there’s the operator side of it. And then there’s the property side of it. So for the property, we want to make sure that you’re, if it’s a purchase, you’re buying it at a good price. And it’s a bonus here, if you’re able to get it below market value. And what I’ve seen is that a lot of these investors are getting these properties below market value. And that’s how they’re able to make their returns. So yeah, to see if the property values there to see if there’s a value add component. So if there’s upside, so if you buy a property that’s already done, then there’s not as much upside. But if you buy a property that’s below market, and not fixed up the fixer, and then a really nice neighborhood, like you could potentially fix it up and then value add to the point where you can sell it for much more of a profit. So there’s more margin there. And so things like that, and oh, yeah, and then the operator side of it, we like to see higher credit score reserves and experience. So experience, we count anything, where you been on title and preferably in the last two years. So yeah, the reason is that we we see you being on title as you committing yourself to that project, because you’re responsible for that project. Whereas if you’re not on title, if something goes wrong, you’re not necessarily responsible, like you might still have skin in the game. But being on title just is more of a commitment in our eyes. So yeah, track record is really important. And I think what I’ve also seen is that people that are able to put like a portfolio what they’ve done, like organizing that, like putting together a What’s it called? Like a package? Yeah, putting together a package for lenders look at like, these are the properties I’ve done. These are the areas like these are the demographics, showing like enough showing the ratio, the research that you’ve done really helps. So I would say, yeah, the some of the really successful people that I’ve seen, they’ve really put together an update for the lenders, like this is what has been done since you guys went to me. And I think that like being proactive in that way, like really shows a lot about how organized they are and how on top of it they are. So I think the more research you can show your lender to make them feel comfortable. The better because every every scenario is so nuanced. Like you were like no, even though it might seem like the same project on paper, like you’re the ones on the on the ground doing it. So like showing them like why this project makes sense to you and why you see the upside or the returns that you’re going to get like the research you’ve done to get to that point was really helpful.

Sean  8:50

Yeah, I mean, it’s kind of like if you asked a friend for a loan, and you show up say, Oh, I have no experience no done this before versus Oh, yeah, I’ve done this plenty of times. Here’s a huge package of all the things I’m in the past, who would you give the loan to? Right? You give them to someone who’s like way more prepared? Absolutely. Yeah.

Brenda  9:04

Yeah, in a way, it’s kind of like marketing yourself. So presenting a package like, this is what I think of it, these are the potential risks, like it’s really important to talk about that too, to be transparent, like this, what happens when things go wrong, and here are my exit strategies. So that because lenders are pessimistic and, and the investors are optimistic, so trying to meet in the middle there, so we just want to be protected. If anything goes wrong, we want you to be protected, if anything goes wrong. And then you’re you’re there to present, like why you want to go through that in order to achieve your goals, because you’re taking these risks because of of the goals that you have. So making sure that you’re covered, if things go wrong, and what what would happen if things go Right, right. So So yeah,

Sean  9:57

yeah, I mean, I get it, it’s like you want to show that you you’ve taken to consideration if things don’t go the way you thought they would. Now let’s go into, you know, no one likes to hear this. But there are some times when you lose money, right deals don’t go the way you expected to. And track record is very important, especially for a lender, what do you do if you have a kind of multi track record where like, some of your deals have not gone as well as you thought they would? There’s still something you present to a lender?

Brenda  10:23

Yeah, I think that anything that you’ve done, it’s great, because you’re learning, right? So even if things go wrong, you can say like, this is what I’ve learned. And then in the future, I’m going to do this. And that’s such a valuable lesson that you have, because it’s really important for people to know what it’s like when market, the market is not doing as you expected, right? So if an investor has only invested and made money, that they might not know what happens if things go wrong, but you can you can say like, I’ve been there when things are gone. Amazing. I’ve been there when things haven’t gone as a plan. And this is how I tackled both both scenarios. And so I think that makes you a more well rounded investor because they’re going to be cycles, and it’s not always going to go up. So just show that you’ve been through the tough times, it really makes you a more experienced investor. And yes, and the whole time we’re being responsible and paying out the people we need to pay out. You mean, including our lenders, right? We’re not saying we’re close and just like, we’re going to cut the cop pretty moving respond. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it says a lot about who you are when you’re still able to make meet those obligations in the tough times. Because you don’t really know what someone how someone is going to act until they’re under pressure. And so when you lose money, you’re under a lot of pressure. But if you’re able to make it through and still make your payments and all that, like it just shows like how much like how responsible you are. And so, yeah, I think it’s good to talk about those things and be transferred.

Sean  12:00

Yeah, just tell them everything. Now, when it comes to like the individual other minimums, like you will not lend to somebody if XYZ.

Brenda  12:08

So for us, it’s it’s more so for us, we try to customize everything, like we do our best to make it work. So for example, if someone’s credit score is not there, there might be other factors that we look at to make it alone that would work. So understanding their story on why the credit score is low, and then seeing if there’s a worker waiting, if there’s so seeing, seeing if they can still work based on their plan. So they have a really good plan, they have a good team on executing it, the loan to value is low enough that we might be able to, to still make it work, but it’s case by case. And it’s a holistic picture. And that’s why I think for us, it’s so cool to see, to see all the things that go into alone, because on paper then might seem the same. But unless you’re the person asking the client, like what their story is, and how they plan to execute, even though two loans might look the same on paper, unless you talk to them and understand their story, like you’re not going to know what loans is going to be best for them. So yeah, like we’ve done, we’ve done loans for people where they paid us off when, when it might not seem like a good loan on paper, but because they showed us like this is how I’m going to execute, these are the people that are going to help me. And that, you know, this is the property value. And this is the value. And when they get they get it made, it made us feel more comfortable. so that we are able to take take the loan, even though on paper, their credit score might not be there. So there’s always a reason for for things that that might be red flags. But as long as there’s an explanation for that, like we can still make things work.

Sean  13:56

So even if the credit was really, really bad, as long as you have a good story with behind it, you guys would probably still work with them. Is that basically like there’s no minimum. Is there like a minimum threshold where you guys do have the red flag to acquire the story? I think that’s probably a better version of the question I’m asking.

Brenda  14:11

Oh, yeah. So generally, we want to see credit score above 650. And below that, there’s, we would just ask a few more questions to understand. Okay. But yeah, I mean, that always changes. And, yeah, I don’t know if I would put that out there that like 650 is the minimum. But

Sean  14:32

you also talked about reserves, how much reserves Do you expect somebody to have before the project with you guys?

Brenda  14:38

Yeah, so we want to see enough reserves to finish the project. So they’re not getting rehab financing, I want to see enough for rehab. And then interest reserves, so six to 12 months of interest reserves. And of course, the more reserves, the better. And we just want to see that they’re making the down payment. And doing the reason happened, making interest payments, that they have that in liquid reserves. So yeah, the more the more, the better. And if they don’t have it, we would just ask how they plan to make those payments and how they plan to finish the project.

Sean  15:16

So what is a typical loan look like that you have originated.

Brenda  15:19

So we’ve originated like a billion dollars in loans since we started. And yeah, it’s a lot. And so I joined like two years ago. And we’ve really been increasing our nation’s started it. So now we’re at, like 50 to 80 million per month, which is, which is really great. And so average loan amount is probably 500, to 750,000. But we’ve done loans from 100,000, up to like eight and a half million. And so usually we do a lot of fix and flips and rental financing. So purchases of single family multifamily properties. And then we’ve done some ground up construction, some land, but that that’s not our bread and butter. It’s more single family multifamily real estate right now. But eventually, we want to go into the commercial space. And then we’ve already been doing some excuse, but broadening our products to make it easier for our clients. Because not everyone does only in single family multifamily real estate. So we’re trying to expand what we can offer and then potentially also offer longer term loans. And yeah, I think it’s really interesting to see that the players in this space making financing quicker for investors. So I think, yeah, it isn’t an alternative way of financing. That’s, that’s becoming cheaper. So usually, from what I understand, like before we started, and before the other players in the space, you would get a hard money loan from from like, like a local investor, who is trying to get a return on their money. And it could be like 10%, or something. But trying to like make it more of a standard process so that it’s more transparent what you’re getting, like what the timeline is like, it’s making it more of a business instead of just one person lending out their money, and then they might run out of money. So it’s becoming just a faster way to get financing for projects. Because I I know that for investors, sometimes time is much more important than money. So if you’re able to do deal because you’re able to get the money faster than it’s worth it. So yeah, it’s a different, it’s a new way of financing. And I’m also like, pretty new to this space. But yeah, it’s pretty cool to see this happening, where the money is not just in these big banks, but in these private lending companies where it’s easier. So I think, yeah, like you utilizing technology to make finance easier for people. So I see like a trend of that happening to like, financing becoming easier to get, and then also it being more personalized for what you’re trying to do.

Sean  18:21

Yeah, any way that you can change the space, especially in real estate, I think the bigger your company is going to be like I just read an article about a company that’s helping, you know, high income earners in the Bay Area, buy properties with zero down. So like they buy the properties for like cash, offer seven day clothes, no contingencies. And then the new homeowner moves in, and then like, quote, rent to own, you know, he’s just changing the space. And now because of that they’re able to do so much more, and they’re getting so much funding from it. I’m like, dude, that’s cool. It’s a new idea. That’s cool.

Brenda  18:52

Yeah, yeah, just just because real estate it, it was more of a slower process. Now, I think people are making it faster to transact. And, yeah, it’s really cool to see that happening.

Sean  19:06

So what kind of leverage are people usually getting for hard money loans?

Brenda  19:09

So right now we’re seeing around like, 80% of purchase price for a single family. And around 70 to 75%, for multifamily. So once you family, like four plus units, but that that also always changes, but I would say like, yeah, like people are able to get exceptions if they have a lot of experience or a lot of reserves and then come. And so it’s it’s also a customized loan for them. So but generally around 80% for single family and 70 to 75 for multifamily

Sean  19:43

has ever been a time where you have got denied alone? And like, what was the story behind that? You can be vague about it. I don’t need the details, just like oh, because XYZ happened?

Brenda  19:53

Okay, well, there have been deals that didn’t work out because we didn’t see what the investors were seeing in terms of the value or the after repair value they’re trying to get. So again, we like to really try to protect our clients too, because we don’t want them to go into a deal invest all their money, and then realize that they can’t get the value they’re looking for in terms of the sales price. So there’s been deals where we didn’t see the after repair value based on the comps in the area. And so we’ve we’ve had to, and I think they would just go to another lender in those cases, because there are other lenders that would do it at a higher price. So sometimes it could, you know, some lenders don’t care as much about the after repair value if the current value is there. So every lender is different. So there might be other lenders that could still do it, but at a higher price.

Sean  20:49

So if you tell me more about your company convinced us like what makes us different from the other hard money originators?

Brenda  20:55

Yeah, so we’re a British lending company. And so we business purpose loans for real estate investors. And, and we’re in around 20 states right now. And what makes us different, is that we’re able to structure financing for the needs of the borrower. So depending on the project, we can, we can do really creative things to make it to make it work for you guys. And yeah, so we so one of our core values, delight the customer. And so we, we really do everything we can to make it work. So for example, we closed alone recently in three days. And that’s because it’s a repeat client, and we have all their information on file. So we’re able to do things like that. And our pricing is also really competitive, because our team is always looking for ways to to lower it for you guys. So that’s through partnerships with other people. And yeah, so our finance team is always working on and lowering the rates for us, and then turn for you. And so I would say we have really competitive rates, and we try to make the lending experience a positive one.

Sean  22:12

So imagine I find a deal. Off market, I’m like, Ah, this is amazing. I have money for maybe 20% down in repairs. What do I do?

Brenda  22:21

Yeah, so you would just talk to someone, someone like me and tell you mean, and tell me what you’re trying to do? And so I would ask you questions like, what’s the loan to value that you’re looking for? Do you need rehab financing? What kind of construction you’re doing? What’s the rehab budget? What’s your after repair value? Do you have comps to support as is and the after repair value. And I would ask you things about your your experience, your credit score reserves, and if you have any partners and and it’s also really helpful to see your past projects. And then from there, it’s after understand the story, we will just come up with a price that that you would that would work for you. And so structuring the price, like the no rate and the points, and then if you agree to that, then we’ll start the process with the application. And then from there, collect documents, and then we closed in five to 10 business days.

Sean  23:24

So what kind of documentation Do you guys need from the client?

Brenda  23:28

Yeah, so like your ID, and we’ll need a loan applications pretty short, like a, like seven pages or something. And then scope of work. So broken down by line items of what you’re doing to the property. And then we’ll collect documents from escrow and title and, and some sometimes we asked for being statements. So yeah, it’s pretty straightforward process.

Sean  23:53

Okay. And then at some point, I know sometimes you guys ask for like a PPO, which is a broker price opinion or an appraisal? How do you determine whether to, do you want or not? Or do a PPO versus appraisal?

Brenda  24:05

Yeah, so it depends on the loan to value and also the loan amount. So for higher loan amounts, we would do a full appraisal. And for lower loan amounts that are also lower loan to value with do a broker price opinion. And so for broker price opinions take like two businesses to get back. And they’re cheaper, but they’re also less lengthy than a full appraisal. So full appraisal might take 10 business days to get back. And they’re, they’re more expensive.

Sean  24:34

So throughout the whole process, what is like the longest piece of the approval process to like actually close on this loan?

Brenda  24:41

Yeah, so it really depends for every loan, sometimes it takes a long time for friends to get a payoff from another lender, for example. So in the case of a refinance, if the other lender is not giving us the payoff, and then my delay, and sometimes it’s the title report, and sometimes it’s the scope of work from the contractor. And sometimes we have delays and in the ppl, if they don’t have everything, like if they don’t have the purchase contract, or if they don’t have the scope of work, it might delay things. So sometimes, it does take time to schedule the inspections. Because I know for some properties, you have to give notice to the tenants a certain amount of time had ahead of the inspection taking place. So so that might delay things. So getting the inspections back usually is, is the what the main thing that the whole thing’s up, because if it’s a big inspection, like an appraisal or phase one, then it might take 10 businesses.

Sean  25:39

Now I know convinced this and other hardware, lenders have different rules about this. But in this space, we do a lot of creative financing. Sometimes the investors themselves don’t have the capital on hand, and they want to get capital from someone else, like a second, or they want to do something like seller financing where they had the seller, you know, finance some part of the loan? Do you know how that would work convinced us? Or how do the How do even is even possible? What do we do for that?

Brenda  26:05

Yeah, so it’s possible. Yeah. So we do see why you guys would want something like that. And if it’s an investor that’s investing with you, we would just want to know what their stake is in the property. And then they would have to sign an interpreter agreement. And then we just need to know who they are and run a background check on them. And then seller financing we’re okay with also, we do want to see that there’s some skin in the game, so skin skin in the game, and that you’re investing your own capital, because for us, that reduces the risk because it’s less likely for someone to walk away when it’s their own money that’s invested. So the more skin the game, the better. And the pricing of the loan would reflect that lower risk. Like, if you’re putting more of your own capital into the property, then it’s less risky for us and we were, we would reward you with lower pricing for the low.

Sean  27:00

Now let’s say that you don’t put your capital in for the purchase. Like let’s say I’m getting seller financing on a property, they’re willing to seller finance it and give me 500,000, I get a hard money loan for another 500,000 ARV is high. It’s like, you know, $1.5 million. So the spread there. But I’m like, I want to keep my funds for the rehab budget would fly or you guys say no, that’s not okay. Because you have no skin, the game is like 100% LTV.

Brenda  27:25

So for us, we would rather you put your own money into the down payment, and then get your investors to invest with your rehab. And so that would work for you too, because then you don’t have to come up with rehab anymore. And then you can still show us that you’re putting in skin in the game.

Sean  27:44

Now I’m going to ask you a very detailed question. Have you heard of subject to before?

Brenda  27:49

Know what is that?

Sean  27:51

Ok, so subject to is when you take over someone else’s loan. So let’s say they had the house is worth a million dollars, and they still have a loan on it for let’s say, 400,000. So you know, they have 600,000 in equity. So instead of me having to buy them out, at let’s say, $800,000, get a hard money loan with you guys. I can just take over their 400,000 loan and they get a hard money loan with you guys for only 400,000. So that way, the total loan amount is like lower without work with you guys.

Brenda  28:18

I don’t know actually. Do you guys ever do seconds? Yeah. So we do seconds and the combined loan to value? The CL TV, it would just have to be lower. So probably in the fixed in the 50s or 60s? Oh, really? Yeah. So it’s just much lower loan to value. And the price is the price? It would be harder also.

Sean  28:40

I see. So combine. So first and second needs to be under 50% of your of your current value

Brenda  28:47

of the current value,

Sean  28:48

then it’s not worth it. Right.

Brenda  28:51

Yeah, wait it? Well, it depends. If you have a property with a lot, a lot of equity, then you can pull cash out. So we have done those before. But it’s not. Yeah, it’s it’s a very low percentage of what we do. I see.

Sean  29:05

So most of you originations our first.

Brenda  29:07

Yeah. And we’ve done seconds. Also when you’re cross collateralized. So for example, if you have a property, and you want super high LTV like 90%, LTV, you can cross collateralized with another property and as long as so we can do as a first loan on another property or we can take the second position. And that’s only if the first loan is a bank loan. So that that’s how some people have been able to get the loan to value they’re looking for as if they’re pledging additional collateral. And sometimes that can be in the form of a second. Got it.

Sean  29:45

So tell me about your meetups. How did you decide to do it? And how did you manage to grow to such a successful Meetup group in the San Francisco area?

Brenda  29:52

Yeah, so I have two meetup groups right now. So one is SF grow bosses. So that’s a women’s group, women’s social group. And when is does it be real estate club. And so I got the inspiration to start these meetups because I was traveling alone in Paris. And I was just looking for things to do. And I didn’t really know anybody, but I wanted to get more of a local feel of the city. So I just looked up a ton of meetups and then went to one that was only for women. And I just felt like I belong somewhere. And in a completely new place where I didn’t know anybody. And I wanted to bring that feeling back to San Francisco. Because I think what one of the best parts about traveling and meeting new people, and meeting people that make you feel included and doing new experiences together. So I didn’t want to only experience that when I’m traveling. So even though right now, I’m mostly based in San Francisco, I feel like I’m meeting people all over all the time. And people who are interested in the same things like really estate. And that’s really added to my experience here. And to also provide the same for other people. Because we’re all looking for connection. We’re all looking for friendships, and to make that a consistent thing that people can keep coming to while learning about real estate. Or in the women’s group, we learned about personal development. So yeah, it’s just a place for people to come and learn from each other. Because it can be really tough when you’re doing real estate. But if you have people that you need, that are doing the things that you want to do, like it makes it seem more achievable. Because even though you can read all these books, it’s really different from being someone in person who’s done what you want to do. And to be able to ask them any question that you have.

Sean  31:47

That’s right, right, right now you’re super well networked. Because you’re basically in charge of their deal, right? You have the control whether they can do with you or not. And I’ll see you host is amazing networking event. So after seeing hundreds of deals through your desk, and hosting, you know, tons of different meetup groups and knowing your different speakers mean different people, what are some of the lessons that you’ve learned along the way,

Brenda  32:07

I’ve learned? Yeah, I’ve learned so much. And I’m so grateful for that. Because you guys have really, really inspired me like the, because I think to be in real estate, you’re thinking very different from the general American population, you’re going for something that’s not typical. And that takes a lot of courage. So so I think that that’s been really inspiring. So I think, for me, what I’ve learned most is how creative you have to be to make a deal work. So doing whatever it takes. So there’s some people that send out thousands of direct mail letters, or the door knock, or just whatever, or network with thousands of agents. So whatever you need to do to find the deal you’re looking for, and to do it in the way that suits your personality. So some people might love door knocking, but other people, my love networking with agents, so really doing a deal and the way that suits you the most and makes the most enjoyable for you, so that there’s more consistency, and then being well capitalized, I think it’s has been a common theme of people that have less stress. Because when you have more capital, you don’t feel like you need to fight for every penny. And I think I think that that can be a little stressful when every dollar really counts. So being more conservative, and saying no to deals that might not make it so having like a strict criteria of the margin that you’re looking for. Oh, yeah. And then also, I see a general theme of people giving back. So a lot of the investors that have it haven’t been able to achieve so much like they, they really make it a mission for them to teach the same thing to other people. And to get more people to invest in real estate, because it’s a lifestyle choice for them. And they see so much value in the freedom that they have, that they just want to share. And so so yeah, like the general theme of people giving back and not just the super experienced people, but people who are still new, like they’re still helping each other out. So there’s a sense of community that’s really, really unique that I’ve seen, yeah, that I’ve seen in the space, people are just wanting to help each other and don’t see each other as competition.

Sean  34:32

Yeah, this is the only place where I see that people are super generous with their time and information. No matter how new you are, they always like for the most part, they actually sit down with you and have lunch with you will tell you anything you want to know. And it’s up to you to take action and do something. So that’d be what’s your what’s your, what’s your path? Like? You know, What, are you trying to do something in the near future? And I’m just seeing all these people do stuff? Do you have a particular strategy that you want to do?

Brenda  34:57

Yeah, that’s a great question. So I do want invest in real estate. And I want to do it in a way that’s very enjoyable for myself. And so what I’ve learned about myself is that I love getting to know people, I love making friends. So I think part of that, that would definitely be a part of my strategy. I’m not sure what exactly yet, but just putting myself in more of a position to invest in the sense that I feel more comfortable with it when I do so being more well capitalized.

Sean  35:29

All right, so going back to hard money loans, give me tips for new investors who want to get a hard money loan or some common mistakes that they do. But if you tell them right now, and they could probably prevent that.

Brenda  35:40

Yeah, actually, yes. So not outsourcing your due diligence. So some people, they might trust their agent. And they should, because there are some late they’re really awesome real estate professionals out there. But also trusting them, but doing your due diligence. So trusting button, verifying yourself. So doing the work, to see the comps to see the rental comps, to do your financial modeling to come up with your own expenses. And, and I think not just taking something that other people have done and just taking it for granted. But seeing what formulas they’re using, like really dig in to each item. Because I know for some multifamily deals, even a couple hundred dollars or a couple thousand dollars would would be a huge difference in the value, right? So really, really being careful about what is going into the costs and what is going into the federal value that they’ve come up with. So yeah, doing your own diligence. And it could take a long time, but it’s worth it to protect yourself. So yeah, do not outsource your due diligence and to really plan for what you would do if something goes wrong so that you can have a win win scenario. So even if things don’t go right, you should still aim to win is what I’m saying. Hmm.

Sean  37:03

So how can people get in contact with you?

Brenda  37:05

Yeah, so they can they can email me at Brenda at CV lending calm. And my personal email is brenda.t.chen at gmail. com. And yeah, you can shoot me an email. And if you want to come to one of our meetups, it’s the SF Bay real estate club. So it’s meetup com slash SF Bay RE awesome.

Sean  37:31

Do I get my discount code for calling in?

Brenda  37:34

Yeah. Thank you so much, Sean, for having me. And so for you guys that are listening. If you mentioned Sean Pan’s name will give you $1,000 off of your next processing fee, if you do alone with us.

Sean  37:48

Cool. Well, thank you so much for that. Awesome. Yeah. All right. Yeah. So thanks so much for being on the show today. And thanks for sharing all your knowledge about RI Thanks for teaching us everything that we need to know about hard money loans.

Brenda  37:58

Yeah, it was really fun. Thanks for having me.

Sean  38:01

No problem. Thanks. Bye

Brenda  38:02

bye.