On this episode of House Flip Masters Holly is joined by guest Kristi Cirtwill. Kristi is a native of Canada who has come to Southern California to flip homes and invest in real estate. Kristi moved from Canada 10 years ago and before her move and before real estate investing Kristi tried her hand in several fields of work, Government, corporate, non-profit, before she realized that she wanted to do something differently. After reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad she realized that she needed to figure out how to get into real estate investing and make it work. She knew that she could make a business of real estate investing in California and decided to make the move.  Kristi started out wholesaling and did not know a lot of people so she joined the Real Estate Investment Clubs, she also got on Craigslist to find hard money – she got out there to just meet as many people as she could so that she could get to know the business. Kristi went to open houses and networking events so that she could educate herself and make contacts in the business. Holly and Kristi discuss hard money and what it takes to get that money, reminding us that as real estate investors you often times cannot get money for free without some of your own money in on the deals. Holly says that without hard money lenders real estate investors probably would not do as well without them. When asked about private moneylenders, Kristi says that she does use private money; often time money to cover what the hard moneylender did not cover. Kristi says that some of her private moneylenders are just regular people that she meets at the Real Estate Investing Clubs. Holly reminds us that when seeking a private moneylender it is helpful to use someone who knows you and someone who trusts you because without a track record in real estate people might not be so keen on lending private money. Kristi suggests starting with hard money first because this is their business and you have to treat their money like it is your own. With a private lender you want don’t want to take someone’s private money and not know what to do with it. Holly asks Kristi to share how she calculates her profit goal per deal. Kristi works with homes that are under $1 million, when calculating her profit she has a formula that runs her numbers. Kristi factors in the remodel costs and adjusts the purchase price so that the property gives a 10% return of the resale price per deal. Holly asks Kristi what she likes most about house flipping. Kristi obviously likes being successful in real estate investing but she also prides herself in the jobs that her investments create; the teams and people that she needs to complete a flip. Knowing that she is creating jobs for those in her community is something that she really enjoys about house flipping. Holly asks Kristi to share some tips that have helped her to be successful in real estate investing; Kristi says that she does not give up. It was helpful to het to find investors that were successful in this business so that she could learn from them and see that the end result would be there if she did not give up. She recommends focusing on the next deal and making sure that you are networking to obtain more resources. Work hard in the beginning so that as time progresses your work becomes more systematic and the job becomes easier and more manageable. Kristi found her deals in the beginning by networking and 90% of her properties were coming of the MLS, now Kristi still uses networking to find her deals – about 50% come from realtors, the properties she gets now are ones where the seller wants discretion in their sell. The other half of her deals come from word of mouth and direct sellers. Holly asks Kristi to share what it is like to be a woman in the business of real estate investing, Kristi says she did not let the male dominated business stop her, she feels that