Nantasket Ct

Two of our principals live in Mission Beach. We walk these streets, eat at these restaurants, and know which blocks command premiums and which don't. So when a deal came in for an oversized Mission Beach lot, 4,000 square feet compared to the typical 2,400, we already had an opinion before we opened the loan file.

The borrowers were one of San Diego's top realtors and a builder whose work we'd funded on multiple prior projects. We knew both personally. The realtor would handle the listings; the builder's company would handle construction. We funded $3.85 million to build three 1,500-square-foot townhomes with roof decks, two-car garages, and alley access.

Because we know Mission Beach at the block level, we could underwrite this without delay. We know what three-story townhomes sell for on this stretch, we know the parking dynamics that make alley access valuable, and we know the builder delivers quality on schedule. That local knowledge compressed the entire underwriting timeline. No appraisal. No guessing.

We managed the construction draws through the build, verifying each phase before releasing capital. Our $3.85 million was at risk, which meant we cared about every framing inspection, every finish selection, every timeline milestone as much as the borrowers did. That's what it means to have skin in the game as a construction lender.

All three units went into escrow at $2.4 million each, roughly $7.2 million combined against our $3.85 million loan. The deal worked because everyone at the table had worked together before, and the lender understood the market as well as the builder and the agent.