At the time when most teenagers are looking forward to college, Nick Davison was learning hard lessons from the adversity that can come from real estate investing before ultimately making his mark by flipping hundreds of houses in San Diego.
When he was only 8, he would accompany his father to collect rent checks from tenants in the small town of Fillmore in an agricultural valley in Ventura County. Then the market collapsed. The money his father had made in building a portfolio of properties disappeared. “He was way over-leveraged,” Nick remembers. “He couldn’t keep up with payments, he couldn’t hold on, so he lost it all.”
Losing it all meant that Nick and his two brothers would sometimes have to sleep at a friend’s house or in a motel. While other high school kids were playing sports, he was picking up odd jobs and living in a van. And when other kids with a knack for real estate were considering business school, Nick’s engaging personality that earned him the title of class clown did not keep him from getting into fights and ended up getting kicked out of his high school.
Despite the setbacks, he worked hard, knew the value of saving and money had an entrepreneurial streak. He finished continuation school and in a financial deal with family members, bought his first house at age 19. Then came yet another disappointment. The agreements evaporated, he ended up without a cent and headed to San Diego.
That’s when his path turned to profit. He found a house that needed work, sold it in 32 days and made a $68,000 profit. “That was the start of my career,” he said. One house turned into five and the business kept growing, reaching a record in 2013 when he flipped 75 houses.
Now, at age 35, Nick is a manager/investor as CEO of Sterling Investment Group, which manages his holdings of houses and apartment units. Over the past decade, the company has delivered more than 500 projects and grossed more than $205 million in sales. In recent years, he has shifted his focus to launching Sterling Investment Group’s multifamily division and acquiring apartment units. He also has taken on new ventures by expanding into apartments and real estate coaching.
He prides himself on talking about every challenge, and every detail, of finding, fixing and selling run-down properties, calling it “radical transparency. The neighborhoods where he works can be run-down, and he takes pride in helping bring value to those neighborhoods. His company has made its mark in San Diego, he said, “by acquiring undervalued, poorly maintained houses and renovating them to provide safe, clean and affordable homes in otherwise blighted neighborhoods.
He brings a personal commitment based on his own difficult upbringing. “I’m completely passionate about helping anyone who needs direction,” he said. “I have a soft spot for anyone coming from hardship.”
He also has a soft spot for family and fun. He and his wife, Carissa, have been married nine years and have a daughter, Roxie, who is 4 and a son, Nixon, who is 6. His interests range from dancing (he and his wife met on the dance floor) to skeet shooting, dirt biking, drag racing and jet skiing.
Despite the difficulties growing up, he maintains close ties with his parents and brothers, all of whom still live in Fillmore.
“Forgiveness is a big thing,” he said.