Andrea Van Soest
Co-founder of SoCal Home Buyers. Licensed by the California Department of Real Estate, DRE #01505854. Professional Interior Designer. Running the operations side of Southern California’s family-owned cash home buyer since 2008.
The Design and Rehab Side of SoCal Home Buyers Since Day One
Andrea has been licensed by the California Department of Real Estate since 2006 (DRE #01505854) and co-founded SoCal Home Buyers with her husband Doug in 2008. She studied Interior Architecture at UCLA, Interior Design at UC Riverside, and attended Boston Architectural College, and holds a BA in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Point Loma Nazarene University. That’s the background she brings to every property the company buys.
Andrea oversees design and rehab on every flip SoCal Home Buyers does. That means deciding what gets renovated, how it gets laid out, and what finishes actually move the needle on resale value. Most investors outsource this judgment. Andrea does it in-house, which is part of how the company controls both the cost and the outcome on every project.
She co-founded the business with Doug and has been involved in more than 400 transactions since 2008, covering properties across Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties. She also co-hosts the Spouses Flipping Houses podcast with Doug, where they talk through the real side of running a family real estate operation.
She designs the rehab and lists the resale
Most cash buyers hand off a property to a contractor, then hand it to an agent. Andrea does both. She directs the rehab with her interior design background (UCLA, UC Riverside, and Boston Architectural College) and then she’s the listing agent on the finished resale. The same person who chose the flooring is the one answering buyer questions at the open house. That loop, design informed by what actually sells, is something you can’t fake and most investors don’t have.
Andrea’s Role at SoCal Home Buyers
Every property SoCal Home Buyers rehabs goes through Andrea. Here’s what that actually looks like.
Rehab Design & Direction
Andrea makes the design calls on every flip: layout, materials, finishes. Not delegated to a contractor’s preference. She decides what the property becomes before the first nail goes in.
Interior Design
Andrea studied Interior Architecture at UCLA, Interior Design at UC Riverside, and attended Boston Architectural College. That’s not a typical investor background, and it shows in the finished product.
Renovation Oversight
She oversees the rehab from start to finish, keeping contractors on scope and on timeline. The budget discipline and quality control come from someone who’s been doing this since 2008.
Resale Strategy
Andrea’s real estate background since 2005 informs how she approaches renovations, she understands what buyers in each market respond to and designs to that, not just to a generic finish standard.
Co-Founder
Andrea co-founded SoCal Home Buyers with Doug in 2008. The company has bought and rehabbed properties across five Southern California counties. She’s been in every one of those deals on the back end.
Podcast Co-Host
Andrea co-hosts Spouses Flipping Houses with Doug, covering the real operations side of running a family real estate business: rehab decisions, contractor management, and what it actually takes to scale without losing the family part.
Spouses Flipping Houses
Andrea & Doug Van Soest
Andrea co-hosts the Spouses Flipping Houses podcast with Doug, where they cover real estate investing from both sides of the operation, the deal-finding and valuation side Doug handles, and the design, coordination, and execution side Andrea runs. It’s a ground-level look at how a family-run real estate business actually works, not a highlights reel.
Find the PodcastAndrea Van Soest, CA DRE #01505854 | Licensed by the California Department of Real Estate | SoCal Home Buyers | Verify license at dre.ca.gov
Talk to Andrea’s Team
If you’re thinking about selling a property in Southern California, we can give you a cash offer with no obligation. The call takes about 10 minutes and there’s no pressure to move forward.