Lender Jan Brzeski walks into the bedroom of a multi-million dollar home that was part of a spec renovation project he worked on with developer Scott Ryan in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, California August 5, 2013. Brzeski is a private money lender running an investment firm in Los Angeles that provides loans to house flippers, investors who buy a home, refurbish it, and sell it on at a profit. Many flippers go to money lenders because they can't get banks to provide such short-term, quick financing. Eighteen months ago Brzeski and his firm, Arixa Capital Advisors, were lending investor money to flippers on very different properties: $250,000 single family homes in southern California's up-and-coming low to middle class blue-collar neighborhoods. Most of the deals involved foreclosed homes that were totally refurbished, and then sold quickly. Brzeski now focuses on developers working on high-end flips of mansions and townhouses in exclusive neighborhoods, such as the Hollywood Hills and Bel Air. There has been a surge in high-end and luxury flipping nationwide. Between 2011 and today, flips of homes valued at $1 million or more have risen almost 40 percent across the United States, according to RealtyTrac, the housing data company. Picture taken August 5, 2013. To match Insight USA-HOMES/FLIPS REUTERS/Jason Redmond (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY REAL ESTATE)