Hard Money Ain't So Hard!

Last night I was browsing my local county website.  During the last few weeks, I had noticed someone's name, that I won't mention, always pop up on comps that I was pulling.  To be honest, I wanted to contact this person to ask them out for lunch or a beer to pick their brain.

I went on the county website and typed in their name and searched from Trustee's Deed.  Low and behold they are a buying machine and recently started buying in 2009 at auction.  By machine, this person is buying 5-10 properties per month.  Someone buying that many has to be moving them pretty quickly.  

So that got me thinking, and I entered their name into the deed of trust document search to see if they are buying with cash or hard money or private money. Low and behold, they are using numerous lenders.  Some here in town, some in Utah, some in Oregon, they are all over the country.  Then something catches my eye, all the deed of trusts have the same "When recorded, mail to:  blah blah".  They all had the same PO Box, everyone of them!

So, I type the PO box number and address into Google and a I FINALLY find the who it is and I get their phone number.

I call them today on my lunch break and this is how the conversation goes:

Him:  Hello, this Steve

Me:  Hi, My name is Justin and I'm a real estate investor in Arizona.  I found your name on our county recorder site.  Are you actively lending money?

Him:  Yes we are.  Do you have a property now or you are trying to line up financing?

Me:  I'm trying to line it up.  I buy at auctions and REO's.  Do I need to qualify with you or is it based on the property?

Him:  It is solely based on the property.

Me:  What are your terms?

Him:  The terms are pretty simple.  18% interest only, no prepayment penalty, no upfront payment, no points.  Just monthly interest payments.   We do charge a $900 processing fee per property though.  Loan is based on the lowest comps in the neighborhood.

Me:  This may sound like a stupid question, but do you run out of money?  Do I need to be worried when I put in auction bids.

Him:  Sometimes, if you are buying at auction, just give us a call in the morning to make sure we can fund you.  

Me:  What do you require me to put into the deal?

Him:  20-30%.  On average its between 25-30% right now.  

Me:  Great, so I just call when I need you and thats it?

Him:  Thats it.  

Me:  Great, you'll hear from me soon.

Him:  Great, goodbye.  Me:  Goodbye.

There you have it.  One of the simplest ways to find funding.   Now go do it.

Search for Trustee's Deed.  Find out who is actively buying.

Take their name and search for deed of trusts.

Record the mailing address of the lender and enter into Google.

Odds are they have a website and you can find their number.