BiggerPockets

How do I start looking for mortgage notes? I have heard about going to the local court house but, where do I look? Also are investors more interested in buying 1st mortgages then 2nd mortgages? I would love to get together with someone that has some knowledge on this and pick their brain a bit.

Thanks Justin

Ok, thanks I will try that. Anymore info on this?

Not all records offices are on line, if yours is this is great. But the more people that have searched the databases on line the more likely it will be that any records you find have already been found and contacted by someone else, so I like to find those courthouses that are not on line and go thru those records myself. It give me a better chance to find a good deal than any other way, when you are just beginning.

The best way overall is to have a professional refer those to you who are looking to sell their notes. This is accomplished by marketing yourself to the professionals in your area.

Good luck, JIM

I have often found it best help for the beginners to actually search the courthouse databases themselves.

This will familarize them with all the different forms and their uses. It is really more for education for them so that they can extend that into other on line areas where they can not search locally.

It is by far worse to think you have something that you are trying to sell to an investor which ends up being worthless because of the actual document itself and what it is used for.

Plus I know florida and there are many (ok some) counties that are not on line.
Florida is one on the most searched areas, so when you do find something that is not available on line you just might have found a gold mine.

Thanks for the info guys. I live in Hillsborough county and we can find those records online. I do agree though that since I am just starting out, going to the court house is my best option. Plus it's easier to meet people when you leave the house. :)

lol...sure dave. It's going to cost you $1 every time though. haha JK

Justin

I posted something like this in another thread but here it is again. You can just find a Broker that works with representing Note buyers and sellers, or some just have them fly by there desk, if you tell them what you want they might just catch one for you. You can also get to know some Mortgage Brokers and people that have worked a good while in Mortgage companies, they might want to sell some notes also or have some people they might refer you to that is selling notes. There are also websites but some are fake but not all. Make sure though you ask for a copy of a signed note so they can verify that they actually have the notes if they are selling or they are reps.

Justin, I'm curious about your experience at the courthouse. Was it educational? Where did you start? How did it go?

Dave, you do not buy the notes at the courthouse. It is the place to go to learn about the notes (actually the trust deed that the note is attached to) and how they are recorded, and the terminology and how to recognize who is who. You then locate the noteholder to see if they are willing to sell.

This will also give you a data base of most all people (and banks, if you choose) that own notes and buy notes in your local area.

All leads come from those records, even the ones that you buy (leads) if you go that route because these companies have people (or programs) that scour those county data bases for the information that they can sell to others.

If you learn how to do this yourself, you will begin to notice when someone did not do things correctly, which demands a larger discount because you buy the note then correct the mistake.