Anyone know anything about Susan Lassiter-Lyons?
Deano VulcanoPro Member
Investor · Fort Mill, SC · Member since 2013 · 128 posts · 70 votesShe is offering a course on getting private money.
Just wanted to know if anyone has any experience in dealing with her or any of her courses.
I give the same advice to every newbie -
Tomorrow, as you get out of bed, do the following:
1. Use the lavatory
2. Wash your hands
3. Brush your teeth
4. Look up - see yourself in the mirror?
5. Ask yourself - why would anyone who has money and options choose to give me some? What is it about me?
Understand what money wants, needs, and thinks, and you'll get some...
@Deano Vulcano I don't know anything about her couse but my gut tells me to save your money. You can reach out to private money lenders in your area probably a google search would get you a bunch and they even advertise in the newspaper (somewhere around the business classified section). You can probably speak to .several lenders and get a sense as to what type of information they would need from you in order to consider your financing request.
Good luck
Michael
I have attended a couple of her private money seminars in Denver and found them to be helpful and of good quality. There are usually a couple of hundred people there, many from out of state. It can be a little flashy at times, but she does get inside the numbers and is a very experienced former hard money lender who has been through the different types of markets. One of her mantras is that "all roads lead to private money".
As I've been to three of her previous presentations, I'm letting this one go. She also has a discounted rate for alums.
She posted here on BP back when, might search for her threads. You'll likely find my posts as well. On the good side as I recall she was proficient, well spoken, could take a beating well in the forums and was polite, I liked her. OTH, approaches were simplistic to reality with a twist of glamor and marketing.
She didn't hang around long, I have no idea why.
I can tell you how you get truly private money, simply get to know people with money, tell them your success and ask if they'd like to join you, pretty much it. I had people begging.
In reality, it takes knowledge that others can see and rely on. Your reputation is critical. You need to get in front of those with money, it's a one on one process. I suppose I could have done a seminar but never need to, could have as I use to do estate planning seminars with an attorney. But basically you're taking on a financial partner.
Understand that private money comes from those who don't lend, they invest but usually have little RE experience. If you find someone who calls themselves an investor and lends money regularly as a side line, that's not private money, they are just part time hard money lender types.
Private money is had at 5% not 15%, granny doesn't get anything from her CDs.
Now, Susan may have some marketing spiel to present to granny, but I can tell you that people with money can spot a spiel or pitch a mile off. Much better to approach from a personal conversation.
There are threads here on how to locate private money, how to set it up, in fact all aspects that can put their money in your pocket. Could there be other ways? Sure, but it will always come down to you meeting them and developing trust. :)
I give the same advice to every newbie -
Tomorrow, as you get out of bed, do the following:
1. Use the lavatory
2. Wash your hands
3. Brush your teeth
4. Look up - see yourself in the mirror?
5. Ask yourself - why would anyone who has money and options choose to give me some? What is it about me?
Understand what money wants, needs, and thinks, and you'll get some...
The best people to borrow money from is Urology, Doctors, and chiropractors and make sure you have a solid plan and ext strategy because they will vet you.
Joe Gore
Ben, Joe, Bill, Burt, Michael thanks guys all good stuff!
I thought of a way to boost my credibility with these private lenders. Since I have purchased a lot of properties in the name of my Corporation, I figured I could print out the list of properties I sold from the county public records website. This will show that this is not my first rodeo. Do you think that this is overkill?
Do you guys offer a personal guarantee, or do you just wait until they ask you?
I have read a lot of her stuff and she has a good blog and website.
http://theinvestorinsights.com/category/real-estate-investment-financing/
Pretty good stuff with her free articles and videos and stuff, not to the extent you will find here on BP but for a singular individual among the best I have seen.
I bought a course she had on portfolio lending for something trivial like $99. I had been striking out on finding those in my area so figured it was worth a shot. I have not put much into action as my focus shifted to other things at the time. I will say that it has a LOT of content, much more than things I've seen that cost more than 10x what I paid.
That being said I have never even thought about buying her (or anyone else's) private money courses as it isn't rocket science. Find someone with money and prove you know what you are doing and have a good deal. Game, Set, Match!
The thing I bought was to find an institutional lender where that stuff would actually matter even if Fannie didn't have a checkbox on the form for it. :)
Hey Shaun, believe it or not I actually am a rocket scientist and finding private money is much more complicated.....not really. Thanks for the great advice.
I'm getting ready to turbo charge my business and I wanted to have all my moola ready to go. And I didn't know if there might be a more efficient way to do it, in other words implementing a system like we often talk about here on BP. Like making a short CD or DVD (using me) or pamphlet to leave with them.
Maybe someone on here has already implemented this strategy, let me know if anyone has any knowledge of any such info and where to find it.
Thanks BP Nation
The impression that most of the value in these types of private money products are the marketing materials.
I have no idea how much the course she is selling costs. If it is fairly cheap like the $100 thing I bought it might be worth it to you to get a nice PowerPoint template and some example flyers.
If it costs a lot more than that I would dig a little more to see what the value is supposed to come from. The stuff I said above certainly isn't worth paying like $1,297 or something like that.
I thought of a way to boost my credibility with these private lenders. Since I have purchased a lot of properties in the name of my Corporation, I figured I could print out the list of properties I sold from the county public records website. This will show that this is not my first rodeo. Do you think that this is overkill?
Do you guys offer a personal guarantee, or do you just wait until they ask you?
Well, "these private lenders" again, they are not lenders, they invest, they do loan you money, but if someone has ever lent money out to others and you get with them, they aren't private lenders they are hard money lenders, they have been there done that and have an idea of how it's done and realize they can get 12/15%. I don't mean to be picky, but the mind set needs to get away from approaching a lender to approaching an investor or partner, it's a totally different approach. And yes, having show and tell off the bat is not good, it's a conversation....hey, I just got a 22% return on my money! Well, how the hell did you do that? I deal in real estate and I've got 6 more deals sitting on my desk! How long have you been doing that? Just over 6 years now and never had a lost dollar the way we do things. Really....blah, blah, blah. Play on their greed, works every time! And absolutely you personally guarantee it with your new, know nothing about RE investors, if you're not good for it how can they trust the deal, they aren't going to suffer unless you suffer! :)
I have never thought in terms of a distinction between "private lenders” and "hard money" lenders. To me they are one and the same. I distinguish between conventional lenders and non-conventional lenders. If one wants to look at a different set of semantics, I suppose you could talk in terms of "sophisticated" and "unsophisticated" private money lenders. Sophisticated would be your hard money types and unsophisticated would be the inexperienced person with cash whose greed you might appeal to in order to convince them to make you a loan. From a regulatory perspective, at least in California, private money lenders who take a real estate security interest are generally considered the same, whether sophisticated or not.
Any lending decision, whether private or conventional, fundamentally comes down to what are sometimes called the "three Cs" of lending: collateral, credit, and capacity. Collateral is the underlying security value from a lender protection point of view, credit is the borrower's willingness to pay (payment history, sometimes evidenced by a credit report), and capacity is the borrower's ability to pay (front end and back end debt ratios). Sometimes there is a fourth “C”, character. For instance, someone who submits to the lender tax returns that show they are not quite honest with the IRS in declaring income and then explain to their prospective lender that their income is higher than shown would be lacking in character and make the lender wonder if they are being lied to as well.
Collateral tends to be the most important factor from the perspective of a hard money lender. They want to know that if something goes south, they will be protected by resorting to the collateral. If you want to impress a lender with your credibility, show them that there is sufficient collateral in the deal to protect them and that you have skin in the game.
Hey guys, I'm still around. Be happy to answer your questions about private money.
LOL to this ...
"I recall she was proficient, well spoken, could take a beating well in the forums and was polite, I liked her. OTH, approaches were simplistic to reality with a twist of glamor and marketing."
I have taken a beating on this site (which is why I rarely contribute anymore) but I think I've found what I want on my headstone... "a twist of glamour and marketing." :-)
I've raised a little more than $26 million since 2004 and put together a few hedge funds so let me know how I can help.
Couple of things right off the bat.
1. There are 3 "buckets" of people who will fund your deals as private lenders: The people who know you, love you and trust you, people who are already investing in real estate and people who are already making private loans on real estate.
You'll have a different approach with all 3. I have found that with most high net worth individuals, it isn't about the rate of return. These people, like the sharks on Shark Tank, often invest in deals because they believe in the person.
2. There is a big difference between hard money lenders and private lenders. I have been both and I have borrowed from both. I got a 4% rate from my Uncle Bill but paid 15% to Ed, the local hard money lender. Ed was brokering capital that he raised from his own private lenders (as did I when I had my first hedge fund).
3. There are two types of private lenders: debt investors and equity investors. Debt investors are the traditional lenders who invest for a set return and don't participate in the cash flow or equity of the deal.
Equity investors invest for a % of the cash flow and/or equity and are not promised a set return.
4. I get asked a lot how much to pay private lenders. I think just arbitrarily offering a rate is a flawed way to go about it. First you should run the numbers on your deal to see what you can AFFORD to pay your lenders. Then I ask the prospect what they are currently earning on the money they're considering investing with me.
That will give you a better sense of what their expectation is and can potentially save you a lot of money. I've had deals where I could pay 9% and the person said they were currently earning 2% on the money. I offered to double it and we were both ecstatic.
Done with a sense of grace.
The only distinction in lending is to SEC and banking laws exempting private transactions, private lenders known or related. If they advertise to loan money the source of their money is irrelevant it's a business venture sought by the lender which are treated differently.
Other than that, I'd agree, your approach to money will be different depending on who you talk to.
Welcome back Susan, I realize there has to be sizzle to the steak. LOL :)
True dat.
If you're soliciting people that you have a "substantive pre-existing relationship" with then you're exempt as long as you follow the rules (Fed and State) that govern that exemption.
The general solicitation rules have relaxed some with the new(ish) 506(c) but you must make sure the people you're soliciting under that rule are accredited.
As Bill said, all's fair if the lender solicits you. :-)
Susan, how much to hire you to get my first investor under my belt....lol I have read a lot of your stuff and even joined your site but its not easy finding the right person, or people.
Hang around the 19th hole at the country club and talk about your 22% returns, buy a few rounds and you'll likely find a money partner, LOL....well, that's one way.
@Account Closed has other ways to find them I'm sure, as do I, but that was the most fun method. :)
Sorry Leonard I teach people to fish instead of delivering it to their door.
You'll be a much stronger investor if you take the time to seek out and nurture these relationships yourself.
Leonard, I can teach you how to buy drinks at the 19th hole in my one on one mentoring course. Almost anyone can master this aspect.
People can tell you how to net work in civic groups and social settings, perhaps how to swing the conversation as to what you do and generate interest. But the bottom line is your ability to socialize, influence others, gain trust and demonstrate your expertise and knowledge. Without these skills you may just suck with the tab. :)
I met my first private lender at the local real estate investor's association meeting. Now I like going to Meetups and many of my students are having good luck there as well.
It's a multistep process that all marketing follows...
AIDA
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
I get attention with what I call my value statement. It's my answer whenever anyone asks, "So Susan what do you do?"
I answer, "I put together lucrative real estate deals so that my partners make safe, consistent profits."
It usually gets one of two responses...
1) How do you do that?
2) Are you looking for more partners?
Then I can set the meeting and take them through the rest of the process.
I'd say ADIAB, after action, ready to write a check, make'em beg!
They'll be saying, please Bill, let me know when you have another deal, I want in with you!
You don't sell your position you convince them that's it's best for them and they ask, even beg to get in......that can be just plain fun! :)
I am currently looking into financing my first real estate investment and came across Susan's program as a result of listening to Clayton Morris' podcast. I loved what she had to say on his show and decided to dig deeper and got her Private Money Calculator. I also came across her page for 'Getting The Money' system and thats when I started to get hesitant. The reason? The system costs $500. She has a book on Amazon thats presumably the same thing minus the videos and personal answers to questions, for $20. The bonuses, and the $ value given to them, also raised red flags, at least for me. Templates that are "worth" $1000? Private money documents "worth" $25,000(!!)???
The price of that system, and the way its presented on the webpage, reminds me of far too many of the scam webpages that I've come across over the years. Not saying that it IS a scam, I'm sure the program works, but the price seems way over-the-top compared to the book, and I especially don't like the faux values given to the bonuses. It makes it seem like a money-grab. In fact, if I had not come across this $500 program I would have already bought the book on Amazon.
I hope I'm not being too harsh here, and if Susan Lassiter-Lyons sees this I'd love to hear her take (defense? lol) of this program. Again, I loved what she had to say on Clayton's program, and in no way do I feel like she is not legit, but the $500 program is making me hesitate on the whole thing. If I buy the book on Amazon will that be everything I need to successfully recruit private financing, or were certain things held back for the "full program"?
Hey David, thanks for the great feedback on my appearance on Clayton's podcast - he's a great friend and we had a lot of fun.
Regarding the book vs self study course debate, my Uncle Bill always says if you could get rich reading a book librarians would be the richest people on the planet.
I have a teaching philosophy that I honed years ago when I was a national sales trainer for Hertz: Tell-Show-Do.
And that's basically how I structure my training....
1) Books and other print material such as my blog are how I TELL you about the strategy.
2) Self study video courses are how I SHOW you how to implement the strategy in greater detail and share all sorts of other add ons such as spreadsheets, documents, etc. (The $25K value for the Getting the Money self study docs is because I bought a license to provide a template private placement, LLC operating agreements, and debt/equity subscription agreements and they are VERY expensive docs. And a good pitch deck will cost WAY more than $1,000 to have created.)
3) My live implementation intensives and coaching programs are where we DO the strategy together one on one.
So, the answer to your question really depends on you and how you like to learn/implement.
Many people have written to me to say they have successfully raised capital from my book. So, it's possible.
Others prefer the self-study course so they have access to all the documents, get to take a deeper dive into the material, and want to have me answer their questions personally.
And others still prefer to implement under my personal guidance in a small event or coaching.
As far as the value is concerned, my students collectively have raised $250 million since 2008 using my system. My personal goal is to facilitate the raising of a billion in private capital for and from individual investors by 2020.
I've worked hard to create a system that is affordable, easy to implement, and gets results.
Hope that helps!
Thank you for the response Susan! I see your book has an average of 4.5 star reviews on Amazon so I'm thinking about going that route first. $500 is a lot of money for me right now, but at the same time I want to give myself the best shot for success. I've spent a lot of money in trying to find my niche in the entrepreneurial world but nothing has ever come of it, so I'm a bit scared of the idea of dropping such a large amount of money for a program like this. I'm well aware of the "analysis paralysis" factor that Clayton talks about, and I don't want to come across as "that guy", but I don't feel like I am "that guy". I've already committed to doing this, but now that I have its the financing that is the speed bump. I could do a 401K loan plus capital RIGHT NOW, but then I'm committed to paying that off while at my job for 5 years, and I want to leave my job ASAP once I get rolling. If I did that while my 401K loan remains unpaid then the balance comes due in 60 days. I've gone to my local credit union because of their great rates but once I learned of the requirements for such a loan it really turned me off. Then there are lenders who specialize in real estate investor financing but the interest rate on those is usually over 7%, which would really take a bite out of my ROI. So it seems to have come to this, private financing, and finding out how I can first FIND these people, and then be able to convince them to do business with me.
Since @Susan Lassiter-Lyons is on the thread, I'm giving these questions a shot. Susan, I learned of you from Clayton Morris's podcast. At this very moment, Amazon is shipping me a copy of your book.
I had this idea that I could learn how private money works by... providing it. Be an equity partner on deals. I can get started in larger deals by letting other people be the operators.
1. Any guidance about evaluating private placements?
2. Many of the people I've talked to so far only partner with accredited investors. With all the people who are screaming for capitol, why is it so hard for me to hook up with them to provide it?
Jai