All Forum Posts by: Natasha Hunter

First off, I am so sorry to hear about your wife. I recently went through a loss of a parent and I couldn't imagine a loss of a partner. My heart goes out to you. 

In regards to finding a mentor, Bigger pockets is always a great place to look for a mentor, however, I have found that Facebook is where a lot of great mentors are. For instance, I am a note investor. There are about 10 groups that are active in the note industry with questions, comments, articles and just knowledge that you need to know. I have found that the people whose names you see showing up on a consistent basis with actual knowledge and feedback (not just business ads) are who I would look to for in a mentor. It is possible to learn who these people are but it will require a little bit of time. There are a lot of people who act like they know what they're doing but they're not providing actual useful content. Linkedin is another good source but these people are much harder to vet. Your local REIA is another great place if the internet isn't really in your comfort zone for building partnerships.

Good luck!

Scott Carson was my mentor and his material is great. He offers a Virtual Note buying for dummies 3 day seminar and it's pretty in depth. You can learn a ton from his videos and from the people he brings on his daily vlogs. You should also check out Chase Thompson's podcast, Note MBA. There is quite an active bunch from Scott's mastermind group in some of the Facebook Groups out there. The note industry is relatively small so it's actually pretty easy to get some guidance. There is a lot to learn in notes so my suggestion is to start listening but also start initiating. Initiate relationships with other note investors and asset managers (LinkedIn is a great tool for this). It's not instantaneous so getting started asap will be beneficial for you. I checked out a few sources before I decided to become a Scott Carson student but his information was plentiful and I liked his in your face type of style. 

Feel free to message me if you'd like any additional information about resources. 

I'm going to throw out a suggestion here but instead of cashing out your ira, you should look at turning it into a self directed and invest it. There's a number of things to invest in with your self direction. I have done this with my self directed ira to invest in distressed mortgage notes. Due to you investing with your ira you can't purchase the note yourself which is why most investors looking for passive income joint venture with experienced investors. that's what I've done and the returns have been impressive. There's a multitude of exit strategies secured by the collateral of the home. instead of fixing and flipping a house note investors flip the borrower to either get them paying again for passive cash flow or to take the property back and resell as an reo. But that's just my strategy. there are only a few things you can't invest in with your ira.

If I were starting out and had $150,000 to invest, my first step would be to look at investing in promissory notes. By purchasing both performing and non performing loans you can create cash flow backed by the security of the property. You're not a land lord or even the homeowner in this position. No fixing toilets, changing out appliances or pesky midnight calls. You simply own the paper and the debt attached to it. If the homeowner stops paying you can foreclose and collect the amount owed to you. If the homeowner keeps paying, you now have monthly cashflow. Depending on how you structure your loans and exit strategies you can have the $4,000 in cash flow with as little as 4-10 loans per year. 

I highly suggest two things. Linked in and REIA meetings. I am constantly updating my linkedin to include mostly investors and banks (since I am a note investor). Just remember it does take some time. Send out new content to them weekly or bi-weekly. You will see after the 4th or 5th email that people really start to respond. It is very possible but it does take some time. Become a member of your local REIA and attempt to attend every event. They will get to know you and will happily fund deals as long as the numbers are right.

Hi Bryan, 

As Gail mentioned "Performance Anxiety" as well as a book called "Invest in Debt: The "How To" Book on buying paper for cash flow" by Jim Napier. I also learned most of how to Note invest through Scott Carson's programs and endless Youtube material. There is a ton of information online. You'll really want to familiarize yourself with Foreclosure laws in the states you're interested in investing in. If you are interested in buying your first note, I would recommend a Joint Venture Partnership with an active note investor to help show you the ropes. 

@Ryan Billingsley Thats a great idea!

The $1000 he invested was probably the escrow amount which is given when you place a contract. When it closed he received the remaining amount.

End buyer pays $30000

Seller keeps $ 18000

He keeps everything else.

This is perfectly legal but be careful when it comes to marketing the property. This is considered unlicensed activity. We just had an investigatior talk about it at our reia meeting. You have to have a sizeable amount vested into the property. In Florida we asked what this sizeable amount would be and dbpr said they don't have it defined however it would likely be in the 10000+ and up range meaning tbe $1000 vested in escrow would not be considered a vested interest.  This caused quite an uproar.