All Forum Posts by: Patrick Desjardins

 You moved from FL?

If it's a first mortgage, it's extremely rarely going to be a problem, but you always want to run a title search to make sure everything is alright (we use ProTitleUSA)

With 2nd mortgages, it's a little more complicated. During due diligence I don't pull title but I always check pacer to see if it's been stripped in BK. What sucks is borrowers always say "oh it was paid off, we don't owe it anymore", "oh we went through bankruptcy, it's gone" and all sorts of BS. Before you start FC your attorney will always pull title so I use that to double check that lien is still attached (but that is after purchasing it)

Their system is very well designed. During the transaction process the seller has to upload soft copies of the collateral for you to review. No worries there, it's a super smooth process and they lead you by the hand with forms etc.

With that said, there's 2 reasons I don't like FCI as a buyer:

1) they don't set prices or filter the notes on there so there is a lot of junk. Finding a good note there is like finding a needle in a haystack, which can be good for some but I'm not that patient.

2) you don't really know who the seller is when you submit offers, don't know the history of the note, you can't really guess why they're selling it etc. Imagine going to a flea market where sellers are wearing a mask and are trying to sell you a 25k piece of paper. Would you be excited about going there when you can go across the street and buy that same 25k note from a reputable note seller?

I know Bob Malecki has bought several notes there. Looking forward to hearing his opinion.

It's like refinancing. Someone lends you money and you use the property as collateral. Any local RE attorney should be able to help you.

Would prob get better terms from a bank/institutional lender though? You should be able to pull out 75%ish.

 I don't appreciate the tone of your comment. You were not duped, scammed, lied to, or anything of the sort, and your attitude is a piss poor way of getting people to share information with you. You bought an introductory book meant for people who are used to buying CDs and mutual funds, maybe a handful of rentals. Not sophisticated and experienced real estate investors. Nothing wrong with you being unhappy with your purchase because it's not what you wanted and expected, however saying you were duped is in poor taste.

After criticizing the book, you go on to criticize Chris Winkler's JV deals when it's a pretty common structure in the note space for small one-off notes..

"Your profile says to just reach out if you have any questions on buying notes. Ok. Where do you buy your notes from? Can you give one tip or advice for someone that is educated in real estate, knows and buys from the local foreclosures, and is intimately familiar with direct mail marketing."

As a newbie, the best way to find note sellers (performing or NPNs) is to attend the note conferences and meet sellers, vendors and network with other note investors. Or you can do like a guy I know and pay $2,000 for a list of note sellers (and yes, it worked for him but was way more expensive than a $15 book). Heck half the people on this forum probably have notes to sell, but soliciting is not allowed.

You can't expect people to answer 20 super broad questions on a public forum, especially when some of those questions involve revealing proprietary data and information. Everyone I know on this forum enjoys helping and sharing, but at the same time, both parties have to get value.

Maybe my friend @Joshua Andrews needs to start a $2,997 info product or weekend seminar, then we can all blame him for not going in-depth on his secrets. The guy has a better success rate on notes than myself and pretty much everyone else I know.

 People aren't allowed to solicit on the forum. I suggest reading forums threads and finding people that seem trustworthy, connect with them and develop a relationship.

The sources you mentioned are good places to look at notes and practice analyzing them, but they are not a great place to buy notes. The seller is basically anonymous so you have no idea who you're dealing with, you have no idea what happened with the notes etc - so the seller has a big advantage over the buyer. (just my opinion, others here like FCI)

Mike is right, this is pretty standard in a lot of places, especially rural counties. Just be warned that you better hope the documents were created right because if not, they will send them back to you unrecorded and you will have to send them again (and wait, and wait, and wait). 

Different counties have different requirements for the number of witnesses, the names being in block letters, having the right space at the top, having the correct legal description in the correct format, etc.

In the first year or two I recorded my own documents and it worked fine but I often had to re-send them because of minor details like this. Nowadays I use Richmond Monroe. 

Everything is a negotiation. Depending on volume you can negotiate better terms.

You're missing a key component though - a lot of these note JVs involve an education component for newbies that want to learn, so many people are willing to do it.

Pretty common sense really, if you came to us with a million to invest the structure would be different from some random $20k note deal.

The ideal funding in my opinion is a fixed rate loan against the note, with the lender having no input and no upside other than their fixed return. That's the holy grail. 

My advice is always the same: narrow down what your goals are and which niche you're targeting, and then drill down from there.

Forget about your current questions as they're irrelevant.

What are your goals? Are you looking for performing or NPNs, and why? What is your strategy for these notes? How are you financing them and in what volume do you intend to buy?

I'm not sure why everyone is starting from Z (where do I buy notes) instead of A (what's my plan?)

If you just want to look at notes and familiarize yourself then sure, look at loan MLS or FCI Xchange. Just keep in mind you need to drill down on what you're trying to achieve.