Does This Financial Calculator Make Me Look Old?

Best Financial Calculator HP12C

If you plan to buy mortgages or want to take your note broker business to the next level then learning your way around a financial calculator is a big plus. As many of you know, Fred and I are a house divided when it comes to...  Choosing the Best Financial Calculator. Fred likes the Texas Instrument Financial Analyst and I am a die-hard HP12C user.  Recently a fellow HP calculator fan read that past article and wrote in with some great information. In the process I found out my … [Read more...]

What Determines a Mortgage Note’s Value?

Mortgage Note Value

The second you get past explaining, “What is a private mortgage note?” the next question is, “How do you determine its fair market value?” There are a lot of variables that go into a Note Buyer determining how much a note is worth for lump sum purposes – and each investor may have different hot buttons. Here are the main ones… 1. Credit Score How is the credit on the people who are paying on the mortgage note? Obviously the higher the credit scores the better. That said, many … [Read more...]

Buying Mortgage Notes: 7 Tips for Calculating Cash Flow Notes

If you plan on selling or buying mortgage notes the pricing will eventually come down to some important cash flow calculations.  If you get cold chills or high school flash backs thinking about math you can always leave the number crunching to the note buyers. However, I challenge you to get outside your comfort zone and give these exercises a try. Why? Well knowledge is power and you will be able to know if you are getting a fair (or not so fair) deal when selling mortgage notes. … [Read more...]

Note Business Success in Five Words

Note Business

We are often asked, "How can I make it in the note business?" That usually prompts us to ask a couple of questions to understand what, specifically, they mean by the question. Some people want to … [Read more...]

Calculating Cash Flow Notes and a Contest!

I have written before about how note buyers accelerate payments on cash flow notes. One such strategy was the Double Your Payment/Cut The Interest Rate in Half. Another method is to simply go for an Early Payment With Incentive. To this day, the following situation is still my favorite example of this method. It was late December and we were looking at a small note with a $10,000 balance. The payment was only $132.15 per month with a 10% interest rate and 120 payments left. The note … [Read more...]

How Note Buyers Can Accelerate Return

Holding or buying mortgage notes and want a quick way to accelerate your return? Sure, you can’t go back to your payer/buyer and tell them to mail more money or even increase their interest rate. Matter of fact, you purchased the note “subject to” all the terms and conditions already in place and can’t change a thing…unless the payer wants to change them! Try this… Offer the payer to cut the interest rate in half (face rate of the note) if they double their … [Read more...]

Cash Flow Notes: Making a Living with Life Settlements

New and experienced brokers alike are always interested in the hottest current trends in cash flow notes. Everyone wants to know what everyone else is doing (because no one wants to miss anything!). Over the past few years, we have been inundated with Life Settlement requests. Fortunately for us, I find them very interesting and fun to work: I say fortunately, because the commissions are excellent. … [Read more...]

The BIGGEST Mistake Investors Make When Buying Cash Flows

In 1996 I was in the room with some of the brightest investors of our time. They batted around terms and strategies that left my head spinning and my hand sore from writing down as many notes as possible. I distinctly remember, just before ending the day, someone (not me) made a comment that brought everything to an abrupt halt. “If I buy a note that pays for 10 years at 12%, I don’t have to worry about investing again for another 10 years.” What got me was the number of … [Read more...]

Using Owner Financing To Achieve Your Goals

SJREI Real Estate Investors Flyer

We are headed to San Francisco to participate in the Women in Real Estate Event on March 26, 2011. This full day event is sponsored by SJREI, the bay area's premier real estate investor's association at the at the Sequoia Yacht Club in Redwood City, California. Join women real estate investors as they share their success strategies at the event entitled,  Steel Toed Stilettos: Real Women Own Real Estate.  Here's a look at the line-up and topics: … [Read more...]

Become Your Own Note Buyer!

note training on cruise ship

Are we buying notes on cruise boats now? Well...sort of. Last weekend we were asked to present our 5 strategies for moving from note finder to note investor.  The seminar was sponsored by … [Read more...]