Note Investor

How to buy, sell, broker or invest in private mortgage notes for cash flow!

Your Trusted Source For
Note Investing Information!

Where Can I Find Owner Financed Notes?

by

It’s great to make money and earn commissions in the note business but first you must find deals!  One tried and true method of finding notes is targeting a list of existing note holders with a direct mail campaign.

It sounds simple enough.  Obtain a list of note holders and mail them a letter or postcard offering to provide cash now for the purchase of future payments.  But beware, not all lists are created equal.

When looking for a list source you must ask a few very important questions:

  • Where does the information come from?
  • Is it a reliable source
  • What is the cost?
  • What format does the information come in ?
  • How much must be purchased to get the best price?
  • What types of notes are available to purchase?

We are often asked what list company we have successfully used at Diversified Investment Services, Inc. We are pleased to recommend Fidelity National Data Service, a reliable and direct provider of seller carry back records across the United States.

Their data is compiled directly from the County Recorder and Assessor.  When a deed of trust, mortgage, or land contract is delivered from one of the 1,800 counties compiled, it is then put into 1 of 3 categories: Institutional, Private or Seller Carry back. If the Lender’s name on the document matches the seller’s name, it’s a prospect!

Fidelity National Data Service can help you with owner-financed notes secured by a variety of property types including residential, commercial, condo, vacant land and PUDs. Many other fields such as loan amount, loan date, and property address, are “captured” fields, which can be used in marketing pieces.

The unique advantage with Fidelity National Data Service is that you can order a specific county, loan amount range, loan date range, property type and even lien position!

The records are delivered via email in an Excel spread sheet.  It only takes about 3 days to complete the whole process of setting up an account and specifying your list parameters.

It can be as easy as going to your local office supply store, purchasing letterhead or postcards, importing the data to Word and mailing with a stamp. You also have the option of incorporating a few of the data fields such as note amount into your postcard and you get to mail to the prospect as many times as you would like.

Based on our long-standing working relationship, Fidelity National Data Service is willing to offer our readers a customized list at the cost of only 12 cents per record. They will also waive the standard $200 set up fee. You only need to mention Diversified Investment Services to receive this special offer.

To find out more about purchasing seller carry back records from Fidelity National Data Services contact Carolyn Covington by email at: Carolyn.Covington@LPSvcs.com

She will quickly respond with the coverage, data sample, pricing options, and an order form. Don’t forget to mention DIVERSIFIED INVESTMENT SERVICES, INC. to have the setup fee waived!

Editor’s Update: Carolyn is no longer with Fidelity. We now suggest working with Scott Arpan at Advanced Seller Data Services. You can learn more about him and his list services in this interview Finding Cash Flow Notes With Note Seller Lists.

Reader Interactions

Comments

    • I believe the minimum order is 1,000 leads or $200 (depending on the plan you select). The cost also goes down as you purchase a larger group of leads.

      • Hi my name is stephen please could you tell me are the leads exclusive to me if I purchased them

        • Hello Stephen, We don’t sell the leads. They come from the list providers. They obtain their information from the courthouse filings for mortgage, trust deeds, or contracts that have been recorded in that county where the seller owned the property and carried back financing. Since they are public records they are not exclusive. It is common for more than one investor to direct mail or contact the note holders. All part of the direct mail pros and cons.

      • Hi Tracy,
        Question for you.
        Are there leads that have the note holders email address listed as a point
        of contact vs the direct mail Postal mailing?

        • Hello Freddie, Most of the note holder lists are derived from public records with the recording of documents at the county level. The documents don’t contain the holder’s email address so are not generally available on the lists purchased. You can use additional data services and skip tracing type sites to find the email address. You just want to be sure to stay in compliance with all anti-spam laws.

  2. Hi just wanted to ask what would be the best way to find owner financed note holders that are interested in selling all or part of their note or notes to note potential buyers? I have buyers are seeking good note investments. When I find these buyers I intend to match them up for a referral fee. Please help help as I am a new determine self starter at this hopefully legit legal opportunity. I am very welling to do what ever it takes to Master This Opportunity. Thanks M here and love your clear to understand info about this business.

  3. Hi Tracy,My husband and I enjoy reading and learning form Note Investors website.We started a blog called cashonenotes.wordpress .com We are new at this business and will be changing our site to a Url soon .We are letting others know that we do offer a finders fee of $200 on any note after closing .I am checking Scott Arpan at Advanced Seller Data Services that you mentioned.Thanks for all the good information at you website!

  4. You can still purchase Seller Carry Back / Owner Financed Notes from LPS Real Estate Data Services (Previously Known as Fidelity)
    LPS is a National data provider used by thousands of real estate professionals. LPS is not a third party re-seller and offers more coverage and better pricing than dataquick
    (877) 436-3282 ext 1151 Or Aimee.Cornett@lpsvcs.com
    e-mail me for a Free Count and Sample

  6. Hi, I have some owner-financed land notes ranging from $25K to 6K, and having 2 months to 2 years seasoning. Where is a good place to advertise my notes. I am really hoping to find a portfolio buyer.

  7. Hey Tracy, the email for Carol Covington didn’t work. Any other reps with the company you could put me in contact with?

    • Hello Rob,

      Carolyn has recently moved to Data Quick. You can still reach her using the same phone number of 916-990-9444. Look for an updated posting and official announcement to follow soon on her move.

      No new rep to report yet from Fidelity/LPS so you can contact them directly for now.

      You might also want to try Scott Arpan at Advanced Seller Data Services for Finding Cash Flow Notes With Note Seller Lists

      Thanks for reading and commenting at Note Investor!

  8. Im a College Student looking for a way to pay for school. Do you think buying cash flow notes would be a good idea for me even if i do not have alot of money to start with?