What Do Trust Deed Investors Really Want?
What Do Trust Deed Investors Really Want
The 12 Days of Christmas and 12 Steps of Trust Deed Investing
The revelers sang “The 12 Days of Christmas” at our Holiday party the other night and our spirited late night rendition reminded me of the steps we need to take every day to get ready for Christmas Day. As my son reminds me every morning of how many days are left until Christmas, I realize…
How 200 Loans and $38+ Million in Funding’s Makes a Better Trust Deed
Do you know what happens when, during a real estate transaction, a person with money meets a person with experience? The person with the experience ends up with the money and the person with the money ends up with the experience. Ha! Well, we all know experience matters. Whether the person is an NFL Quarterback,…
5 Questions to Ask when Choosing a Real Estate Hard Money Lender
What is needed to get approved for a hard money loan? As a Real Estate Investor or Mortgage Broker, many times you will need to act quickly to buy or assist someone buy or refinance real estate. When time is of the essence, Hard Money financing is the best and fastest alternative. Below are…
5 Steps to a Hard Money Loan Approval for a Real Estate Investor
What is needed to get approved for a hard money loan? Real Estate Investors can often find better loan terms by finding a Hard Money Lender through a Google Search or word of mouth. The Internet disintermediates middlemen and, with appropriate search criteria, can allow an investor to find a Direct Lender. These real…
I Love These Emails!
We treat our Lender’s with respect and work hard to ensure their satisfaction. These clients entrust us with their investments and we listen, learn and apply best practices to ensure a profitable and pleasant smart passive income experience. Here are a few recent comments from our Lenders: “We decided that we wanted to diversify and…
What Have You Learned?
What can you learn from a default and subsequent REO? I am more bullish on Trust Deed Investing than ever! I just experienced how equity protection, capital preservation and oversized risk adjusted returns are all very real and alive in the world of Trust Deed Investments. After almost 3 years, one of Mortgage Vintage,…
Seek First to Understand….Then be Understood
What is the real need of the Borrower and then solve for that requirement I received a loan scenario recently and the request was for a large new 1st Trust Deed that was paying off an existing Bank First Trust Deed while providing cash-out to the borrower. When I discussed the loan with the…
8 Ways to Stay Current
My wife and I spring cleaned our house over the weekend and felt refreshed and invigorated. Out with the old to make room for the new. I cleaned my closets, storage areas, hard drives and double checked my wallet to eliminate any Credit Cards I don’t use. I embraced Monday with a new fervor to…
10 Point Checklist When Meeting a Hard Money Borrower
10 borrower characteristics that should be considered while underwriting a hard money loan Real Estate provides the collateral for most hard money loans however there are many borrower characteristics that should be considered while underwriting a loan. One of the best ways to avoid fraud and determine if a Hard Money Loan makes sense is…
Which Real Estate Investment Strategy Is Best for You?
I recently attended the Real Estate Investor Expo “REIEXPO” in Anaheim, CA and enjoyed meeting many Real Estate Investors while learning about new Investment strategies. What struck me about the meeting was the plethora of methods Real Estate Investors use to make money in Real Estate. Investors with different education, skill sets, risk tolerances, time,…
A Lenders Tips for Successful Flips
Having provided close to 200 Private Money Loans to Real Estate Investors and House Flippers gives us a perspective and experience on best practices for House Flippers. We have worked with Flippers who have exceeded their income goals and others that have lost money on the flip. A major part of the flip is to…
When to Choose Hard Money?
Scenarios where buyers, sellers, investors and business owners have chosen Hard Money. While Hard Money rates are certainly higher than conventional loan terms, in many instances the money is less expensive compared to other financing alternatives or the potential loss of potential revenue on a business transaction. Additionally, Hard Money eligibility requirements are less…
Successful Loan Strategies for Self Employed Borrowers in California
What steps should a self-employed borrower take to get a loan? Self-Employment carries many benefits including making decisions, schedule flexibility and not having to work for an incompetent Boss. However there are some disadvantages to generating your own income when it comes to applying for a home loan. Today, under new Federal Regulations, borrowers…
Be Quick but Don’t Hurry
How can a lender be quick to fund but not hurry the transaction? John Wooden, world renowned and legendary UCLA Basketball Coach and Author of the “Pyramid of Success” said “Be Quick but Don’t Hurry” to his players. In other words, do the right things, but learn how to do them quickly. Author Andrew…
6 Ways to Start Learning Like a Machine
Apple’s Siri on the iPhone amazes us all with her witty responses and incredible knowledge. IBM’s Watson Super Computer beat the best brains in the world at Jeopardy and is now tackling real world problems including medical diagnosis and underwriting. What do these machines have in common? They both learn from their mistakes. The promise…
4 Ways to Make Money When the Bank Said No
With the Holidays around the corner and increasing tax burdens coming our way, it is a good time for Mortgage Brokers to contemplate ways to earn additional income. A proven method to increase income is to monetize existing leads. Turn a “No” into a “Yes”. Take a Bank (conventional lender) turndown and convert that lead…
“Life is About Opportunity”
How do Hard Money loans give opportunity to borrowers? I attended a breakfast meeting with Terry Donahue, former illustrious UCLA Head Football Coach, and he mentioned “Life is About Opportunity”. Terry currently give’s high school football players opportunity to receive a college football scholarship at his California Showcase. (http://cashowcase.org) In 2012 450 player athletes…
None of Us is as Smart as All of Us
The nature of Fractional Trust Deed Investing creates the opportunity and the benefits of collaborative underwriting Ken Blanchard, the famous Author of the “One Minute Manager” mentioned that his favorite saying is, “None of Us is as Smart as All of Us”. I completely agree with this humble approach to business and believe that…
The Double Nickel: 5 Lessons Learned 5 Years after the 2008 Meltdown
It’s been five years since Wall Street crashed and the financial crisis broke across the country. Many people lost their homes, their savings or their jobs. Financial plans were shredded. College funds and retirement accounts were drained. The economy has been slowly recovering over the past few years. The stock market is at new highs…
OC Register Article “Homes sellers turn to private deals”
Sandy MacDougall is quoted in the OC Register Article “Homes sellers turn to private deals”…. see attached article on private real estate listings! Download OC Register Article 10-6-13 Home sellers turn to Private Deals
What to Look for When Visiting a Non Owner Occupied Property?
One of the many things I enjoy about the Real Estate business is that each property and loan scenario is unique. Real Estate is not a commodity as every property and borrower has different characteristics that impact value. A personal or trusted associate property visit before making a hard money loan always provides useful underwriting…
How to Qualify a Hard Money Loan?
4 Steps to Qualify for a Hard Money Loan Many top Mortgage Brokers that specialize in conventional lending refer quality Hard Money Loan opportunities to a Hard Money Lender. How does a Conventional Mortgage Broker know if they have a good hard money loan opportunity? Follow these 4 steps for qualifying a Hard Money…
Go With the Flow!
Projected Yield is nice but Current Income Yield is better. Assuming invested Capital is equally safe in both types of investments; this blog describes the nuances of receiving yield through a back-end loaded projected yield where interest is earned at the end of an investment term vs. interest earned through a current income monthly deposit.…
4 Buckets for Better Diversification
With Stock Prices at all-time highs and bond yields still near record lows, establishing a truly diversified portfolio makes more sense than ever. Financial planners have long built portfolios based on historical correlations, or the extent to which various investments have moved up and down together in the past. The theory is that when stocks…
Why Diversify from the Stock Market?
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported in June, 2013 that Insider trading and stock market fraud persists, perhaps at epidemic levels. That’s what WSJ’s MarketWatch found in a series of interviews with people convicted of insider trading and fraud. These felons, including Bernie Madoff who orchestrated the largest in history $50 Billion Ponzi scheme,…
7 Important Factors when Choosing a Hard Money Lender
What are the important factors when choosing a hard money lender? Mortgage Brokers, Real Estate Investors and Borrowers should consider 7 factors when choosing their Hard Money Lender (HML): Experienced – Make sure the HML is specialized in private/hard money lending. There are increasingly complex origination, servicing and investor relations regulations that need to…
10 Best Practices for Your Hard Money Loan Servicer
Hard Money Loan Servicing can determine the success of your Trust Deed Investment. Yes, the many factors involved with servicing a loan correctly can highly influence the ultimate yield. This Blog will describe 10 Best Practices for Hard Money Loan and Trust Deed Investment Servicers. Whether a Lender is a Master Servicer with an…
3 Reasons Why California Home Prices Have Room to Run
So what will become of our long-awaited housing boom? Are higher rates going to douse the housing recovery? The chart above and the reasons below tell me that prices for Single Family Homes have room to run in California. The basic premise on this graph is that while prices have risen recently in these…
Solving the 5 Most Painful Issues in the Mortgage Process
The most painful issue in the mortgage process is cost, according to 66% of the consumers polled by Carlisle and Gallagher. More than half (56%) of those polled blame slow execution as one of the most frustrating aspects of the mortgage process. More than 30% said difficult communications and the inability to track the…