The Nine Must-Have Skills for Note Investors to Achieve Success

Foreign.

This is the no Closer show where you get the latest developments in distressed note investing and learn the secrets of how you can control millions of dollars worth of property. For panties on the dollar. Get educated and entertained by someone who has closed thousands of deals and lives to support you in achieving the same. Now here's your host CEO of We Close Nodes, Scott Carson.

Hey real estate investors.

If you have ever wanted to dive into the sexy side of real estate and become a note investor and not just somebody that owner finances properties or buys and sells on terms, but somebody who's actually buying debt from lenders, mortgage bankers, hedge funds on distressed real estate on both residential and commercial properties. Now is the perfect time. And guess what? We have our upcoming three day workshop here in just a few days on July 25th, 26th and 27th. That's right, that's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You can join me live on Zoom and our Note Buying for Dummies workshop. We'll go through the Fs of how to find fund and flip non performing notes at huge discounts without having to use your own money. And we'll show you all the different ways you can make money being a note investor. Day one's all about how we find these deals from banks, hedge funds and how you can automate the process of connecting with these people and get tapes and listen to you over and over again. Day two is all about raising capital and marketing. We'll show you how to tap into thousands of IRA investors who are looking for deals to fund and how to communicate and how to contact them and get them to fund your deals. And day three is all about the flip the exit strategies putting deals together. We'll mix in due diligence. We'll mix in the marketing side along with the structure side. So much stuff in three days live on Zoom with yours truly, the note guy, Scott Carson. Make sure you get signed up by going to Note buying for dummies.com or click on the three day workshop tab on our workshop. Get signed up today as we're still running discounts and you too can soon become a no buyer.

Foreign Good morning, good afternoon and good evening everybody. Welcome to this episode of the Note Closure Show. As always, Scott Carson jacked up today and today's episode is something that I'm really excited about. I get so many people that come to me from different avenues of real estate, both new and experienced, different niches and they asked me, Scott, what does it take to to be a great note investor? What does it take to be a really Great note investor out there. And I was thinking earlier last night about the answer to that question and I came with 9, not 7, not 6, not 5. 9. Must have skills that you have to master to have success as a note investor. Now some of these might seem pretty common sense, others may not, because we have a little bit different thing that we do with note investing. But I thought I'd go through that because, you know, there's so many opportunities in the investing side, especially now with the markets being where they're at. You're able to diversify your investments across a variety of markets, but you've got essential skills that are a little bit different than what most people are used to. So many real estate investors get investing and think it's just about the deal flow or I'm just going to use my own money, I'm just going to go fix and flip this property, I'm just going to buy a note and that's about it. That's not the case at all. The first thing you've got to master, the number one is deal flow. You gotta have a rope. To have a robust deal flow is critical for note investors because this is one of the biggest thing that'll kill your business. If you don't have steady deal flow coming in, you're really dead in the water. You have to build a network of reliable sources such as banks, asset managers, brokers, other industry professionals and all those are essential in accessing a steady stream of potential investment opportunities on a regular basis. All right. Cultivating relationships and actively seeking out deals and learning how to market for deals will essentially ensure a consistent pipeline of note investments for you and your investors. And this is one of the biggest mistakes we see, you know, investors make. They get used to one source and that's about it. Well, when that one source dries up or those two sources dry up, they're dead in the water. So you got to manage deal flow. Number two is the most important thing when it comes to actually doing a deal, and that's due diligence. Due diligence is a non negotiable aspect of note investing. Assessing the quality of the underlying collateral, the property. Understand the borrower's financials and payment history and the legal aspects of the note are critical steps. By that we mean the collateral files and what you have to do to foreclose. If you have to go that route in each state, conducting comprehensive due diligence helps identify potential risks or eliminating those risk, estimating potential returns and making informed investment decisions. If you don't know how to do due diligence, you don't need to be messing. As they always say, you don't want to go into a gunfight playing Russian roulette. In a lot of cases, if you don't know how to due diligence works, you're literally playing Russian related roulette with a full gun and you don't want that. So learn due diligence. That's the biggest thing out there besides understanding deal flow because you can't do due diligence without having a deal. Now yes, you can practice, but having a deal will make your due diligence much more valuable to you. Number three is you can't be like a lot of investors and be looking at everything you really need to Narrowing down your deal focus. Okay, you have to maximize your efficiency and optimize your expertise. It is essential to narrow your deal focus without within the note business. I mean, you can't be looking at everything you'd like to, but it doesn't mean you need to be bidding on everything. Some investors will specialize in specific asset classes like single family homes or residential notes or commercial or performing or non performing or owner finance or institutional debt. You have to realize that it's important to understand what you're looking at and the more that you focus, the better off you're going to be. The broader you are, the more difficult it is going to be when you start putting in systems in place and you have all these one off deals. Avoid the shiny object syndrome, I'm a steak potato vanilla kind of thing when it comes to your business. So narrowing your deal focus to maybe one or two niches and you'd be happier off. That's number three. Number four is raising capital. Everybody has got to get and master this. I don't care how much money you got in the bank, you will run out of your own money before too long and then you'll be dead in the water if you don't understand raising capital. Raising capital is a lifeblood of any investment business and note investing is no exception to that matter. Mastering the skill of raising capital involves developing relationships with potential investors, understanding their investment goals, and effectively communicating the value proposition of note investing. You also got to build a track record and establish trust is one of the most critical things you can do for attracting capital from individuals or institutions. It takes time. You've got to network, you've got to share what you're doing and we'll talk a bit more about the marketing side later on. But raising capital is the Key lifeblood. Because you never know when a great deal is going to come out. And so many times people pass the deal because they haven't taken the time from the very get go when they start to start raising capital. They wait till they run out of capital and then they're dead in the water. And that's what you don't want to be. Number five is once you're buying deals and you're going to diligence and you're getting deals in, you got to understand exit strategies, ladies and gentlemen. Successful note investors must have a clear understanding of various exit strategies. About 10, 10, 11 or 12 of them, depending on where you're at. Whether it's restructuring the loan, negotiating a payoff or closing on the collateral or selling it on the secondary market. Having a well defined plan for exiting an investment is essential. What are you gonna do with the asset after you take the. If you end up paying for the take it back or get to Dean Liu, do you want to keep it? Do you want to sell it? What's that market look like? The biggest mistake you can be, can make as a real estate investor, even as a note investor is be, you know, very stiff. You've got to be flexible. Flexibility and adaptability and executing exit strategies are key to maximizing turn and this is another mistake I see investors making. They want just one strategy and when that doesn't happen, they're dead in the water. They don't want to do they bitch and moan versus saying listen, go plan B, plan C. And that's why when we are teaching our students and we're buying, we're looking for at least a minimum of three exit strategies that are going to work well for us, not just one. 3. If you don't, if you only have one or two, you're really risking your long term sustainability. Number six, vendors. You've got to master your vendor relationships. Collaborating with reliable vendors is essential for the smooth operation of a note investment business. Building relationships with professionals such as attorneys, loan servicers, property inspectors and appraisers can provide invaluable expertise and assistance throughout the investment process. Developing a network of trusted vendors helps streamline operations and mitigate risk. You can't do it all yourself, ladies and gentlemen. You can't be a jack of all trades. Note investing. What's so great about it, it is a vendor driven business to help you do things versus you trying to do it all yourself. And this is one thing we see a lot of people screwing up with is they still want to try to do it all themselves. Well look, let the experts do what they're good at. You. You focus what you're good at and you'll be a lot better off. But you still have to understand what is required of them and what you're requiring because they work for you, you don't work for them. All right. So definitely important to know that relationship and know what is expected from the get go. Number seven is one of the things that I'm a big fan of and that's marketing. Effective marketing is so critical and crucial for attracting deal flow, raising capital and establishing a brand as a note investor. Developing a comprehensive marketing strategy that includes online presence, networking, attending history events and showcasing your expertise of both past, present and future deals through thought leadership content helps create visibility and credibility within the note investing community. So many investors 9 I say 95% investors fail at this alone. They don't share their deal flow. They don't share what they've got going on. I'm talking about bragging simply sharing your expertise and what you're working on in past case studies and deals close and showing Joe Q that you actually know what the hell you're doing. And becoming a thought leader online is so easy today than it was ever was. But so many people fail at this. But you've also when you're building a brand, you've got to be congruent. I've seen investors that great at talking about fix and flipping and they're talking about nuts investing, they're talking about weight loss and you got to focus on one thing and don't confuse your audience when it comes to branding. But marketing is one of the most essential keys, like I said, to raising capital and finding deals flow and making sure that people think of you when they think about notes 8 is managing and growing your portfolio. The two could have been separately. I decided to combine them in one because managing your portfolio is important, but you also want to grow your portfolio. Successful successful management and growing a note portfolio requires effective portfolio management skills. This includes monitoring borrow payments which you'll work with your servicing on, handling loan servicing, tracking financial performance and proactively managing any potential defaults or delinquencies. You got to know when they what to do when they stop paying, all right. And how you have to act fast versus sitting around with your twiddling your thumbs, which is another thing that a lot of people screw up on. Additionally, continuously seeking new investment opportunities and strategically expanding your portfolio will contribute to long term success. You know your business is going to change over time. What you do from asset 1, 2 and 3 is going to change when you go to 5, 10, 20. It's also going to change when you go to 50 to 100. As you grow as investor, you have to learn to manage expectations to help your, you know, help your portfolio grow. And you've got to bring on vendors and bring on staff to help make that happen. Number nine, the last one is one of the most important things because markets change. And number nine, you've got to know your markets. Understanding the markets in which you invest in is paramount. What's going on with foreclosures, what's going on with delays, legal process, values, all that good stuff, you know, you've got to monitor market trends, economic indicators and local dynamics help you make informed investment decisions and assess the risk reward profiles of different areas. There's some markets I would have invested in a few years back that I wouldn't invest in today. There's states that I'm pulling out of because of things that are going on there and other states that I'm looking into. Years ago, I wouldn't have ever invested in Ohio and Michigan, but I'm big on the Buckeye and Wolverine states these days. Part of that is growing your expertise in markets over time. Developing expertise in specific markets enables you to identify opportunities, predict future trends and optimize your note investment strategies. But you don't rely all solely on you leverage your services, leverage realtors, leverage other investors, get out, network and find out what's going on. And if you're looking to move into a market, take some time, learn it. It makes sense to if you need to jump on an airplane or a train, planes or automobiles and get out and spend a little time in that state or city that you're looking to buy some. But these nine critical skills are so crucial for note investors seeking success in the competitive world of note investing. It's a competitive place. It's still a smaller niche than most, but still competitive. And those that understand these nine key variables and take the time to master them, you may get to master them all at once to start to master them slowly but surely. It comes with time, comes with expertise. All right. And you'll find that these play a vital role in identifying profitable investment opportunities, managing skills, and growing your note investment business exponentially above your competition in a lot faster space. By continually honing these skills, these nine, and staying up to date with industry trends, note investors can position themselves for long term success in this dynamic, dynamic and rewarding investment field. So once again, recapping those Nine is understand deal flow, due diligence, narrowing your deal focus, raising capital, knowing your exit strategies, understanding your vendors, marketing, managing, growing your portfolio and nine knowing your markets. Those nine must have skills are so important to have you master this whole note investing business. And if you decide you're going to slough up, oh I'm not going to market, I'm just going to do it onesie twosie at a time, that's great. But you're only going to have limited success if you're going to grow as an investor. These things are all critical, not just in the note investing business. I mean many of these will help you grow as a real estate investor as well. But it pays to be the bank ladies and gentlemen. It really does pay because in the bank the bank always gets paid ladies and gentlemen. And it's a great way. Whether you're taking on assets or if you're keeping assets or you're just looking for performing or non performing, all these things come in in handy no matter what niche of note investing you're looking at. So hopefully this list was died before you. Once again number nine knowing your markets.

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Managing growing your portfolio 7. Marketing six vendors six five exit strategies 4. Raising capital 3. Narrowing your deal focus. 2. Due diligence and 1. Deal flow. And that's the top nine skills that any note investor has to master. Hope it was helpful. Go out, take some action buddy and we'll see at the top. Bye Sam. It.