Get your Slice of the Land Contract Pie with a Partial Note

Interested in creating passive income by purchasing a seller financed note? Have you ever felt as though the price of every performing note is beyond your reach? Consider purchasing a partial note. It’s more affordable and it creates a “win-win” scenario for you and the owner of the note. What exactly is a partial note you might ask?

Think of a seller financed note as a Thanksgiving pie. You could eat the whole pie yourself over time ( and of course hit the treadmill after!) or you could just have a piece…..the choice is yours!! A partial note is simply a piece of the seller financing pie. You and the owner of the note can negotiate how big or small a piece of the pie you can handle. If both you and the owner can come to an agreement, you can indulge in a taste of owning a note, and the owner/seller can receive some immediate cash for a series of payments.

Let’s take a look at an example:

Alejandro owns a property that he recently sold on land contract for $50,000. He is receiving monthly payments at 8% interest of $474.66 for the next 15 years. Alejandro is happy with collecting payments every month that will continue for several years but he also has an interest in selling the note to buy another property. You, being an excellent note finder, using some of the marketing techniques I’ve previously outlined, contact Alejandro about purchasing his note outright. He tells you the price for the entire note, but adds a comment that the only reason he wants to sell is he needs money to buy another property. This little piece of information opens the door for you to discuss the possibility of buying a piece of the note, a partial.

Say Alejandro tells you he needs $15,000 for his next deal right now. You can propose purchasing the next 4 years of payments from him for that $15,000. If he accepts, you have created a win-win scenario for both parties. He now has the liquid cash to purchase that next property, and you happily collect 48 payments of $474.66. That’s a fantastic 19% return each year!

As you can see from the example, purchasing a partial note can be the perfect solution for you as an investor and the note owner. If you’re just starting out, it also allows you to get your feet wet when it come to investing in notes without ‘eating the whole pie’ yourself.

Have you made a partial note purchase before? I would love to hear from you.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.