Vetting Private Money Solicitors

[Joseph Zimlich]

Good day BP community!  As I'm starting to get my contact info out in the world, getting myself on wholesaler lists etc, it's not surprising to get some tangentially related solicitation emails.  Many of these claim to be private money lenders (usually offering around 6%).  Statistically speaking, some are likely to be low quality services, some are likely to be unscrupulous types trying to steal my identity, but I'm hopeful at least a couple are legit people just trying to make money like you and me.  And since I don't have any existing relationships, I have to start fresh with someone. How do you go about vetting these solicitors without exposing yourself to undo risk?

[Kyle J.]

@Joseph Zimlich I have a sure-fire way for you to figure out “statistically” which of those it is. Here it is: 

- If someone on the internet, that you’ve never met, initiates the contact with you, and claims to be a private lender, and asks you to please borrow money from them, at an interest rate that’s anywhere in the 4-6% range, then statistically...

There is a 100% likelihood that it is a scam. 

Seriously, it just doesn’t work that way. So remember that, and you will hopefully avoid losing your hard-earned money (and/or having your identity stolen) when getting these types of email solicitations. 

I have posted on this topic quite a few times in the past so that BP users like yourself won’t get ripped off. To avoid re-typing everything again here, here’s just a few prior threads you might check out (my responses in these have tips and links to other helpful posts):

How do I spot scam lenders?

How do i protect myself when getting a Private Loan

Private Lender Verification