Buying nonperforming notes

[Terry Deskin]

Im looking to find a resource to buying nonperforming notes. Any recomendations?

[Bill Gulley]

Terry and John, how well do you understand real estate, the collateral? Are you up on the foreclosure laws of the state where the property is located? As Dion pointed out, buying a note is not buying the real estate.

As to the "education" there are three ways to learn, basically. Work with a broker who will actually teach you notes (rare because they usually teach what they want you to know in dealing with them) another way is to self study by looking at various brokerage sites, talking with other investors and reading the note forums, the last way is to pay some guru who may take you down a path of showing you some method that is often expensive.

To my knowledge, there aren't any "note schools" or education programs that do not have some vested interest in how you do things or where you invest......that may change soon.

Non-performing loans can be worthless. If collection attempts have stopped, the note become a "stale" debt, as they may be viewed as an abandonment of the loan by the holder over time, they will be uncollectible. These notes will have more due diligence involved with not only the note but also with the seller/holder than other notes, this is not where investors should begin.

Due to the ripoff artists of the past in seller financing to homeowners, Dodd-Frank now covers lending by a seller of non-owner occupied homes, you'll be a lender at some point and will need a license. No longer really an equitable or economic strategy. 

Notes are finance, not real estate, the real estate is just the collateral for the loan. In lending or the paper game, always understand your collateral. :)