How to become a private investor for 3rd market?

[Crystal Austin]

Hello, there! I am a Mortgage Loan Originator, and I have been doing this for a year and a half now. I am convinced more than ever that real estate is a good way to make money because everyone needs a roof over their head! That being said, I am currently trying to invest in probate leads, (I say "trying" because I do have personal issues that are getting in the way quite frequently,) and I'm thinking of using the money I gain to buy investment properties, and later maybe buy loans for servicing. Whether or not I will have my company service the loan has yet to be determined, but it sounds a bit more tedious than I suspected, (as I learned while reading this thread before posting this one).

Basically, I doubt that it's really as simple as looking in a marketplace, buy a loan from a bank or direct lender, and then just start servicing the loan. I couldn't find much information googling, so I figured I could just ask. There has to be some licensing or certification requirements that I must achieve to be able to become an investor, (most likely hiring a loan servicer at this point), and I mainly suspect this because of the SAFE exam. There are a lot of entities involved in regulating this business, so I assume that if I needed to learn so much to become an MLO, there must be some other knowledge in regard to 3rd market investing that I wasn't taught because I'm technically just originating the loans to later be sold in the 3rd market.

Am I correct in my assumptions? Any tips to getting started would be appreciated! I obviously am going to need a lot of money to do all of this, so I'm starting somewhere and trying to build my way up in the meantime. Thanks in advance!