Help Please

[Dilshad Randhawa]

Hello All,

My name is Dilshad and I live in Virginia, USA. By profession, I am a software engineer and my goal is to become a "private lender". I've heard that you don't really need any license requirements, or any actual physical business to start. So, because I am totally new to private lender, I was wondering where can I get a face-to-face and online training on this subject? Please help me as I really want to be in this business.

[Paul Timmins]

@Dilshad Randhawa

Welcome

Check out the free Ultimate Beginner's Guide to Real Estate Investing at http://www.biggerpockets.com/ubg

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings. Great place to gather people, resources and info.Here you will seek a referral for the best real estate attorney. You will also let others know that you are lending and if they have any needs. Ask them what they need and what they are offering.

Good luck

Paul

[Jon Holdman]

@Dilshad Randhawa this is a state-by-state question. The absolute best place is to consult with an attorney in your state who's familiar with originating real estate loans. Most states do not require a license to lend your own money. However, you will certainly want an attorney to review your documents and terms to be sure you're creating and recording the right documentation and that you're complying with your state laws.

As far as finding borrowers that truly is as easy as going to REIAs in your area and saying "I have money to lend". But you want to be sure you understand the deals you're getting into.

[Chris Burns]

I totally agree Jon. The deals are the key. I have have a trust deed investor contact me here in Saint Louis to assist him in unwinding a deal that he got into as fairly new lender. Before I even looked at the property, I was able to advise him (based on the address and loan amount) that it was a deal that should not have proceeded initially. The good thing is that the lender mitigated the loss from the deal quickly and is now doing profitable deals.

[Jeff S.]

There is really no useful online training, Dilshad, or any detailed books on the topic. The best face-to-face information will come from a lending attorney familiar with your state laws. This is not the same as a general real estate attorney.

You might go through the Private & Conventional Lending Discussion forum and look for topics on how to get into the business as well as how to find a good lending attorney. Here's one to get you started.

This is really a local business and, starting out, all of the information you need should be obtained locally.

Hope you know a little about real estate.

Jeff

[John Moore]

You have received valuable advice. I would attend local real estate investment meetings observe and listen. Identify a good local real estate attorney who specializes in "real estate investments" for others who attend these meetings see what he charges for his services and if you can communicate well with the Attorney to indicate what it is "you are looking for", your agenda not his/hers.

[Ann Bellamy]

@Jeff S. is right, you need a good attorney - but not simply a real estate attorney, or even an attorney familiar with real estate investing. You need an attorney who specializes in private lending. this is critical, because knowledge of real estate investing is not the same as knowledge of the local lending laws. Most real estate attorneys deal with institutional lenders, who already have all required licenses. Private lending has it's own set of challenges.

If you can't find one at the local REIA, call some hard money lenders, you might ask about investing with them, and ask them who they use as an attorney.

There are also a number of threads on how to be a hard money lender or how to be a private lender, so do some searches on the forums also for extra help.

[Dilshad Randhawa]

Thank you all for the support, the issue which I am having is there are several kinds of attorneys and I am trying to find a lending lawyer/attorney but becoming unsuccessful. The most I come up with is real estate attorney which I believe is different.