How to originate Promissory Notes (with Mortgage)

[Han T.]

Dear Bigger Pocket Experts, friends and fellow Investors, I'm thinking of purchasing a property via lending from private lenders (more specifically, friends and close families). 

Can i just go online and find a promissory note and mortgage template, write it and get it signed with all my stakeholders (lenders), or do I have to find an expert (or is it an attorney) and get it signed/notarized via some state authority? 

Thanks in advance and happy investing! :) 

[Terrence Evans]

it is farrrr better to go to a lawyer for the first time and pay the piper once.  They are better equpped to make adjustments to templates they may draw from that are applicable to the situation at hand. Plus if you need repeat the process down the line you will have a suitable template.

Using a generic one from the Internet increases your risk when / if things go wrong.