Skip Recording CFD's?

[Brittany P.]

Hi All,

I have a question that I'm sure will make me sound reckless to some of you experienced note investors. Here goes: I've just purchased my fifth contract-for-deed (CFD) and I'm now on a timeline where I save up and buy a new CFD every three months. Eventually I hope to cash flow where I'm making larger outright note purchases, but for now at my price point, smaller CFD's (around $15k UPB) are what I can afford.

Given that these are CFD's, I'm noticing that recording costs are a little heftier than just recording an assignment of mortgage. The transfer fees/taxes for the deed can get into the $400 - $500 range for each of these. So my question is: if I wanted to save on the recording costs, keep the deed for my records, proactively pay taxes as they're billed (would coordinate with the company I buy the CFD from), then work with the borrower to get the deed recorded under their name once they've paid off the contract--am I putting myself at risk? These contracts run from 3 - 5 years; is there a downside to skipping recording until deed is ready to go to the borrower, as long as I'm staying on top of taxes?

I look forward to hearing from the pros on this--thanks!