Attended a Twin Cities Note Group Last Night

[David Moore]

I'm wondering what the general consensus on buying notes is out there. I went to a note subgroup of my local REIA last night, and it seemed like most of the people attending, myself included, had no idea how to acquire a note, and the risks involved. As we got further into the meeting, one guy spoke up and repeated himself about 5 times about his acquisition strategy, his exit strategy, how he would make his money even if the place burned down, his limited purchasing power, and on and on. The group, as it went on, really seemed to be a marketing presentation more than a group. The leader appeared to be looking for investors he could partner with to buy Notes.

At one point in the discussion, he said, don't even think about buying notes in Minnesota (where we are from).  It struck me in this meeting that note buying is capital and research intensive, fraught with risk.  I'd much rather flip a home locally or buy a rental.  I just don't get it at all.  If investing in notes requires me to trust a counterparty looking for fat fees in places I don't live, and it requires a TON of effort on my part....why not just invest in my home market.  Can anyone enlighten me on why investing in notes is cost effective (my time being a key cost element)?