What a Successful Note Investing MasterMind Group looks like

Question

It’s critical to build a community for yourself as a Note Investor.This community will serve you through time with deal flow, vendor resources, strategies, due diligence & workout support…you get the point.In my opinion a MMG needs to holds the following to be successful:

• 1)A series of consistent meetups in-person & through video conferencing (i.e. once a month)
• 2)Have a veteran player facilitating the call to help move the discussion along while they smell out opportunities
• 3)Have a safe and open environment so nobody feels dumb bringing up any topic for discussion
• 4)Synergy formation through positive discussion.This could lead to forming buying partnerships, teaming, shared resources, and a whole host of other positive moves
• 5)NO SELLING POLICY.The MMG should not be a forum for selling products and services to each other.

Any one else have any thoughts on this?

Wayne Snell · Answer

I am a member of a face-to-face Notes mastermind which has been tremendously valuable to my business but find it increasingly difficult to attend the meetings due to other commitments, as well as personal travel schedule. In fact I was invited to participate in a second MM but my schedule prohibits. One issue with the face-to-face masterminds is they are fairly expensive. That said, I live by the old adage that you have to spend money to make money. I do see the value in a virtual NMM because I could attend from anywhere. For me I would need to decide if the value I receive outweighs the cost of participating, which is hard to determine without attending one.

Regarding the issue of being “sold“ I agree as long as there’s educational value then it’s not so bad. We all have businesses and it’s just part of it. That said I am very unhappy when I attend a paid conference and get bombarded with sales pitches with almost no take away value and you have to spend $x to be in the club...

Regarding the issue of being “sold“ I agree as long as there’s educational value then it’s not so bad. We all have businesses and it’s just part of it. That said I am very unhappy when I attend a paid conference and get bombarded with sales pitches with almost no take away value and you have to spend $x to be in the club...

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

Martin the MMG I went to ( which I really don't do group events often maybe once a year or every two years) but this one I was curious about..

and it to me was a Peer Group MMG..  there were no beginners in it.. so to me I think those looking to learn this is the huge popularity of BP and the local meetups like what @Bob Malecki apparently does in Seattle.. were all skill levels are welcome..

It was an eye opener for me to come to this group and meet more leaders of the industry and no what I would call general enthusiasts or those that are looking to invest as a side line.. these were all folks that had up and going fully mature real estate business's.. so in that way I was pretty much in awe of the whole proceeding.. nothing like

going to Vegas shows or that stuff were its a lot of presenters and general public. if you have a few hundred bucks your get in the door.

this event or group was invitation only … So like I said never been to one before did not know what to expect and was pretty humbled by the whole thing..

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

@Bob Malecki  its a small niche as well.. and one that even though to us at least who posted here .. its pretty basic be the bank.. to most out there starting their RE journey they are confused and don't really understand investing in paper.

or at least as it relates to buying the asset.. 99% of the folks out there with interest in Real Estate understand being a landlord.. or at least the concept.. IE buy a property and rent it  :)

What they don't for whatever reason understand is that for 80% of all real estate transactions there is a bank/lender/note facilitating it to make it happen.. and that's were those in the note business or banking business or lending business come into play.. there are two sides to these transactions.. and like I said 99% understand one side and maybe 10% understand the other side that is necessary to facilitate it in the first place.

Obviously for the 20% of properties sold those go for cash.. so we all get that.

And the note business or being the bank business requires cash and unless your in the business there is no leverage..

So that keeps all but the more cashed up or mature investors out of the game.

Bob Malecki · Answer

I I started a casual meet-up group for note investing a few years ago here in Seattle. Essentially it was just to share information and have casual discussion. the attendees were mostly novices looking to learn more with a few advanced note investors .

What I found is that by just providing access to knowledge and some thought leadership many of the attendees have had good success and some have partnered with me on projects.

I think in this niche the community needs to be National or even International since local meet-ups do not always provide the resources that investors need to execute a good business plan and locate inventory.

Chad U. · Answer

Martin, I love how much you give back to the Note community, your generosity does not go unnoticed.

I feel that a good MM  is generally smaller closed knit group of peers, often in different businesses who share their failures and successes.  I started my own a few years ago with a few close colleagues who met once a month.  At every meeting I would ask them to bring their 3 biggest accomplishments and 3 biggest hurdles they faced since last.  We would then brainstorm for ideas to help them overcome  those.  We would then go away with a list of items they wished to complete by the next meeting.  This was actually the push I needed to get into Note investing.

This was a great way of holding each other accountable for their actions.  Mind you this was a small group, so likely be tough to accomplish with a large open group across the country.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

I did get a chance to meet and talk with Eddie at this event I went to .. not sure is Scott was a member or not.. but it was a diverse membership .. it was not only notes.. but it was high level owner operators that for sure.. Thanks for the reply appreciate it.

as it turned out were I have done HML for the past 2 decades Eddie was raised in those varies neighborhoods and we know a bunch of mutual acquaintances so we really did not talk business at that point as I think most transactional business gets handed down to his assistants anyway..

Bob Malecki · Answer

Well, I took on a partner in our fund who is a Noteschool student which provides us a wealth of info! The note conferences are beneficial for networking and adding to our universe of peers that we can bounce ideas off as well

Wayne Snell · Answer

Yes I am in Scott’s MM and was asked to join Eddie’s. I feel that every one of the meetings have delivered value to me. From some of the external speakers and other note investors who shared their experiences as well as just learning different approaches helped me. Over time I became one of the people sharing. The MM program has changed to dramatically since I first got involved but nowadays I really don’t have the time to participate the way I would like anyway. That said I do try and get to one or two local meetings in the Dallas area just to stay in touch with all of my colleagues here. I also do go to a few Notes conferences assuming I can plan far enough ahead to lock down my schedule.

Angela Russo · Answer

Are the people who would be interested in starting up a virtual MMG?

I'm still in the SDIRA set up phase to get started, but if there are others of varying experience levels who would be interested in creating one, I'd definitely be in!

Martin Saenz · Answer

Thanks Chad.  I simply enjoy being a part of the community and connecting with those that are equally passionate.  I see myself Note Investing for the rest of my life and am just getting started.  I like your MM format and that you took initiative in getting it set up.  Bigger is not always better as I'm sure you know.

What a Successful Note Investing MasterMind Group looks like

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