Note Assistance Program and Note Lab: Good For Note Newbie?

[Valenda D.]

I am a former buy and hold investor (rental co-op, condo and SFH) and multi-family property manager seeking to transition to owner-occupied, SFH, 1st position NPN.

As a newbie to notes, the Note Assitance Program, especially including its Note Lab, has been suggested as the best program to become educated about notes that is also inclusive of ongoing hands-on guidance, support and resources for IMPLEMENTING THE KNOWLEDGE to build a successful business. A plus for me is that it is live training, relatively near me in Southern California and has positive reviews among several members of my lical REI networking group. I'm in Long Beach.

I am also of retirement age but plan to work at my new 9 to 5 job another 5 years to become vested in the retirement plan. 

Building a note investment business that generates monthly cash flow of at least $1K a month within the next 5 years to supplement my expected other sources retirement income is my current goal. 

I hope that is a realistic goal. I'm starting with a $15K seed money lump sum and will have an additional $1K per month to add to my investible capital cache. I am planning to invest eitherin individual notes (probably seller financed).JV note deals of defaulted notes/foreclosed property sales have been proposed.

Those deal would generate a lump sum profit to be it sed for future investing.i've been advised both that I have enough to begin investing and also that I don't invest don't have enough to begin investing, or more importantly to sustain the business.

Can anyone provide feedback about your experience or knowledge about the Note Assistance Program and/or its Note Lab? Thank you.

[Account Closed]

@TJ 

@TJ P., I am a member of the NAP Nation as it's called! I am also taking the coaching program. Yes, what @Andy Mirza described is correct. I met Jasmine and Natosha at a real estate expo in Baltimore MD back in April this year and decided to sign up for the (Note Lab) two day workshop and flew out to California where they are based.

They have provided an in depth training and focus on 1st position non-performing notes, CFD's, lease options and brokering a note. They do provide coaching program members access to monthly inventory tapes, however you are NOT obligated to purchase the notes from them. You start out with weekly phone/Zoom meetings and training on how to "scrape the tape", analyze assets, talk to realtors and county tax officials, got your questions answered, etc. The Note Lab itself is great if you are comfortable with taking in a lot of information, but we also went in depth on how to do due diligence, force placed insurance, reading the title reports, how to pull neighborhood data, etc. There was a lot more and it was very interactive and hands on. I am in no way affiliated with them other than I am a coaching member.

The good thing about it is, yes, you have a whole community of note investors, experienced and the new ones who come in to the workshops (some experienced members come to potentially partner with newbies in the area too). They have masterminds and other offshoot groups for more experienced members, but those are obviously held in Cali. But the other members have been very helpful and free with knowledge. They have a private members FB group as well to ask/answer questions.

They do have lower value assets all over the country and Jasmine has trusted sellers that she has built relationships with from her time in the financial industry. There are instances where she will allow us to broker a note too. Like Andy said, many frown on the coaches also providing the note, but again it's not mandatory for you to buy one from her. Only thing holding me back right now is my own capital and I fully intend to buy a note or two from her once my home sells. In the mean time, I have been sourcing other sellers and networking and continuing to educate myself on notes. They are always a phone call away and they ALWAYS answer or respond to emails.

I also took Martin Saenz' note workshop here in Virginia because he focuses on 2nd position notes. His workshop was great as well and he has a cohort (basically a coaching program) which I did not sign up for. His workshop went in depth on the due diligence, sourcing and other systems that are used for 2nd's. It was great because it reinforced what I learned in Jasmine's workshop, but just with the nuances and differences for 2nd's.

I have found that everyone you talk to in this space has an angle and something to sell (at least that  has been my experience). You just have to decide what's best for you. Best of luck to you on your note journey! Let me know if I can provide you with anything additional.