All Forum Posts by: William "W.J" Mencarow

Mark, Here are some of the reasons why a SDIRA might be right for you — or not:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/where-we-live/wp/2016/02/29/even-with-risks-more-investors-are-giving-self-directed-iras-a-closer-look/

Notes can be practical in a SDIRA, esp. a Roth IRA. Make sure that the notes are high quality and unlikely to go into default.

Some books to consult are "The Ultimate Guide To Self-Directed Retirement Plans" by Thom Garlock; Steve Case's book "Tax Free Note Investing," and "Your IRA Can Buy Notes & More" by John Merchant, J.D.

William, as background, I went to my first real estate seminar in about 1982 and have heard hundreds of "gurus" since then, read a pile of books, and even have bought some real estate. My conclusion is that most of them make their money from seminars, "boot camps," "coaching," etc. I'm not guessing about that -- I became friends with one of them who grew a conscience, and he admitted to me that most of the "gurus" he knew owned little to even no real estate at all. (I'm not referring to any of the people mentioned above; I don't know them well enough to comment.)

You do have to decide what area of real estate most interests you, what fits best with your skills and resources, and find an honest teacher. Start here: http://bit.ly/29sFXGj (I've known the author of that site for over 20 years and he's as straight-shooting as they come). Then, if you decide single family houses is the way you want to go, after my years of testing the "guru waters" I have two suggestions for you: http://peterfortunato.com and http://www.johnschaub.com John also has ridiculously low priced home study courses and books. And you will not hear any upsells at either of their seminars (I just went to John's again earlier this year).

I hope this helps. Feel free to PM me. -- Bill Mencarow

David, a license to broker notes is required in a few states (not Texas).  CA is the only one that I know of that requires a license to invest in notes for your personal account.  There is no such thing as a certification in the note industry.  LoanMLS.com is the largest online note exchange.  Most people use a combination of networking and other marketing techniques to generate leads.

Jeffrey, you can buy r.e., notes, etc. in a self-directed IRA. There are lots of discussions about that, as well as some books available. -- Bill

Tony, Patrick's suggestion on local private investors is a good one if you are aware of and prepared to deal with the potential liabilities.  Otherwise I would strongly suggest selling notes to an institutional investor.  Searching the Internet for institutional investors is hit and miss, mostly miss, since a large number of those claiming to be such, or "end-investors," etc., are brokers who are often selling to the same institutional investors you could sell to.  I've been keeping and updating a list of real institutional investors since 1992.  PM me with a few more details on the notes and I'll put you in touch with some. -- Bill

Hi Abel,  My first note deal was in the early 1980's.  I placed an ad in the local Penny Saver weekly (it's full of ads and is given away at restaurants, grocery stores, etc.).   The edition with my ad in it was scheduled to be distributed on a Thursday.  On the Tuesday before I got a call from a note holder (performing, on an owner-occupied house in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC, where I lived, first position, good equity, good pay history -- one of the best notes I've ever bought).  

I asked him how he heard about me and he said from my ad in the Penny Saver.  

"Uh...I was told it wouldn't even be printed for a day or two."

"It hasn't been printed," he says.  "I'm the typesetter."

Lesson I learned:  You never know where your next deal is coming from, so try every marketing opportunity!

BTW, there's at least one note group in San Diego, the San Diego Note Investors.  http://www.meetup.com/San-Diego-Note-Investors-Meetup/

Hi Sandy -- There's already a thread about this: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/70/topics/299...

Tomorrow when it starts I'll ask all BPers to stand and also mark their badge with BP.  See you there!

Bob, the rainbow colored clown wigs  is a great idea .  I'm sure you have several in your closet , as we all do . I will make an announcement  asking  BiggerPockets members to stand  comma  but be sure to have your clown wig in reserve in case I forget . 

"I would presume by saying you haven't foreclosed doesn't mean you have not had defaults rather the dispositions you managed were alternatives to foreclosure. So you are buying loans with good LTVs and decent borrowers with income and assets to support the loans, right?"  

Exactly.