Seems many think we will be trading troy's again...LOLMy notes are pretty safe, I have held my breath over the past five years but no problems, knock on wood, but in a really bad recession defaults would/could go up.Bars/lounge are pretty safe if they are not highly leveraged and have low overhead, I'm pretty safe with particapations and the fringe benefits aren't bad.

You don't have to be a pest - your manager just needs to know that they will be held accountable for the management of the property.

If investors just held on, or invested anywhere near the bottom, the will have more than doubled there money and currently the stock market is near an all time high.

As to the costs being worth it, I would say for me I checked them out thoroughly by references from others before I moved on spending any money being mentored and coached, and I then paid handsomely to 2 different and very successful individuals, and a local club as well....it was well worth it because I was held accountable for taking action as the deals were coming in to make it happen....I made the people hold me more accountable than I think they even wanted to be....they kept telling me most people won't do what we tell them they must do to be successful in REI....so that is what I did to get going and be successful in the REI....took action along the way....it costed me 5 figures in coaching and mentoring and costed me sleepless nights to change my mindset about what it was going to take to get the job done...some people say it takes 10,000 hours to perfect a new skill...it didn't take me that long and I'm not perfect but I am doing well in it and I really love it as well...and I was 50 yrs old when I started so had a lot of preconcieved ideas and mindset to change....but REI is a great thing...worth it for new friends, $$$$$$$, time and freedom....focus...etc....hope this helps you!

Having money and making a loan may put you in the position as a lender/note holder. but having money to loan does not make you a lender or using other's money might have put you in the position as a broker, but that in itself doesn't make you a mortgage broker unless you have met the compliance issues of a brokerage operation.With you suggesting soliciting fundss as you did simply demonstrates a lack of legal requirements and your description of interests held in a collateral postion were really off base, so that too shows those here who do know that you are not a real mortgage broker as legally defined.

That includes my self directed 401K and real estate held outside it.

Even in the lower-end markets in CA you'll see a lot of properties held in a trust.

I held one tenant and that parent responsible and NEVER had a problem in over 12 years.What happens with keeping one on the lease is that they get roommates (with my approval and lecture) and when that tenant leaves the others in there step up to lease it, so there is a flow of tenants going through.

In reality, I would prefer to pay private money rates on their investment so any of the excess profits after paying out their interest earned are held by the company. how attractive that is for an investor...I don't know.

He works on anything held in the 401K(s) & I just 'advise' but I pay for all work/materials from the 401K.As per my recent IRS Audit I did show that the properties were purchased & renovated using an arms length 1099 contractor.