The eastern suburbs are fantastic, however.

Eastern states tend to do closings at attorneys, western states at title companies.

Maybe in a buyer's market where the opportunities are plenty you can use rules of thumb to eliminate deals but I think in the current market you have to be willing to dig deep to be successful.The actions I take:-stay focused on deals that fit my investment criteria, 10 to 100 units for me in my target market, don't chase shiny objects-scour the MLS, Loopnet & Crexi for deals that match my criteria-go to conferences, networking events and meet people from BP-meet bankers, brokers PM and investors for lunch and coffee-repeatBasically, this is all about forming relationships and taking actions.

I simply go into the conference room (I get there a little early) and wait for the folks for the B ato C closing.

I drive all over the place (pretty much all of Eastern MA within a 25 mile radius of my home in Framingham) and I know this area like the back of my hand.

Now, investors in whole loans will benefit from a number of the restrictions and protections that previously applied only to investors in fractionalized loans, AND the same requirements (1 and 2 above) apply to whole loan investments.I'm attending a conference soon, where extensive coverage of the topic will be provided.I'm working with some attorneys and other trust deed investment providers to come up with procedures to fulfill the requirements, especially the more challenging # 2 above.I think investments in California trust deeds will now be somewhat safer as a result of this.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB"), through its sponsors in the Treasury Department, and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors ("CSBS") signed a memorandum of understanding ("MOU") relating to information sharing and coordinated regulatory efforts.

What resources would you recommend I use (online, blogs, forums, books, conferences, etc.) to fill in those holes?

The way it was explained on the conference call (more hinted than explained) was not that BofA was giving them preferential treatment.

@Kevin DrysdaleIn addition to finding a trustee - on my last check only Olympia Trust, Canada Western Trust, Eastern Trust and Laurentian Bank (via B2B) were offering services for self-directed, arms-length mortgages - find yourself a broker who deals with private mortgages.Working though a broker can reduce the need for any single lender to fund the entire mortgage - the broker can have multiple (though usually <=4) RRSPs fund the mortgage and take care of the servicing.