So the notion that the Howey test should somehow be applied to a Note (aka loan, aka note & deed of trust, aka mortgage) is mixing apples and oranges it would seem.Also an interesting point he made is that if everything (investors, property, etc) is in one state, one should look to state laws in making the is it a security determination.  

Todays mortage quotes are very interesting, Dodd Frank passed leg in 2010 to protect the consumer, but in reality they figured out work arounds to still confuse the borrower, here is my advise. get the GFE, this cannot vary more than 10% by law or else, or else they dont get the loan. big woopie. my advise is to give the lender as much **** as possible on the 4.5 tell them you can get it for 4.0 and tell them to f off if they cant match it. i am told by law everyones rates and fees are the same. ya right, they are not. federal vs. state laws. f the banks and lenders. get the best rate by searcing and asking questions.

I think we were very successful in running this leg of real estate.  

And no one is ever upfront or honest about the amount of leg work or effort that goes into obtaining other people's money.

closing attornies work like escrow companies do out our way with a set fee to close.. not an hourly rate.. apples and oranges what your paying for.

My partners and I are new to investing and wondering, if anybody has a good idea of the best areas to flip a house in orange county

Picture a stool: You can sit on a one legged stool, but you've got to balance carefully.  

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience in and advice for a newbie looking to break into tax lien certificate investing in Southern California (Orange County, Los Angeles County).

Vegas and Reno are like apples and oranges in many ways...

We still are investing (buying / selling) and I do the majority of the the leg work, decision making, looking for properties, meet w/ contractors, handling tenants, etc.