The Laziest Way To Real Estate Profits

By America's Note Network Senior Staff Member

Suppose you went to a garage sale and found a dusty $20,000 bill tucked away in a manila folder. You ask the lady how much she wants for it. At first she is surprised you would even buy it at all, but she says, "I wouldn't mind unloading it for $14,000. It's a nuisance to me anyway." After you get over your initial surprise, you say, "Well, maybe I'm crazy, but I'll give you the $14,000." You buy the bill, walk to your car, drive to the bank and deposit the full $20,000. You just made a cool $6,000 with no work. All you did was:

1. Recognize an opportunity, and

2. Act on it.

Now who, in their right mind, would sell a perfectly good $20,000 bill for $14,000? Nobody. But a very similar thing happens all the time in discounted mortgages and trust deeds.

And the best news is that you can buy a discounted mortgage or trust deed without any cash up front. If you have been waiting to save up enough money to start investing in this lucrative field, you don't have to wait any longer. You can start right away.

Where Do Notes Or Real Estate Paper Come From?

Different states use different security instruments: mortgages, trust deeds, land contracts, etc., but for our purposes, let's call them all "notes or cash flows."

It all starts out when someone, let's say a lady named Sue Seller, puts her house up for sale. Sue has a $100,000 property with a low interest, low payment assumable loan of $60,000. Like most sellers, she first asks for all cash for her $40,000 equity. But soon she finds that she doesn't get any all cash offers.

Financial knowledge is financial power!

She changes her mind and says, "Owner will carry financing." This improves her luck and she meets Bill Buyer who makes an offer to pay the $100,000 price, take over the payments on the $60,000 assumable loan and put $20,000 cash down. Bill still owes Sue an additional $20,000 for her $40,000 equity and he agrees to pay it over a period of time, with interest.

This is where the "$20,000 bill" comes in.

Bill gives Sue a $20,000 note secured by her property with terms as follows: 12 percent interest, interest-only payments of $200 per month, and the full $20,000 due and payable in 36 months. If Bill had known more, he probably would have gotten better terms (knowledge is power and financial knowledge is financial power).

This note helped Sue get a jump on the competition and sell her house easier and faster. It helped Bill buy the house easier, without using all cash and without going to the bank for a loan. They both came out ahead from their individual points of view, a Win/Win transaction.

Then what does Sue do? She takes off with $20,000 cash down payment and her new $20,000 note and goes on the vacation of her lifetime. Traveling all around for several months, she finally returns home with some fond memories, some souvenirs, and guess how much cash? Zero!

Sue needs to get started again and decides to open her own business. She needs $14,000 to do so. But the bank turns her down for a loan. She is about ready to cry, when our hero, Paper Pete, a discounted paper investor shows up. Pete offers to buy Sue's $20,000 note for $14,000. Sue says, "Thank you for saving my day!"

Pete has just bought a "20,000 bill" at a garage sale for $14,000. In fact, he did better than that because his $20,000 bill has 12 percent interest, $200 per month interest income, and pays off the full $20,000 principal in 30 more months. In addition, this $20,000 note is secured by a $40,000 equity in a nice property that Pete wouldn't mind owning himself if he had a chance.

Most likely, Pete will get paid as agreed:

·         Interest Income of $200 per month for 30 months = $6,000

·         Principal payoff at the end of 30 months = $20,000

·         Total amount received: Pete collects a total of $26,000 on an investment of only $14,000. He almost doubles his money in 30 months!

In the event Bill Buyer, the property owner or debtor doesn't pay as agreed for any reason, Pete can get even luckier because he can foreclose and might even make more money. Pete would probably be cashed out early, but should he get the property back, he would own a $100,000 house with only the $60,000 loan remaining. He would have received $40,000 in equity for only a $14,000 investment. So you see, Pete wins either way.

Figuring Your Profits In Advance

Before buying Sue's $20,000 note at a discount, Paper Pete figured his yield or annual rate of return on the money invested by using his Hewlett-Packard Model 10 B II pocket financial calculator. This handy machine has become the standard for real estate, banking and finance. In the event you don't have one yet, you should get one and learn to use it right away.

All Pete has to do is use the 5 magic keys: N or number of payments, I or interest rate/yield, PV or principal amount or price paid for the note), PMT or payment amount and FV or balloon payment. He enters 30 for the number of remaining payments, -$200 for the monthly payment, and -$20,000 for the final balloon principal payment. He tells the calculator that he is paying $14,000 for the note. The calculator says his yield will be 2.42 percent per month or a whopping 29.1 percent per year!

Pete has just made real estate profits with high safety and positive cash flow and without tenants, property maintenance, or management worries. He doesn't need a garage full of spare refrigerators, buckets of Navajo White flat latex paint, drop cloths and harsh cleaning chemicals like a property owner does. All Pete needs is a mailbox and a telephone. He goes to his mailbox each month, collects his checks and takes them to the bank. And he has no physical work.

Are you ready for positive cash flow and no physical work? If so, discounted paper is for you, too.

There's money out there looking for paper!

You Don't Need Any Money To Get Started

In this example, Paper Pete used his own money, but the fact is that there is so much money out there looking for paper that you don't need any money of your own to get started. You could simply find the Sue Sellers of the world and then list those notes on America's Note Network for a quick cash sale. In the above example an investor would have been happy to pay $16000 for Sue's note. You just made the $2000 difference. Congratulations!