Paper for Dummies - Posted by John Behle

Posted by m.b. on November 16, 1998 at 15:37:34:

Thanks for your quick and helpful reply. I was kind of sure that this was not something you could learn in 5 or 10 easy lessons, but it’s at least nice to have a track to start on. There’s so much information, and as you probably know from the old cliche, “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road’ll get you there.” I’ll check out the J.P. article and the book you recommend, and then I’ll look forward to other basic information and articles from you as they become available. Thanks for your help and for having this site! m.b.

Paper for Dummies - Posted by John Behle

Posted by John Behle on November 16, 1998 at 13:13:25:

Hi, John! I really appreciate all this information and the opportunity to learn and exchange ideas. But I will be honest in telling you that as much as I read your articles and postings and these correspondences, I am not getting the methods and the how tos of this business through my thick skull. Perhaps it is me and I am dense or something, but all the creative real estate stuff, especially paper, notes, trust deeds and mortgages has me scratching my head. Are there any introductory books you can recommend that speak to novices like me? I really don’t have the time nor am I willing to shell out more money in expensive courses or seminars or $500 self-study packages. Besides that, I’ve invested in other real estate packaged seminars in the past and did not feel they gave me anymore than a mere cursory introduction to the subject and the business of making deals. Do you recommend a mentor? Are there consultants who will work with neophytes in this area? Where do you people learn this? It seems that most of the people in the Creonline forum and discussion board know what’s going on and speak so confidently about all of this. Where and how did you learn this? I have no finance or real estate background so all of this is complete Greek to me. Who should I talk to? Where can I learn this? I am especially interested in paper and mortgages and flipping. The prospect of buying buildings to rent them out and manage tenants does not appeal to me. I prefer the armchair approach as opposed to the active, elbow grease route. Everyone says this creative real estate stuff is so easy, so why am I not getting it? I’m sure you’ve been asked these fundamental questions before, therefore I apologize for belaboring you with them again. In any case, if you can provide me with a how to and where to of all this, I would most appreciate it. I learned MacIntosh from the Mac for Dummies series. Now I need a similar introduction to the real estate/cash flow area. Thanks again for any and all help!

emmbee66@yahoo.com

Re: Paper for Dummies - Posted by sjm

Posted by sjm on November 17, 1998 at 08:53:42:

I have John Behle’s “The Paper Game” trilogy as well as Jon Richards’ “How To Start A Discounted Note Business”. Both are excellent resources and well worth the price. I would recommend J. Richards’ package as a sort of “Notes Primer”, while J. Behle’s is more advanced strategies. Try J. Richards’ course first (http://www.slip.net/~jrichard/index.html) to get a feel for how the notes business works in general and then get J. Behle’s “Paper Game” to find out how to turn those notes into real money.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with either of these gentlemen other than being a satisfied customer. I will say that both of these individuals have left me with positive impressions due to their helpful and professional manner.

Steve

Re: Paper for Dummies - Posted by m.b.

Posted by m.b. on November 16, 1998 at 13:15:33:

Sorry, but I meant for m.b. to have posted the Paper for Dummies article and not John Behle. I meant to address this letter to the attention of John Behle. Sorry for the confusion! my apologies!!!

No problem - Posted by The real John Behle

Posted by The real John Behle on November 16, 1998 at 14:55:01:

No problem on the mis-post. It did shock me a little. I know my photographic memory has been out of film for a while, but I didn’t think it was so bad I could post something and not remember it 10 minutes later.

Like the other newsgroups, this is a question and answer format, not a step by step, easy flowing seminar format. There’s quite a range of both knowledge and the level of questions, so to this point much of it has been geared towards problem solving, and strategy - not the basics of paper.

Even if we tried, this format couldn’t handle it. To effectively learn paper takes at least 5 days instruction from someone who knows the business and has the experience. I have to say that because there are those out there that only “teach” paper to charge their many thousands for the seminar - not to add value to the industry or actually create successful students.

As far as basic books, I guess the most basic might be Jimmy Napier’s “Invest in Debt”. That could give you a broad overview for just a few dollars. From what you’ve said, my books might be a little advanced. I will post a couple articles here in the newsgroup that might help though. The articles are excerpts from my books, so if they make sense, the books will. As far as Terry’s books, I don’t know how easy they are for the beginner to understand. I haven’t seen them yet.

When you want advanced strategies, techniques and more than a “cursory introduction” as you described the different real estate courses you been through, then my books fit the bill. My challenge has always been to make things simple enough for the beginner. The 5 day video course goes from simple to extremely advanced, but most of my books might be considered “second level”.

Start out with the articles in the “How to articles” section of this site. In particular, begin with J.P. Vaughn’s “Basic course” that is near the end of the articles in the list. There are also some other “paper” articles. I’ll also send you some more basic info.