Three VERY long answers - You expected concise and succinct from me? - Posted by John Behle
Posted by John Behle on April 07, 1999 at 21:53:57:
(QUESTION 1) WHAT TYPE OF DEALS? I’d focus on pre-foreclosure deals. I work them in several ways. One is that we will loan them money to bring them current. That may or may not include taking them in and refinancing them. Usually it does.
If they just want out of the deal, we may buy the property and then flip it. Usually with low down seller financing to create paper.
We may also work with the lender in two ways (back door to the property). One is to buy their note. We can then structure a workout situation with the owner. Many lenders are quite receptive to selling at some surprising prices when the loan is in default. Of course, private lenders are the best for this. If they do not want to discount, we may work a trade of an existing performing note to them (or use it as collateral).
We also do “amortized partials” where we buy the note with a note. This is an amortized note that may mirror their note or may be more of a bargain for us. That may look like a lower rate (or zero) and monthly payments equal to what they were receiving.
We market this to them as a “payment guarantee”. We step in an make the payments and then work a deal with the owner or someone else. Sometimes that can look like buying from the landlord and selling to the tenant. This is then a “nothing down” approach to pre-foreclosures. We also focus a lot of “Pre Pre-foreclosures”. Using creative techniques to find these deals, we work with them prior to a notice of default even being filed. That’s nice, because the competition (vultures) haven’t started swarming yet.
(QUESTION 2) WHO TO WORK WITH? I’m not a big fan of brokering notes, but if you had to start that way, the ones you mentioned are good, but one of the most agressive, creative and well trained groups out there right now would be AMERICAN NOTE. Judy Miller, Mike Morrongiello and John and Lisa Moren are all students of my five day bootcamp and know the business very well. I highly recommend them, especially if you can work directly with Mike.
(QUESTION 3) PERSONAL TRAINING. I’ve mentored people for over a dozen years. I do it personally through a one year ASSOCIATE TRAINING PROGRAM that includes all of my materials, seminars, one on one phone, fax, email, advertising, resources (other brokers and funding sources), goal setting and accountable follow up and help in getting good and bad notes funded and deals closed.
I personally do not fund or pretend to fund deals outside my local area. That is usually just a come on to sell an expensive seminar. I’ll work to get you the best funding you can and to work through the beginning “flipping stage” to get on your feet as a local buyer and funding sources.
I haven’t reached a stage where my life is devoted to altruistic charity, so I have to charge. Consulting and mentoring takes time away from my own deals, but builds a bigger organization and network as a tradeoff. At this moment I have plenty of charities to give my time and money to, plus a student that doesn’t pay for something doesn’t appreciate it.
In fact, the worst problem I face is in the way I do charity in this business. My version of charity is pricing things as reasonable as possible and teaching what works whether it is convenient or not. I don’t make my living off seminars and sales and don’t need to. I enjoy it and use the Associate Training Program as a training ground for more long term relationships with true players in the note industry. It’s not necessarily all that easy to train someone, but it’s easier than trying to re-train someone.
I say it’s a problem, because there are just way too many people that equate value with price. If I charged $10,000 for a box of tapes and a five day bootcamp, they rave about it and me. If I charge $500, they think the same product somehow has less value.
Remember, a good salesman can sell and empty box. That is a lot of what happens in the seminar industry. I call it the “Circus Circuit”. Much of it is hype. I consider myself an educator not a promotor. I don’t run down the isle with a hundred dollar bill - but I end up paying short term prices for that. But, long term, here I am after 23 years of investment.
My charities consist of my church and time and money put into self development seminars and trainings. Over many years of “trying” to educate students, I learned that there are factors that no home study course or knowledge cannot address.
I give students a rounded education addressing the three areas I’ve seen are needed for success. Knowledge is the smallest part (10%). Resources and a team make up a larger part (20%). The majority - 70% - has to do with “Intention”. Actually I could prove to you in a classroom that that is really 100%, but that’s later.
Through seminars and consulting, I address the three areas and highly encourage some follow up (I said encourage - not pitch) seminars and trainings to address the most important area. We also have done some highly successful trainings with troubled teens in these same areas. That’s where my heart really is drawn.