The Mortgage Note Business

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Don't be sold into believing that you can pay $39.95 and become an overnight success as a note broker in the mortgage note business thus earning large sums of cash virtually overnight. There are, I am ashamed to say, at least one unscrupulous advertisement on the television that would lead you to believe that the mortgage note business is simple. The mortgage note business is tough, time consuming and very expensive, especially for a novice.

It literally takes years to compile the resources necessary to survive in the mortgage note business and there is absolutely no way that a "business in a box" or "special winner's circle" is going to guarantee your success.

What does it take to succeed? Let's look at some of the necessary skills that you will need to learn and/or posess in the mortgage note business.

First and foremost and, consequently, the most difficult part of the mortgage note business is finding mortgage notes! For you to even have a chance at success, you have got to find a way of letting note holders of the world know that you can buy or, at least, broker their mortgage notes. In order for you to do this effectively, you are going to need a strategy which requires networking contacts that no business in a box can give you.

To do this successfully requires tuned marketing and productive advertising skills. You have got to get your name out in the industry, along with all the other sharks. Finding mortgage notes in the note business is the only way you are going to have a chance at success.

There are ways to find note holders but you should be prepared to spend at least 80% of your time in a forty hour work week to find them. Once again, don't be sold into believing that you just "find em, list em and sell em". What a crock! If you could find note holders that are willing to sell, you've done most of the work. However, finding them is the tough part. Consequently, finding note holders is essential to your success.

Let's look at some ways that you might be able to find note holders in your mortgage note business:

1. Local or County Courthouse records: This is one of the best ways to find fresh leads in the note business. However, you'd better bring a pen and lots of paper for taking notes. Just go to the public records room just like you were doing a title search and search on mortgages. Look over all the records (there will be thousands) and locate what looks like an individual note holder. Good luck on your searches!
2. List Providers and Lead Companies: Another excellent way of finding note holders but be prepared to spend some money here to get the quality you are after. There is a great deal of competition in the mortgage note business and you are going to spend a great deal of money trying to find a good list or lead company that will sell you quality leads. This is simply trial and error and you are going to have to learn for yourself which means spending your money.
3. Direct Mail Marketing: This is an absolute must if you are going to have any longevity in the mortgage note business. That's right. You are going to need an effective campaign as well as knowing who to target. If you target note holders, you might get a few nibbles but you will most likely fail. The key to a successful mortgage note business is longevity and having your name branded on the foreheads of people who come into contact or represent note holders such as attorneys, accountants, CPAs, book-keepers, etc.
4. Telephone Lead Marketing: If you are not comfortable talking to people on the phone, then forget about it and go get a day job. People who think they can order a pamphlet for $39.95 and join a some mumbo jumbo winner's circle to succeed in this business are in for a real shock. The mortgage note business not only requires that you spend time on the telephone but you must be an excellent salesperson. Remember, there are literally thousands of mortgage note brokers in the mortgage note business and we are all competing for the same thing; mortgage notes!
5. Newspaper Advertising: This is just a great way to have a lot of people call you to find out what the heck you are talking about. Unless you know how to effectively present yourself to such a broad audience, you are just begging for defeat. In addition, you'd better be prepared to put the preceding #4 to work and be a great telephone salesperson. Because, if you are lucky enough to have someone respond to your ad, he's either a professional snoop, he or she is looking around at several other opportunities or you might get lucky and have a CPA or tax attorney call you on behalf of a client. If you want to use the newspaper to target note holders in the mortgage note business, you'd do well to target a qualified audience. So, if you choose this method, doesn't it also make sense that you will need to write ads that will appeal to such an audience?
6. Russ Dalbey's Winning in the Cash Flow Business: What a joke! I can personally attest that Winning in the Cash Flow Business is probably one of the worst ways to spend your money. In fact, I dare Russ Dalbey or his attorney's to contact me with respect to slander or libel. I can honestly say this was a waste of money for me personally. Russ Dalbey's Winning in the Cash Flow Business did not work for me and I doubt many of the techniques and strategies that the system promotes. However, I stuck it out in the note business just to prove that I didn't have to spend $3,000.00 to close one note deal. What a bunch of fluff and puff.

Hey folks, don't be fooled, be educated - not sold!

Emmett Dixson, real estate investor, note finder, note buyer, owner and operator of a small, but well funded, family-owned real estate mortgage investment firm is also the creator, designer and owner of: mycash4notes.com