Inexpensive Resources to Learn About Note Investing

July 6, 2019

Today, I will briefly write about books, podcasts, and other relatively “low cost” resources one can use to learn more about note investing. Now, when I say ‘learn more about note investing’, what I mean is that these resources will unlikely give you a full education into notes, and I define low-cost as being under $599.

NOTE: Unless I specifically indicate so, the following resources are not intended to be perceived by the reader as an endorsement of the product or service.

Books

I personally have only browsed a few of these but these books are widely accepted as some of the starter/go-to books for the note industry. These are listed in no particular order. For convenience, I have included their respective Amazon links.

Podcasts

Many of the well known investors within the industry put out podcasts.  But the following are 2 of the podcasts that I have listened to or am listening to now. You can definitely get a nice introduction into note industry lingo and concepts.

  • Naked Notes by Jasmine Willois and Natosha Navarro of the Note Assistance Program – This podcast was designed to accomplish two things 1) to help real estate entrepreneurs expand and learn about the industry through an honest educational lens and 2) to bring relevant, compliant news and solutions to existing 1st position mortgage note investors. In other words, expose the NAKED truth about investing in the secondary mortgage market.  The NAP is based here in Southern California. Jasmine was the featured guest speaker at the Monthly Brunches of Notes meetup in March and is the person most influential in my note path.  Check them out!
  • Note Inc Podcast by Czarina Harris – Note Inc is the world’s only Fictional, Spy-themed, note investing podcast. Featuring Czarina and a very British host named Chauncey Whittingham, Note Inc brings note education with a heavy dose of entertainment. So far she has done 2 SEASONS of episodes and the episodes are about 30 mins long. Czarina is out of Ohio and has been in the industry for at least a decade. Podcast is pretty informative and has nice production values. Great for newbies interested in getting into the industry.

Conferences

There are a few conferences that “the industry” puts on but the only conference I recommend for newbies or folks looking for a vehicle in which to invest passively is the Paper Source Note Symposium, normally held in the Spring in Las Vegas. Why?

  1. Gurus are present but THERE ARE NO SALES PITCHES!
  2. Wonderful networking opportunities with other note investors
  3. Trade show
  4. One on one consultations with the speakers and exhibitors
  5. Duh! It’s in Vegas!

Educational / Guru Websites

In general, I am not a fan of real estate gurus, oracles, or whatever they want to call themselves. Oftentimes, they give you half of the necessary information for 10x the worth of said information. However, with that said, many offer free but decent introductory information before they make you shell out the big bucks. Again, this is presented in no particular order.

  • Terreva Investments’ Monthly Brunches of Notes Meetup Group – Yeah yeah. A little self-promotion never hurt anyone. Although not a website, it is a free-to-attend meetup where you can get a basic note education.
  • Paper Source Online – From the same folks who put on the annual symposium, they also have educational resources that you can access for free or for cheap.
  • Note Assistance Program – I got most of my note game from the NAP. The NAP offers inexpensive events in SoCal, an immersive 2-day Note Lab training program, and their own note trade desk.
  • LOI Events – Leaders of Integrity is a “2019-new” group made up of note industry veterans. Their mantra is “The Unspoken Truth”. They hope to combat what they perceive is shadiness within the note industry and give newer (and experienced) investors a safe place to learn and do business with one another. They put on events as well as webinars.