INFORMATION ARTICLE

Cashing in on your competition

(By John D. Behle)

(This article is an excerpt from Mr. Behle's book "Mortgage Magic")

Don't Read this if you're from my town!

I don't invite people from my city to my seminar. I don't want to put these tools in their hands. What I'm going to tell you now could make you a very dangerous competitor. Let's look at many ways to jump into or expand your note buying quickly. In particular, let's focus on getting to know and working with your competition.

1. Learn How They Find and Fund Notes.

Through a variety of different approaches you can learn about your market. One of my students interviewed every note buyer in his city and found out everything about them. He said he was writing a college paper and they were particularly cooperative. Another student hired a college student to do the interviews and write the paper and then hired him later as an assistant. Another way to learn a little is to call your competitors and see what they quote you on a note. I find out a lot about my competitors by taking them to lunch and the feedback that I get from other people.

Through some method, it is extremely valuable to learn all you can about how your competition finds and funds their notes. By learning what they do, don't do, have done and plan to do, you can structure a marketing strategy that will give you a real edge on your market. The more you learn, the more money you can make.

I realize you'll run into some resistance. For that reason, come on low key and learn as a byproduct of finding win-win ways to make you and other note buyers money by working together. Focus on the next items.

2. Buy From Them

Ask if they sell notes and under what prices and terms. Most note buyers are really just note brokers and do not buy the notes to keep for their own account. That is a mistake, but don't tell them that.

3. Referrals from them

Most note buyers buy about one fifth to one third of the notes that are offered to them. In those that they turn down, there is a gold mine - waiting for you. They may gladly refer you the notes that they are not interested in. You could make a great living just in the notes that they turn down. Learn all you can about how to fix up a bad note. We can't go into that here, but if you want some more information on fixing up bad notes, drop me a line and I'll send you some articles that I have written on the subject.

4. Sell to Them

You may find that you have notes that you can't handle that you might want to sell to them to make a commission. If you could become very adept at finding notes, then you could make a living just brokering notes off to the other brokers.

5. Financing From Them

Many note buyers just buy notes for the cash flow and do not realize even vaguely the potential that there is in improving notes. For this reason many will just as readily loan against notes as buy them. Some even prefer it. In other words, your competitors could become your financiers.

6. Joint Venturing

You may find that your competitors will joint venture with you on buying notes. There may even be a way to work with them in a kind of partnership to learn from them. You can easily learn many of the techniques and creative aspects of paper and balance them out in the nitty gritty details they know and the experience that they have.

7. Apprenticeship

If just getting started, you may find that it could be a very valuable step to actually work for one of these competitors. They may hire you as an employee or put you on some kind of commission basis.

8. Joint Venture the Improvement

Over 50% of the notes out there can be improved immediately if only someone knows how. The money is in improving notes not buying and selling. There are dozens and dozens of ways to improve notes - that's where your profit is. This being the case, why would you even need to buy a note - ever? Find other note buyers with portfolios of notes and work out an agreement to joint venture the improvement of the notes. One way to do this would be a rolling option. Another is just an agreement. There is no risk to them. Find an acceptable or market yield and then split the profits over that amount. This may be in the form of cash or cash flow. I realize that the whole concept of improving notes might be foreign to you. If that is the case drop me a line and I'll send you some past articles I have written on that subject.

9. Buy Their Business / Branch Office

You may find that one of your competitors wants to move on and sell their business. A branch office possibility that doesn't detract from their business (maybe a different city) might be a way to joint venture and obtain their help and expertise.

Any one of these steps alone can be extremely valuable. Many ask how to get started in paper. I can't think of a better way than to understand and benefit from your competition. Most note buyers look at their competition in a very negative way. I hope from this you can see that they may be one of your greatest assets. Note buyers tend to be an unregulated, untrained industry. Those reading this could make a living just picking up the pieces that others leave behind. Especially in the area of notes that have flaws of some kind. Don't let your competition intimidate you in any way. Though they may have 20 years experience, most have 1 years experience - repeated 20 times. The creative and technical expertise you can gain through articles like these or through my seminar can put you light years ahead of any competition.

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