When I think of “safe and secure” I still envision a bank vault with armed guards…
However, banks don’t operate this way anymore. Most banks don’t even have a vault. Why? Because their money is everywhere, not somewhere. Almost everything you see from a house, building, automobile, or farm is funded and essentially secured by a bank loan.
Therefore, if you want financial freedom you need to think and act like a bank. But, not like a bank wants you to think… Banks want you to give up your hard-earned money for a return of 2% so their invisible guards can keep it safe for you. Meanwhile the bank lends your money to your neighbor to refinance their home at a much higher interest rate.
The problem with keeping your money in the bank is you end up using it to purchase the next shiny object instead of investing it. Or your money ends up losing value from inflation over time. Both situations aren’t good if your goal is financial freedom.
If you want to be rich then keep working or become a doctor. As long as you are working you will remain rich. However, if you want to be wealthy you need to have your money working for you. Wealthy people have investments that create cash flow. They use this cash flow to support their lifestyle or they reinvest it.
It’s rare to see a wealthy person with a lot of money sitting in the bank. Why? Because just like banks, their money is everywhere, not somewhere. They either lend or own real estate and businesses. They think in terms of risk vs reward. Not what is the path of least resistance like a bank savings account.
If your considering lending your money, like a bank or wealthy person, how do you reduce your risk? By securing the loan to something valuable. That if they don’t come back with your money you receive the valuable asset in exchange.
This is the simplified concept of real estate lending.
The valuable asset is the property and it should be worth more then the amount you are lending. The difference between what you are lending and what its worth is called the equity. The equity is either created over time by appreciation or by the borrower placing a down payment when they purchase the property.
The more equity in the property the less risk there is when lending. Our investment group is constantly looking for investments that have equity. It’s the number one deciding factor if we are to invest. We are finding equity in properties that were purchased by borrowers during the low point of the last market cycle. See the below graph.
It’s rare to see a wealthy person with a lot of money sitting in the bank. Why? Because just like banks, their money is everywhere, not somewhere. They either lend or own real estate and businesses. They think in terms of risk vs reward. Not what is the path of least resistance like a bank savings account.
If your considering lending your money, like a bank or wealthy person, how do you reduce your risk? By securing the loan to something valuable. That if they don’t come back with your money you receive the valuable asset in exchange.
This is the simplified concept of real estate lending.
The valuable asset is the property and it should be worth more then the amount you are lending. The difference between what you are lending and what its worth is called the equity. The equity is either created over time by appreciation or by the borrower placing a down payment when they purchase the property.
The more equity in the property the less risk there is when lending. Our investment group is constantly looking for investments that have equity. It’s the number one deciding factor if we are to invest. We are finding equity in properties that were purchased by borrowers during the low point of the last market cycle. See the below graph.
Our strategy is to acquire loans from hedge funds and private sellers that lent to borrowers to purchase homes from 2010-2014. This time period offers the best opportunity for the loan to have a strong equity position since the values have increased dramatically. We are looking for pride of ownership, good pay history and in good locations. Most importantly we are looking for the highest return on our investment with the lowest amount of risk.
These type of investments have two distinct advantages to typical lending. One, the seller/bank is willing to take less then what they are owed from the borrower. Two, they are high interest loans usually in the 9-10% range.
The bank/seller is willing to take less then what is owed since, in most cases, they paid pennies on the dollar for the asset during the last downturn. They then offered a type of seller financing called a land contract at a much higher value. The interest rates are higher because the borrowers at the time didn’t qualify for a traditional mortgage.
Being able to purchase the loan for a discount with a high interest rate produces returns of 14-18% per year. In many cases, these loans are only 50-60% of the value of the property, which reduces our risk in case of default as well.
These loans serve as the foundation for our investing platform and allow us to peruse foreclosure investments that produce even higher returns.
*Check out this video below of a recent mortgage investment we purchased in Lake Orion for only $19K
You can’t control Wall Street but you can control Main Street. It’s time to get back to simple investments secured by brick and mortar real estate.
Interested in hearing more? Set up a time to talk click here.
Kind regards,
Kyle Zimpleman, Managing Member