Alan Cowgill
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Why Private Money?
This topic is near and dear to my heart. When I started my RE career, I heard about the necessity of finding private lenders. In fact I even found two. But then I stopped. For four years I PROCRASTINATED. I didn’t get it!!! For four years I continued to go to banks and jump through their hoops. I also had used hard money lenders, but found them VERY expensive. It wasn’t until I quit my J.O.B. and found that banks wouldn’t loan me money that I realized that I needed to bring private lenders into my life quickly. When I…
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Why Luncheons?
I got the opportunity to leave my J-O-B in 2001, and devote all my time taking my real estate business to the next level.At that time I had (2) private lenders. These lenders were delighted with the monthly checks they received from me and I loved the quick cash it provided me to buy houses. I knew this program was golden and I knew I wanted more private lenders in my life FAST–who could virtually provide unlimited cash to fund my real estate deals.So, how did I get the word out?There were a number of ways such as one-on-one meetings,…
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Using Private Money Loans For Different Investments
A number of my students have asked me how they can borrow money from private lenders to get into some non-traditional types of investing. These types of investments include buying consumer credit card debt, car loans, distressed loans made by FDIC-insured banks that have gone out of business or gotten into financial difficulties, and various kinds of notes.Of course, the first question that seems to come up is: how can they do this without securing their private lenders’ money on a piece of property? The answer to that is the topic of this note. Traditionally, my students borrow money from…
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Two Major Benefits of Having Private Lenders
I started my business by using banks, savings, credit cards, lines of credit, creative techniques with sellers (like land contracts or lease/options), and partners. But, once I was self-employed, I was concerned that it was going to be harder to get loans to purchase properties.I had always been unhappy about how long the banks take to get the job done. I had it take 4-1/2 months on a house without a furnace. The bank didn’t know if they wanted to make a loan on that kind of house, but that is what my rehab business is all about. Buy ’em…
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Short Sale Offer Letter To Bank Form
Short Sales and Foreclosure real estate investing deals require investors to work with homeowners, direclty Banks, REO agents or special foreclosure listing agents/brokers. Most real estate investors dealing with short sales find themselves at the end of a long paper work and negotiation process with institutional lenders.Investor John Smith finds a deal in good neighborhood using “motivated seller” search in the comments of MLS listings. After contacting the homeowners and sitting down with them he uncovers that the house in now 3 months into foreclosure. The property is in decent shape, the homeowners have some equity and the current value…
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Private Lending – The Disclosure Statement
When I was getting my real estate education and started to learn about using private lenders, ALL of my instructors left out a HUGE piece of the equation. It was the part about being in compliance with the SEC and their regulations.I realized recently that there is a basic item that you need when borrowing money from Private Lenders that some of you might overlook. It is a DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT and every one of your lenders should get it. This is such an important item I thought I would dedicate this investing article to covering as much as can -…
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Pooling Private Money
When you pool money from private lenders, you’re putting funds together from two or more different private lenders.You obviously need to look at doing something different where your state’s paperwork is concerned. This means you will need to file paperwork with your state and provide a disclosure document to your potential private lenders.In Ohio, for example, we have what is known as 6(A)1 filing. This filing allow for pooling private lenders’ money in running your real-estate investment business.This filing also allows advertising and unlimited private lenders.Remember, securities laws and regulations vary from state to state and the Federal SEC has…
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Landlord- What To Do In Case of Fire?
Late last year, one of my rentals caught on fire and was totaled. I want to share with you the process of what to do as an investor if this ever happens to you.After calling the insurance company, I got a check for 100% of the of the value on the insurance policy. My $1,000 deductible was not even deducted. It was for exactly what I had on the policy. Time frame involved was under 60 days. The house burnt on November 11th and the insurance check showed up the week of Christmas. The check paid off the house plus…
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How I Manage Properties And My Private Lenders
I want you to create a mental picture of my office. Imagine two conveyer belts coming through. On one conveyer belt is houses and on the other conveyer belt are my private lenders.As the private lending conveyer belt comes through the office, my staff and I are matching the private lenders to certain properties. Occasionally, lenders will stop in the office and they’re so eager to lend funds that they offer us a check. We never ever take the check. Don’t touch unsecured money. The money goes to closing agent. If they’re willing to wait until the house sells they…
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How I Build Credibility With My Presentation
One of best ways to find money for funding your deals is to seek out and use Private Money Partners. My system of approaching potential partners and funders involves inviting them to a luncheon. There are several different ways I built credibility with my luncheon presentation over the years.ImageFirst of all, like it or not, people make value judgments about you before you even open your mouth. Think about it. What preconceived ideas do you have about a bag lady vs. a movie star? You get an image but the reality is you don’t really know anything about them. It…
