Buying Mortgage Notes

If you are looking for passive income without purchasing a physical property, mortgage notes can be an ideal real estate investment. You will receive a monthly income in the form of principal and interest repayments on the underlying mortgage. Depending on your long-term strategy, you have the option to hold the note until maturity or resell it in the secondary market.

buying mortgage notes

Before approaching a bank, you should have a real estate investment plan already in place. First, you need to determine your risk tolerance and whether you plan on flipping or holding onto the mortgage note.

If you are looking for a steady payment stream that provides a high degree of income certainty, then you will likely look for stable and low-risk mortgage notes. If your goal is to make a big splash via a one-time trade and have the necessary risk appetite, you might consider a high-risk note trading at a significant discount.

Banks will typically be your most reliable source because they are usually looking to unload inventory. Be sure you know how to buy a mortgage note from the bank, however, before approaching an institution willing to sell.

Mortgage notes come in different asset classes, usually divided by residential or commercial loans, says Joseph Polakovic, owner and CEO of Castle West Financial in San Diego. Residential loans include single-family and multifamily homes, while commercial loans include malls, office parks, warehouses and other buildings.

Institutions like banks typically do mortgage notes. In a private mortgage note, a borrower makes payments to an individual entity directly and may be part of a portfolio, Forest says. There are two types of mortgage loans. A loan secured by a property is known as a collateralized loan. The other type is an unsecured loan, with nothing to back them.

There are also two main risk categories. Performing mortgage notes are when the borrower is current on the payment. Nonperforming notes are when the debtor has fallen behind in payments, Polakovic says. Nonperforming notes are sometimes called distressed notes.

Notes are characterized as nonperforming usually after 90 days of nonpayment. At this stage the debtor is likely entering the initial stage of heading to default, Forest says. Often investors can buy these notes from banks or lenders at a discount and receive an interest rate higher than the nominal interest rate.

Doug Fisher, principal at Essex Realty Group, says during the housing downturn during the 2008 financial crisis, buying and selling of distressed mortgage notes was prevalent. He says his firm was active in selling mortgage notes for institutions at the time.

When looking at distressed mortgage notes, the original lender will likely sell the notes at a discount to the actual value of the property. The buyer has a few choices: to help get the borrower current on payments by perhaps forgiving part of the loan balance, or to get control of the property when it forecloses.

It can be tough for individuals to buy mortgage notes straight from banks, so many use brokers find mortgage notes, who can find both public and private deals, he says. Online marketplaces like NotesDirect.com, an online trading platform, can make it easier for retail investors to buy notes.

If you want to make even more money, there are more complex strategies you may consider, such as rehabbing the note. Rehabbing mortgage notes involves purchasing non-performing loans, modifying the terms with the original borrower, and then selling the note to another investor. You can do this by negotiating with the lender to create new terms that allow them to start making payments again.

Another strategy is to take ownership of the actual home and treat it like any other investment property. You can do this by purchasing non-performing notes and offering to buy the property for cash or go through the formal eviction process if the owner continues to miss payments. This process is a bit more complicated and does require you to take on the additional responsibilities of rehabbing and selling the property or renting it out. But it can be a smart way to find investment property at a significant discount.

Crowdfunding is another popular way to buy mortgage notes that is even more hands-off than buying a note yourself. This is when investors pool their money to purchase a small portion of a large investment, in this case, a bundle of mortgage notes from a bank or other large lender. Many crowdfunding platforms allow individual investors to contribute a small amount of money into a fund that an experienced investor manages. They will then buy large bundles of mortgage notes and distribute the proceeds according to how much you invested. Common examples of real estate crowdfunding platforms include Fundrise and Peer Street.

The first step in selling a mortgage note is deciding if you prefer a full or partial sale. With a full sale, you will sell the mortgage note in its entirety, while with a partial sale you will sell a portion of the note, and the buyer will be entitled to payments equal to their ownership. Typically, most mortgage note investors will sell a note in its entirety.

Once you've decided to sell your mortgage note, it's time to find a buyer. There are a few major note-buying companies out there so it's important you consider which will be the best option for you. Depending on your needs, you can go with the company that offers the best payout or one that can close quickly and get you your cash faster.

After selecting the mortgage note buyer you want to sell to, you'll need to submit information about your mortgage note. The note-purchasing company will review this information and also look at other factors including the property owner's credit history and payment history. Once they've reviewed everything they'll make an offer for your mortgage note.

If you accept the offer received by the note-buying company, you'll need to wait a few weeks for them to perform due diligence on the property. During this time most companies that invest in mortgage notes will typically perform a title search and get an appraisal.

Once due diligence is completed, it's time to close the sale of your mortgage note. You'll typically need to attend a closing with a title company to complete the final paperwork, transferring ownership of the note. At this point, the homeowners will also be informed of the sale of their mortgage.

There are so many different options and strategies to choose from that it's hard to know where to start. One option that you may have heard of is buying real estate notes. But what exactly is a real estate note, what is note buying, and is it the right investment strategy for you?

Real estate notes are created when a property buyer finances the purchase of their property through a mortgage loan. The mortgage note is then sold to an investor, and the proceeds from the sale are used to fund the loan. The investor becomes the lender, and the property owner becomes the borrower. 041b061a72