How To Generate Note Seller Leads With Little To No Marketing Budget by Abby Shemesh This month we welcome Abby 1. Ways to generate note seller Shemesh as a regular PAPER This is one of very few leads by investing your time (not SOURCE JOURNAL columnist. Abby businesses that can have your money): is the Managing Partner and Acquisition Director of Amerinote small overhead and still I) A tried-and-true way to Xchange, located in San Francisco. turn a huge profit. generate note seller leads without He is a principal buyer of mortgage investing time (for lack of a notes and business notes nationwide marketing budget, etc.) is to scour the and has been in the business for over sound plan-of-attack. Yours will be ads (for-sale-by-owners or a decade. dictated by your budget or the FSBO) in your local Sunday edition amount of time you can put into newspaper, real estate publications or have been operating as a note your do-it-yourself marketing online platforms that advertise for- I buyer (and a note broker) within strategy. sale-by-owner sales. the secondary, discounted loan market for over a decade. During my career Let’s dissect the two different Once you locate such in the note buying business I have ways to cultivate and harvest note advertising platforms, you must learned (the hard way) what works seller leads: approach the for-sale-by-owner and what does not work when it (FSBO) property sellers and see if comes to marketing your note 1. Spending money on a they are willing or planning on business effectively — and, more marketing/advertising strategy; creating a seller-financed note in importantly, knowing how to get the order to sell their home (or business). note seller to say “YES” to your 2. Spending your own time offers. (otherwise called a time-investment) Once you identify the sellers on finding the leads yourself while that are willing and planning to create Before you can consider you building up your note pipeline. a seller-carryback mortgage note, you note proposal to the note seller and approach them with the idea of getting him or her to say “YES” to So, if you are thinking about structuring the note in a way that your offer, you must find the note breaking into the note business and would allow them to liquidate the seller leads to target. you need to find a way to get note note within 30 to 90 days after the seller leads with little to no money note’s creation in order to receive a Most newer note brokers will out of pocket, then listen up! lump sum now instead of their being not have thousands upon thousands of the bank for the next 10, 20 or 30 dollars to spend on a robust and Finding Note Seller Leads with years. effective marketing campaign, which NO Marketing Budget means a new note broker must do There are many ways to find Keep in mind that this is easier what they have to do in order to get note owners who are considering or said than done. You must consult a their first sale on the books. may consider selling their mortgage master note broker or principal note note or business note. The question buyer before you begin this search, When it comes to a marketing/ is: How do you funnel these leads and explain your intentions pertaining advertising plan for your note your way in order to profit when you to your marketing plan, in order to brokering business, you should have a have no marketing budget?

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-2- ensure that you are providing sound DISCLAIMER ON TIME- that you use must be highly targeted. guidelines to the seller on structuring INVESTMENT TACTICS This means that, for example, if you a note. Also keep in mind that you Please keep in mind that the are trying to find business note seller are NOT a licensed mortgage broker/ above-mentioned tactics will not leads it would not make sense for you banker (in most cases), which means yield you results and profits to place a classified ad in the back of you cannot make any guarantees to overnight. When it comes to a bridal magazine (if you catch my the potential note seller on definitive generating leads, money needs to be drift). You want to make sure that the loan structure or pricing until the spent. It will typically take you 30 ads that you are placing are going to note and the characteristics of the to 90 days (sometimes less, be visible to the potential clientele note have been reviewed for pre- sometimes more) to see results with that you are looking to capture. approval. “Time-Investment-Only-Marketing- Tactics.” Another well-tested form of Nevertheless, if performed cheap advertising (in comparison to correctly, this can be an effective and Think of it like growing a other, more expensive modes of FREE way to generate note seller garden. You plant the seeds and it marketing) is a mail campaign. There leads and profits for your note takes time for the seeds to turn a are many different approaches that brokering business (with no money harvest. Some plants will thrive and one could take with the mailer out of pocket). others will wither and die. The campaign strategy such as: same goes for the above-mentioned II) Another way to generate tactics. Not every attempt will be a A. Going to your local county note seller leads without spending home run, although if you plant court house and compiling a list of huge amounts of money on marketing enough seeds, you are bound to note owners that created a seller- is to attend local business functions yield a crop (and not starve). On the financed note (preferably, within the within the industry that you are flip side, if you want to eat past 6 months to 3 years) and sending targeting. This could be a Chamber immediately, so to speak, you them a post card or letter identifying of Commerce meeting, a real estate would need to go to the your services and how you can help. broker convention, a mortgage broker supermarket and spend money — convention, a convention of a law plain and simple. B. Sending letters and brochures specialty (i.e., attorneys specializing to attorneys, CPAs, financial in real estate, divorce, estate The note business is one of planners, real estate agents, planning, business, etc.), as well as the very few that can have very mortgage brokers, business functions surrounding finance in little overhead costs and still turn a brokers and other white-collar general. Your main goal is to rub huge profit, consistently. This is professionals in order to make elbows with professionals that have one of the major ingredients that yourself and your services visible to clients that create notes that they attracted me to the business in the their clients. Many of the above- may want to sell now or in the future. first place. This means that a new mentioned professionals have clients note broker can definitely generate that may have the desire to liquidate I have received countless note seller leads with a small budget a mortgage note or business note. referrals from attending such and small monetary commitment. With mailing to professionals, it is functions. It may only cost you the all about the look and feel of your time to travel, the cost of gas, the One of the tactics that I used marketing material. Do not cheap out cost of admission and some business to generate note seller leads when I here. The more professional and cards (which you can get for about was just starting off in the industry appealing your marketing material $10 at VistaPrint.com). in the early 2000’s was advertising looks, the better chance you have of a in classified sections of local response. For those on a strict and tight newspapers, real estate publications budget, I recommend that you keep it and business journals. This tactic C. Reaching out to loan servicing local to cut way back on out-of- has been used successfully in our companies to ask if they will allow pocket expenses. industry for decades. Even in you to add your brochure or today’s fast-paced digital world it marketing leaflets to their customer’s still works. In order to execute this monthly statements for their seller- tactic successfully, the ad platform (Continued on page 4)

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-3- Abby Shemesh your note business (even if you spend This is a tactic you are money), such as: persistence, (Continued from page 3) NOT going to see in wording of your ads and letters, financed notes being serviced. This is call-to-actions on your marketing a great way to earn note seller leads note broker articles. material and letters/postcards, and the trust of the note seller, due to internet savvy abilities, etc. the fact that the note seller is already box. You would be surprised how dealing with the loan servicing many people misspell “Sell Also keep in mind that if you company (having your marketing Mortgage Note” and put instead send out one postcard or mailer to 100 material in their monthly statements “Sell Morgage Note” or “Seel people and no one responds — that is could be viewed by the note seller as Mortgage Nots.” There are literally pretty common. Statistics will tell you a form of “endorsement” by the note hundreds of ways to misspell that a person or company you are servicer). popular keyword terms in our advertising to would need to see your industry. If you simply exploit those ad/mailer at least 5 to 8 times (or III) Here is a tactic that will misspellings in your Adwords more in some rare cases) in order to only be useful to those note brokers account by only allowing your ads to follow-through with a phone call or who already have a website or blog. show when those types of words are submission form (i.e., a call-to- This is information that you are NOT misspelled, your ad will be at the top action). Just because one mode of going to readily see (regurgitated) as of the list. Most of the time the marketing does not work on the first you do in most note broker, how-to searcher will click on the first ad try does not mean you throw in the articles. This is a tactic that I they see, which will take them to a towel. And if you do, maybe you are personally used for years and years page on your website (preferably not cut out to be in this business in that worked wonders in a short period with a note submission form on it). the first place. I hope that is not the of time. I will say that it will cost you Assuming the content on your site is case. some money, but not as much as you compelling enough for the searcher might think ($50 to $100 a month if to fill out the form and request a If you are just breaking into the performed correctly). It requires you quote, you will have an instant lead industry your success will not happen to set up a Google Adwords account in your email inbox immediately overnight. It does take a lot of (at adwords.google.com) which is upon the user filling out your form. persistence and hard work, just like basically paid advertising for any other business you may decide to Google’s search engine in order to put The best part is that very few start. The difference with the note your website in the search index people in our industry are doing this business is that the overhead is results when someone looking to sell so the cost per click may only be 50 extremely low and the profit margin is a note searches terms like: “Sell cents, 30 cents or even 10 cents per very high. Furthermore, there are Mortgage Note” or “Note Buyer.” click instead of $2.00, $5.00 or millions of seller-carryback mortgage $7.00 per click. Voilà, now you have notes (and business notes) being This is called Pay Per Click a leg up over your competition in a created every year. This equals job Advertising (or PPC). PPC is big way! for anyone thinking of getting typically VERY expensive, although into the note brokering business. Go the results are instantaneous if Here is a website that can out and claim what is yours! executed correctly. Most note brokers help you generate the misspelled have to hire companies to manage keywords so you do not have to do it If you have any questions about their PPC accounts, which costs a yourself, line by line: http:// selling a note or brokering a note, small fortune (but the return on tinyurl.com/google-misspelling please feel free to contact Abby by investment could be huge as well). visiting That being said, paying Google for DISCLAIMER ON SMALL www.AmerinoteXchange.com/ terms like “Sell Mortgage Note” or MONETARY BUDGET contact-us or call 415-295-1401 “Note Buyers” could run you $2.00 to TACTICS I do want to state that $7.00 every time someone clicks on the above tactics are NOT a one-size your ad. The trick is to profit off of the fits all solution. There are many misspellings of the keyword terms factors that will determine if you are entered by users into Google’s search successful at effectively marketing

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-4- Note Symposium Recap — Back to the Basics by Jeff Armstrong was wonderful meeting those marketing needs time to work. It of you that attended last The number of seller Nothing is instantaneous, and you month’s Paper Source Note need to be able to sustain yourself Symposium in Las Vegas face-to- carried-back notes while your marketing develops. face. Lots of information was shared is growing. and given by actual practitioners in After a couple of months of the note business — it just doesn’t get seller carried-back notes is growing, trying a thing or two you may have to better than that. and for you to get those note holders tweak something to make it work to contact you, your marketing will better or just to keep it working. It For those of you that were be put to the test. I’ve written many, may take six month to a year or more unable to attend I hope you will make many articles on marketing and even of testing one particular marketing plans to attend next year — April 30 - a marketing book for our industry method until you get the results that May 2, 2015 in Las Vegas — to help (available at you want OR to find out that the your note business survive and grow. www.armstrongcapital.com). The marketing method that you were truth is, not much has changed in the trying doesn’t work for you and you I did a 3 1/2 hour Introduction last couple of years. need to focus your efforts on some to the Note Business Workshop the different marketing methods. Once day everyone was arriving, and on the Results are achieved through you achieve the results you were final day I did Target Marketing for testing and re-testing different looking for it won’t last forever. You the Note Business with my annual marketing methods until one works will need to constantly change things personal updated note business for you. What works for one person up to keep up a steady deal flow. statistics for the attendees. doesn’t always work exactly the same for another person. Maybe Let me know if you have any From the questions I was you heard that one person has been questions or if there is anything I can getting before, during and after the having good results from direct do to assist you with your note Symposium it seemed to me that mail. It doesn’t mean it will work business. Remember, success people sometimes tend to make it for you. Or another person has been demands action! Keep on marketing, harder than it is; both the note getting deals by using the Internet; it it’s going to work! TWITA! (That’s business and the marketing. This is a doesn’t mean it will work for you. What I’m Talking About!) simple business but it is not easy. It There are no tricks or secrets or easy takes a good base foundation of ways to get results quickly. Jeff Armstrong of Armstrong Capital knowledge, effort, persistence, “time has been a note broker and investor on the water” and, yes, some money In the seller-financed note specializing in the seller financed (for marketing) to grow and survive business we define marketing as note industry since 1991. He can be in the note business. So this month I “finding the most amounts of reached by email at just want to bring us all back to some prospects in the least amount of [email protected]. For of the basics and re-state some of the time for the least amount of money.” more updated and current things I shared with everyone at the Your marketing needs to be information on how he can help you Symposium. efficient, targeted and manageable. with your note business, your note Your marketing plan needs to be in investments or to request a quote on a From the information we heard writing and you need to have three note you currently have visit at the Symposium, and from my own to five marketing methods working www.armstrongcapital.com research and statistics, the number of for you all times. In addition, your

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-5- Alternative Cashflows That No One Talks About by Joe Pepitone want to address a world that very Billboard come in many I few people in the note and real Many times the cash varieties: The parties receiving these estate business talk about. What is billboard leases are known as attractive about this investment is that flows that are most billboard . The outdoor it has all the elements of a perfect often overlooked billboard companies pay monthly, tenant. You have an A+ tenant, a quarterly or annually. Some long-term tenant, a predictable cash become someone’s billboard companies offer a base rent flow and for the most part you never pot of gold. and a revenue sharing agreement on see the tenant. The other benefit is the revenues earned off the board on that the can actually 450,000 billboards in the US. I their property. The billboard leases monetize the IOU of that tenant, know most people are aware of are paid like clockwork and are the unlike your everyday small business billboards in their town, on most important expense a billboard tenant. What I am talking about is the highways or when they are company must pay. world of ground leases. travelling. What most people don’t know are the economics of a Billboard landlords can assign What is quite fascinating about billboard and how that dynamic the rights to their billboard to a this world of ground leases is that could impact your business. third party for a lump sum payment of there is no one giving seminars how cash. Billboard leases are typically to do this. So in essence this is still a What most people don’t not guaranteed contracts due to fact ground floor opportunity. The types understand is that the major outdoor that the billboard company can cancel of ground leases I am going to cover media companies such CBS the lease in the future. This in this article are: Outdoors, Lamar or Clear Channel cancellation provision makes banks have a nationwide presence. These unable or unwilling to lend against 1) Ground Lease on a Billboard outdoor companies have lots of that cash flow. However when you resources but could not possibly look at the dynamics of a billboard 2) Ground Lease on a Cell own all the land and property their lease you realize that the billboard Tower billboards are on. So the major company has made a sizeable 3) Ground Lease on a Windmill billboard companies approach an investment putting up the billboard, individual and the last thing they really want to 4) Ground Lease on an Electric owner, individual land owner, do is to take down the billboard. So Power Source municipality, railroad, etc. with the the risk, though real, actually is more idea that they would like to build a of a perception of the lease being I will explore all four worlds billboard on their property and in cancelled. and allow you to determine what is exchange for that they will give a possible outside of mortgage notes. financial inducement or a Cell Tower Leases: Here is another In fact, more likely than not, because percentage of revenues earned off ground lease that for the most part has you are marketing for real estate the board with a long term ground a triple A tenant. Here again you notes, you will definitely come across lease. In the legal world that is have a tenant that pays you on or some of these cash flows. known as a perpetual easement. An before the due date, who is never easement gives someone to right to around, and probably never Billboard Leases: The outdoor enter and exit someone else property complains. billboard business is big business in for a specific purpose. the US. There are approximately

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-6- For the rest of this article and many more, subscribe to THE PAPER SOURCE JOURNAL. 14-18 printed pages delivered to you each month with the latest news on all things affecting the note industry — and your bottom line, whether you are a note investor, broker, or just want to know more.

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