The Note Closers Show Podcast

Adding her own touches as a rapper, actor, and overall performer, Alli Blotter shares with us her fresh takes about the content marketing industry as well as how to go about it. Alli is a marketing strategist and content creator. She focuses on the importance of telling a story through your profile, which tugs the emotions and attracts audience. Particularly, she gives advices and tips on LinkedIn marketing strategy and utilizing the visual storytelling aspects of marketing, and talks about the common misconception about going wide instead of being more specific with a niche. Alli shows the usual mistakes people should avoid when it comes to getting their content out there.

When you're in the online marketing space like Kristie and Elijah Whites from Serving Social are, automatically what you get a lot is, “I want to build a web store because this kid on this show that I saw made $100 million in two weeks and I know I could do that because I have a great product.” Kristie and Elijah says you could probably make $1 million dollars in two weeks or even $100 million if you wanted to, but it takes a lot to build up to that certain point and it’s something you have to consistently do. They say when you do something like a podcast, you have to be ready to be authentic. You have to have your own original concepts, your own original story. You have to put yourself out there and you have to be somebody that some people can relate with. In other words, you have to be you. You have to maintain saying, “This is who I am. This is who I'm going to be and I'm going to consistently deliver you this exact same content on a regular basis.”

Dealing with people can be tricky. Most especially when you are calling your borrowers about note deals. Scott breaks down the to-dos and what-not’s when doing your own borrower outreach. In this business, you will most likely be in the dilemma of choosing between “to call” or “not to call.” Either way, there are things you need to keep in mind when faced with these situations—from the legalities and authorization, up to the right kind of attitude when dealing with people. There is also the question of when not to waste your time with borrowers and why, at the end of it all, the best thing to do is not to call.

We see it all the time, not just in the network marketing business, where we're working with people who want change. They want to do something different but the how scares them. They slip and fade away and go back to what's comfortable even if they don't like it because it's easy and they know it. But trainer, coach, and author Denise Walsh says it's not a place of growth. There's a few things that Denise has learned over the past decade when she’s working with people who are eager to change but don't know how. Denise says overcoming obstacles involves getting in depth and connecting emotionally with your why because when the why is strong, the how seems to show up. Don't allow the emotional ups and downs of business to derail you because experiencing all of these road bumps is just a part of the process.

One thing that people have to remember is that the job growth and the opportunities got to keep up with the development. Mike Jordan, president of Strategy Investment Group based in Michigan says he’s seeing a lot more Motor City investments as investors pick up properties and revitalize them in the Detroit area. Jordan specializes in real estate investments and property management services. His specific philosophy is to always look at clean, repair, replace. Where a lot of people in the note business take over poppies, Jordan says he takes over property. He says one thing where you could never go wrong is taking care of the client. Always be honest and communicate with the client even if it's something they don't want to hear, and that's where success is. He shares what his clean, repair, replace philosophy is all about and talks about the Detroit Home Mortgage program.

Whether it's a nonperforming first or a contract for deeds, if you are buying assets in the Ohio and Michigan markets, real estate attorney Franco Barile is your go-to person. Having partnered with Tony Sottile, Franco has taken full advantage of the business side of the real estate legal game. Between them, they have four licenses under their belt for Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky doing title and collateral reviews. They have a full creditor's side bankruptcy department, foreclosure department, collections department, and anything you can think of in the real estate world. Franco talks the Ohio and Michigan foreclosure laws and about the different markets, the markets to avoid, and some things that you probably didn’t know about the real estate business.

When the floods happened, when the hurricane rolled through Texas, there were somewhere between 45,000 and 75,000 household affected by it. That number is increasing. That’s the hurricane effect. What does that mean? It means there's an opportunity for us as note investors, if you like Texas notes, to reach out to the banks, reach out to the servicers, reach out to the mortgage companies and mortgage bankers to see if they've got anything on their books they want to get rid of. Scott talks about the opportunities you have as note investors during the aftermath of the recent hurricanes.

Master your craft and master the money. Bringing the money to the deal is where the magic is. You've got to master both of those to understand and identify opportunities in the market, not only for yourself but also to understand what your investors are looking forward. However, most people don’t understand how to raise capital to buy real estate. Joel Block from Bullseye Capital, LLC says that’s what they teach people. They’ve put together more funds and syndications than anybody in the country. Joel is a seasoned real estate investor with over 25 years of experience in the industry of buying and investing in distressed assets. He is an expert on crowd funding, syndications, and doing some big projects. Joel says if you're good at what you do and you can demonstrate that you're good, it increases the number of opportunities and ways that you can work with people.

There are a lot of different rules you have to keep in mind when you're buying notes because there's a lot of moving parts to the note business and lots of nuts and bolts. There are a lot of them, but these are probably the ten biggest ones you need to keep in mind when you're looking at buying distressed notes. This is just a start to get more information to understand things a little better. Grab a pen and paper and write these Ten Note Commandments down so that you're rock and rolling.

Trying to come up with a way to reduce taxes, Tyler Sheff started researching how to do that legally. The only thing he came back with was buy real estate and hang onto it. That's what he started doing. Scott interviews real estate and note investor, Tyler Sheff, about some of the mistakes that he has made over the years, along with the multifamily market and raising capital. Tyler is a successful real estate investor and runs a podcast called The Cash Flow Guys Podcast. He focuses a lot on notes and multifamily, and raising capital in markets where a lot of people see some interest and where a lot of note investors are coming from.

The market is constantly changing back and forth with pricing. Prices five years ago are different than what they are today. Scott interviews note and real estate investor, Jay Tenenbaum, about his business models and how he has adapted his note business as the market has changed. Jay has been involved in notes for almost five years now, and keeping borrowers in their homes has been his mantra. His business has evolved multiple times. Jay is always looking at closing notes and has taken advantage of the opportunities in the market that are presented to him. Discover how adapting your business models can help you create that passive cash flow.

Most Americans are investing that in the stock market, in annuities, CDs, bonds, those sorts of things, and relatively new investors might be tempted to say, “I want to buy a note,” or, “I want to buy a house with my IRA that I’ve found.” In order to do that, your IRA funds have to be sent out towards the purchase of that. What then becomes necessary is for a company like Quest IRA to intervene and help you out with all of the administration side of it. Learn how Quest IRA offers all the same types of accounts with all the good tax benefits, except that they basically allow their clients to choose – all in private assets. Scott holds an in-depth discussion about checkbook IRAs with Anne Marie Hollonds from Quest IRA.

Hustling in the Big Easy ain’t easy. In order to conjure money out of thin air, a note investor has to have a big heart for helping people. You can’t be in the business just for the money. When you're dealing with people who are literally facing foreclosure, sometimes days or weeks out, you can’t afford to be heartless. A lot of homeowners will appreciate it if you helped them to stay in their house in the face of inevitability. This is exactly Jonathan Burden’s mission in life as a real estate investor from New Orleans since 2007. Scott talks with Jonathan Burden, a long-time real estate and note investor, about the latter’s creative endeavors in New Orleans with distressed homeowners.

There’s a sudden rise in self-proclaimed talkers who don’t walk the walk. This has been occurring in the note industry more often, which makes it an alarming threat to actual real players or genuine newcomers off to a good start. Bear in mind that business is always evolving. Factors include pricing changes, market conditions, foreclosure laws enacted, and things get delayed. And the The only way of truly understanding this on an expert level is to literally be on the grindstone on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. If you want to be respected in the industry, you have to continuously make offers and work through assets. Scott discusses the importance of closing deals before you become an online expert, which is a pressing topic, now more than ever.

When Scott first started this show, there was this NoteMBA podcast with Chase and Robby, both of whom did a tremendous job. Flash forward to this moment, and they're no longer doing their podcasts on a regular basis. It’s sad, of course, but in celebration of the Note Closers Show’s 300 episodes, Scott reminds you of the sheer amount of opportunities out there. We all start little. The idea is to stay consistent and focused to do what you do on a regular basis. Get the word out there. Spend some time and do it. This show has had a tremendous amount of guests, feedback, and comments. If you have anything that you love to share, let us know. We appreciate it! It’s always amazing to hear what your favorite episode is. As Scott discusses the biggest lessons that he has learned from 300 episodes of the Note Closers Show, know that you’ve been an important part of the success.