Barney Frank just announced today in the Huffington Post that he’s preparing to re-open the bankruptcy cramdown debate this fall in a financial regulatory reform bill – he claims there aren’t enough borrowers getting put into loan mods, so he’s looking to the courts to help meet the purported demand. I agree with him on one thing: allowing bankruptcy judges to cramdown firsts is a way to inject much-needed underwriting into the market.

It could also greatly supplement your own loan modification initiatives as an investor – let the courts underwrite instead of doing it in-house, I say! Will it hurt principal balances? Sure, but then any savvy investor would have proposed a principal write-down in the first place given the high recidivism rates for the term and rate adjustments we’ve seen industry-wide.

Weak Dollar will impact note investors

In other news … the dollar has officially tanked. As one Brown Brothers Harriman analyst pointed out today: “As we have stepped away from the abyss people have a healthier appetite for risk” and so they’re dumping dollars and seeking better yields elsewhere. Whether the bulls have won out and whether the economy has turned the corner for good (led first and foremost by house prices), is a topic for another day.

The impact of a weakening dollar, however, is inevitable pressure on the Fed to raise overnight rates in an attempt to prevent further weakening. Bernanke will face increasing (and polarizing) pressures, in my opinion: balancing demand for dollar-denominated debt (investors will have little interest in low-interest rate Treasuries with an underlying stagnating US economy) vs. higher-yielding investments abroad.

Exports are being bolstered by US-manufactured products being priced as cheaply as they have been in over a year, against Asian-denominated currencies, but the mortgage market will come under increasing pressure if rates were to rise. Follow the Fed closely – the next FOMC meeting is Sept 22-23.

The impact of higher interest rates on note investors? Lower yields; larger discounts; and potentially a weaker refi market to exit into. If rates really increase dramatically, this could change a number of investors’ strategies from re-perform (why re-perform at below-market rates?) to cash out (short sale and deed-in-lieu).

Dean

I just put together a short new, free Note Buying Video
on our homepage at www.NoteBuyingProfits.com for you.

Plus, I put together a FREE 20-page Note Buying Report, called
‘The Great Recession Buster Report’ for you as well.
You can get it right on the homepage at www.NoteBuyingProfits.com

In it I share some of my path from Frustrated Cubicle Dweller
to Short Sale ‘Slave’ to… drum roll… ‘robbing’ banks (legally,
of course) – and how YOU can, too.

It’s 100% F.REE and I bet you will learn a thing or two, and
you can probably identify with parts of my note buying journey
yourself.

If only ONE person reads this & gets inspired to TAKE ACTION
and take advantage of the insane note buying o.pportunity out
there (yes, it takes something to NOT listen to the nay-sayers and
dream stealers!), I will be happy that I took the time
to write it.

Feel free to pass this on to your Real Estate buddies as well,
they may be quite ’shocked’ to learn about this. ;P

Let’s face it: 95%+ of them have absolutely
NO CLUE about note buying and this o.pportunity…

Check it out at www.NoteBuyingProfits.com now!
(Did I mention it was F.REE? )

Talk soon,

Dean

PS: Let me know what you thought of it by leaving a COMMENT BELOW.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the Video & the Report.
What did you like best? Worst?

What is your biggest concern to get into the note buying game?

=================================

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Here are the questions I answered:

1)      Can I buy single defaulted notes from banks?
2)      I don’t have any money, how can I buy defaulted mortgages from banks?
3)      How do I get a list of banks that sell defaulted mortgages?
4)      What are the biggest risks I run when buying defaulted mortgages?
5)      What price should I offer on non-performing notes?
6)      There is a Short Sale I am doing – do you recommend that I try to buy the note instead?
7)      Where should I go in order to get money to buy notes? (See 2)
8)      Do you have non-performing notes that I could buy?
9)      Can you coach me through my first note buying deal?
10)   What’s the best way to get trained in the note buying business?

I get asked all the time ‘But, Dean, how do I find non-performing notes?? Do banks really sell notes to individuals?”

One person just told me “hey, I walked into my local bank branch and asked if they had non-performing notes for sale and they told me “no, we don’t sell notes.”

Well, if you want to get serious about figuring this out – AND shortcut your learning curve dramatically: it’s all in my ‘How to Find Non-performing Notes Course (4 hours+ jam-packed information on exactly the subject of ‘how to find non-performing notes’).
You can watch the first 2 HOURS for absolutely FREE. Take a peek:

If the bank doesn’t have either of the first two departments, then make sure that you aim straight for the top of their loss mitigation department – you don’t want to get stuck in mid-level manager hell.

And then once you get that person on the phone – tell them that you buy non-performing notes, anything 90 days or more delinquent, tell them where you typically buy notes, and if they ask you for what your typical pricing is, tell them you can price up to, say, 85% of UPB (unpaid principal balance). (You don’t want to kick yourself out of contention for buying notes when you haven’t even gotten a foot in the door, and if the bank’s asking about price, make sure that you convey that you don’t skimp!)

As to the secret of how to get through to the right person – and what it REALLY takes to break through to that bank representative: it’s covered in detail starting at minute 11 of Part 3 (the third hour) of my ‘How to Find Non-performing Notes‘ Course.

I bid a pool of non-performing notes held by a trustee for a bankrupt mortgage company. Two loans were missing collateral files. One is a loan on a Florida property. Ouch – Florida judges are increasingly strict on lost note affidavits and missing notes in general. In some cases, they’ll throw out the foreclosure proceeding if you don’t have the original note, or appropriate documentation. 

Scurrying as fast as I could, I was able to track down a copy of the note that was in storage at the title company office that insured the note (this was a 2006 loan).  (One of the things that you’ll learn more and more about me is that I like to get my hands dirty on as many note buying deals as I can – it allows me to learn more and more about everything that can happen in our world of non-performing notes – I’m not a “hands-off” trainer in any way).

Fingers crossed … we’ll be able to sail through a foreclosure with a lost note affidavit, but without the original note.

How did I price? I took an extra 15% off my bid due to the missing note issue. Why 15% and not more? I needed to play it safe on the bid. But the home’s value supports a higher bid. I feel we have a better than even chance of being able to foreclose, and then use the foreclosure to help us negotiate a refi or a deed-in-lieu with the borrower.

If you want to learn more about the science part of pricing notes, take a look at our ‘Determining Price’ Note Buying Course. 4 hours+ just on this topic alone. And you get to watch the first hour for free…

[To put in perspective how this fits into the overall note buying game plan, check out this Mind Map.]

As usual, watch the first part for FREE… (In this case one hour & 40 minutes!)
Take a look:

-> Learn the 3 steps to nailing a property’s price

-> The difference between AVM’s, BPO’s and comps, and what to look for with each

-> Go on a trial run on property values with me (literally watching over my shoulder) on a nonperforming note in Naples, FL – and follow the loan that went from $520,000 to $250,000!

-> Title – the ins and outs, and who to use to pull title reports

-> Learn what to look for when it comes to understanding your borrower

It’s all in the course. So take a look, and learn how to really price nonperforming notes – without ever leaving your office (living room?).

Again, just check out the first hour and 40 minutes for FREE and get more details over at NoteBuyingProfits.com.

The loss rate on those 2nd mortgages, originated by OwnIt Mortgage which filed BK in 2006, is estimated to be close to 60% at this point, and the bonds have seen their ratings drop from AAA to junk in the course of a year.

The reason for the losses? Well, the numbers seem to be pointing to more borrowers stopping payments on their 2nd mortgages altogether.

Ken Andrews, a savvy San Diego bankruptcy and foreclosure attorney who represents borrowers, has what passes for sound advice for borrowers with those 2nd mortgages - just stop paying. And for those who aren’t quite satisfied with the pesky 2nd remaining secured on their home, he’s got a solution for them – strip the lien by filing a Chapter 13. It’s worth reading his recent piece here.

So what’s the big deal? As a note buyer, you need to be increasingly aware of some of the changing incentive structures for borrowers. A lowering of the social stigma against foreclosure and bankruptcy could be a harbinger of larger numbers of BK’s in your portfolio.

Not that that’s automatically bad. Bankruptcy postpones the completion of a foreclosure proceeding, when the Bankruptcy’s dismissed. And when it’s approved and discharged, it creates a set of cash flows that can be much steadier than a typical performing loan.

So follow the masses here – stay ahead of the curve ball – and think about taking advantage of the borrower BK note buying opportunity.

Defaulted paper gets charged off in all states, though, so don’t just assume that because a state is holding steady in terms of pricing, that it wouldn’t present a note buying opportunity.

See the map below or click on it to be taken to Freddie Mac’s page.

Jared Lanning, struggling to pay a home loan on which he owed more than his house was worth, was thinking he might just let the lender take back the property. Then he got a call one evening from an Orange County investor who had bought his mortgage.

“I want out of your loan,” said the investor, Evan Gentry, chief executive of G8 Capital of Ladera Ranch, who offered to lower the balance and the interest rate.

Lanning, a crane operator in Englewood, Colo., was skeptical. A phone pitch, after all, had led to his getting the unaffordable loan in the first place. But Gentry was legit: He helped Lanning get a new Federal Housing Administration-insured mortgage — with a $12,000 lower balance. Gentry also paid $5,000 in closing costs for the new loan. Lanning’s new monthly payment is $200 less than before.

Investors — including big fish like former Countrywide Financial Corp. President Stanford Kurland as well as smaller fry like Gentry — are buying loans on the cheap from lenders who want them off their books. By paying less than face value for the mortgages, the new holders can modify loan terms, including shrinking the amount owed, and still make money.

Partner up with a good mortgage broker who can refi you (as the nonperforming note holder) out, and buy as much defaulted paper as you can right now. NoteBuyingProfits.com will give you the tools how to. Speaking of which, make sure you read this update, courtesy of Barney Frank.

Many note investors were slightly subdued – sellers are still expecting more than note buyers are looking to pay – pools of notes don’t seem to be trading as quickly as they were in the 1st Quarter. One rep from GMAC indicated to me that he thinks a lot of banks are “on the sidelines” waiting to see what Congress has in store in terms of a bailout.

But this is only half the non-performing note picture. I spoke to several banks that are looking to sell of their non-performing notes now and into next quarter.

Note Buying Lessons learned? There is no common approach that everyone takes.

Which is what makes this note buying business so interesting – it’s up to you and I to find the banks that are looking to sell nonperforming notes at those heavily discounted prices that we know we can find.