by Leonard W. Stitt Imagine yourself going on a shopping spree at the supermarket. You're looking for different types of items. You've come to the supermarket because you want a large selection to choose from. Each item must meet certain qualifications before you make any purchases. The super market will provide you with everything you require. When you've used up all your items you can go back and find more to buy. HERE'S THE ULTIMATE DISCOUNT MORTGAGE SUPERMARKET. Every discount mortgage buyer and investor has their own discount mortgage supermarket. You can shop and look for mortgages, trust deeds and contracts to purchase whenever you like. There's always a wide selection to choose from and they never run out. The supermarket I'm talking about is your county courthouse. The courthouse is an excellent source for you to find paper- for several reasons. Here's 4 of them: ONE Every single real estate transaction that took place in the county is available at the courthouse for you to look over and review. You can screen each contract and determine for yourself if it has the qualifications you want to see in a discount mortgage. It's very easy to figure out which deals are good and which ones you should stay away from. TWO Courthouse research can be more cost effective than advertising for discount mortgages. For example, I can spend around $200 for postage and get anywhere from 20 to 30 responses. These responses come from mortgage holders I KNOW have workable deals I can make an offer on. The same amount spent on an ad might bring three or four responses, and most, if not all the calls, will have deals that simply won't work. Courthouse research is like zeroing in on a bullseye. When you fire you're going to hit the target. The target is going to be a discount mortgage you positively know you can make an offer on. When you advertise for discount mortgages, it's like shooting a shotgun in the sky and hope something good comes down. THREE When you do courthouse research you've found the deal on your own. It wasn't referred to you by someone you'd have to pay a finder's fee to. The whole deal is yours. FOUR The courthouse allows you to be selective. If you're looking for privately held mortgages on single family houses only, you can find them at the courthouse. Maybe you're looking for contracts to flip for a quick profit. Assume your goal is to find contracts having the potential of making you no less than $2,500.00. You can find contracts large enough that give you the desired profit you're looking for. Perhaps you're looking for mortgages that have been seasoned for a few years. You'll' find them at the courthouse, too. ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE COURTHOUSE FOR EVERY DISCOUNT MORTGAGE BUYER AND INVESTOR. No matter how a paper deal comes to you, every single one of them is recorded in a county courthouse somewhere in the country. Have you ever heard someone say, "Buy direct and save the cost of the middleman?" That's what you're doing when you find deals using courthouse research. You've wiped out paying someone a referral fee because you found the deal on your own. STAYING INDEPENDENT WILL MAKE YOU MORE MONEY. The more independent you can be in this business, the better your bottom line profit. Of course, networking with professionals who can bring you deals is important. However, the more you find and close the deal on your own, the better off you'll be from the perspective of profit. Sometime ago t had a real estate professional call me with a deal that looked pretty good. I made an offer and submitted it to the mortgage holder. In a couple of days the real estate professional called and asked me what his referral fee would be. Based on his involvement (which was very limited), said I'd pay him $300.00. He wasn't satisfied, he said he'd tell the mortgage holder I was a crook and he shouldn't sell to me. I very tactfully suggested to him, "You should also tell the mortgage holder you want more money out of the deal for yourself. I'm sure he'll understand who is really the crook." While all this was going on I thought to myself, "This deal is recorded at the courthouse. I wish I could have found it on my own". Fortunately, the mortgage holder found out what was going on and told the agent not to be so greedy. This example shows you the more you bypass the middleman, the better your profit. IS COURTHOUSE RESEARCH REALLY WORTH THE EFFORT? You might be saying to yourself, "Leonard, courthouse research is just too hard to do". Well, I've got mind blowing news for you -- that's what your competition is saying too. When something seems to hard to do it wipes out lots of potential competition. Get excited when it seems too hard. It means the-opportunity to make money is wide open. I remember an experience I had when I first started doing research at the courthouse. A fellow came in one day while I was doing my research. It was pretty clear to me he was doing the same thing I was. I felt a little intimidated at first, but I kept on with what I was doing. An hour later I could see he was getting frustrated with his efforts. All of a sudden he turned to me and said, "This is too hard". And I said with a smile, "It sure is, isn't it?" Then he got up. And I watched my competition walk right out the door, and I never saw him again. Everybody always wants it to be the easy way. If the courthouse required no effort or time it would be flooded with competition. But that's the good news. It does require these things, and because of that, most people aren't willing to put in the effort. HERE'S A SLICK WAY TO AVOID COMPETITION AT THE COURTHOUSE. If you. really want to wipe out competition, go out of your metropolitan area and do research in rural counties. You'll find yourself the only person doing research for private mortgage holders. Every time I go to a rural county for the first time, the clerks always tell me I'm the only person they've seen doing research. Always remember, successful people are willing to do, what the vast majority of people aren't willing to do. WHAT CAN I EXPECT FROM MY COURTHOUSE RESEARCH? Like anything that's worthwhile, courthouse research for mortgage holders takes a commitment of time and effort. Sometimes speakers will make the courthouse sound like you'll be taking a trip to Never-Never-Land -- as if all you need to do is wish upon a star and the whole procedure magically comes together. I've had thousands of hours worth of experience doing research. I can tell you wishing for things to happen easily is wishful thinking. For example, if you wanted to get the names of around 100 mortgage holders, be prepared, to spend the day at the courthouse doing the research. My goal is to do my best to get around 17 quality names per hour. These are names that have good deals I know I can make an offer on. By following that goal of 17 names per hour, you're going to be mailing cards or letters to over 2,000 mortgage holders each month. This generates a good response rate and gets your phone ringing. Don't be hard on yourself the first time you do research. Take it slow and easy. You'll be surprised what you can accomplish. The clerks can be helpful when you're learning the system. Tell them what you're trying to do. Don't hold back. Then follow their guidance and take your time as you learn. Leonard W. Stitt has been researching for mortgages at courthouses since 1984. THE INSIDE SECRETS OF EFFECTIVE COURTHOUSE RESEARCH FOR PRIVATELY HELD NOTES AND CONTRACTS- Whether you're a beginner or seasoned pro, you can start cashing in on your courthouse, and profit from Leonard W. Stitt's trouble free note research system. Also, see HOW TO CASH IN ON THE DISCOUNT MORTGAGE BONANZA WAITING FOR YOU AT YOUR COUNTY COURTHOUSE. Now-- An Expert At Finding Notes At The Courthouse Shows You How To Master The Little-Known Methods For Conducting Simple, Precise Research For Profitable Note Deals-- In Any Courthouse-- Nationwide.
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