Hey Reader, If you're someone who's heard how the wealthy borrow against their assets instead of selling them, you already understand the idea behind this. The rich rarely sell what's working. They borrow against it. Buy an asset, borrow against it, keep it growing, that's the playbook some people call "buy, borrow, die." The asset stays theirs while the borrowed money goes to work somewhere else. You can do the same thing with a note. It has an intimidating name: Hypothecation It's simpler...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, If you're someone who likes knowing how the work actually gets done before you trust it, this one's for you. People assume AI in investing means a bot picking trades. That's not how I use it. I use it for the data analysis & underwriting, the work that takes up most of my time. Because here's the truth, I want everyone to know Note investing is more passive than being a landlord, but it is not truly passive. So here is the process for me these days. It usually starts with a loan...
13 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, I hear this almost every week. "Sierra, I would love to invest in notes, but I just don't have the money." I used to believe that was the real problem. I do not anymore. The longer I do this, the more I see that money is rarely the actual constraint. People with no money close deals all the time. People with a lot of money sit on the sidelines for years. The difference is not the account balance. It is who they know. There is a concept called Who, not How. Most people, when they...
20 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, You may have seen the Brandon Turner news last week. He is a big name in real estate. His team bought an apartment building in Texas a few years ago for $72 million. The deal worked. Rents went up 33%. The building stayed full. By every measure, the operator did what he said he would do. Then the market shifted, and they had to sell for $62 million. Here is what happened to everyone's money: Same building. Same operator. Same deal. Three completely different outcomes. The...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, 14 months.... That's how long Marcus had been "researching notes" before he picked up the phone and called me a few weeks ago. He could explain yield. Seasoning. LTV. Performing versus non-performing. Better than most people who actually own notes. He had bought zero. When I asked why, he said the thing I've heard a hundred times. "I just want to make sure I understand everything first." I've been there. So this week, I'm breaking down the term that scares most investors away, and...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, A few years ago I thought I had my money figured out.High-yield savings account. Dividend ETFs. Rentals and CDs. A little bit of everything. Diversified, right?Then I discovered notes and since I have experience in Data Science I ran the numbers on everything I was already invested in.What I found made me quietly move my money.Not because the others were terrible. But because once you see the difference, it is really hard to unsee it.That is what this issue is about. Notes...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, This week, I co-hosted a masterclass on how to use your retirement money to invest in real estate notes. If you missed it, no worries. But there's a 30-second clip from my guest that I need you to see before you read the rest of this email. That's Nate Hare. He just said the quiet part out loud. You. In the position of a bank. Backed by real property. Inside a tax-free account. That's the whole game. Now let's break it down. Notes Concept🧠Most retirement accounts only let you...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, What if I told you that the borrower not paying is not the worst thing that can happen in note investing? I know that sounds backwards. But after years of doing this, I can tell you the real risk in this business lives somewhere most new investors never look. Today, I want to walk you through how I actually evaluate every deal using the 3 Ps. Property. Payer. Paperwork. Notes Concept🧠The 3 Ps are the three things I evaluate before I buy any note. Property. What is the collateral...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Most note investors will never tell you this. The deals that made me the most money were not the ones I spent weeks analyzing. They were the ones I almost walked away from. The ones that felt uncomfortable, unfamiliar and outside what I had done before. The ones that made me learn new strategies. This week I am breaking down a structure called a Contract for Deed. It is one of the most powerful tools in note investing and one of the most misunderstood. Notes Concept🧠Most people...
2 months ago • 1 min read