Do you recall the 1981 hit from “Men at Work called Land Down Under?” (and yes, I was a big Men-at-Work fan.)

I recieved an email from a Korean by the name of Joe and it reminded me of the show.

What Does This Have To Do With Buying Notes?

Because Joe told me a little story today that demonstrates one of the most important lessons in the world of how to find notes. Relationships matter.

In addition to these relationships, you should find “commonalitites” with your seller. This will also help you when you’re trying to find notes.

The commonality can be a list of things like sports, pastimes, favorites books, foods, etc. They can be social, cultural, sports-related, geographical, you name it. Just find something in common.

Joe’s Story -A Little Gem Of How To Find Notes

Here is the email that Joe sent to me:

“I own a Korean Investment Club, and last week I was approached by a big Korean bank. They wanted me to the buy the notes from the person that was in charge of defaulted mortgages. Because of my lack of understanding, I’m not ready to think about buying notes yet. The first trust deed had a face value of about $2.7 million including interest, and the the property was a 79 room motel with restaurants. The Bank asked me to offer any amount for the note. Now I am very interested in buying the notes. This property is well worth over $4.1 million. What do I need to do? Thank you for your help.”

So what are we looking at here?

There is Joe, the owner of a Korean Real Estate Investment club. And then we have the big Korean Banks offereing an interesting lead.

Does Joe Know Anything About Buying Notes?

Joe knows nothing. And if asked if I thought that he made a great pitch to this big Investment Bank, saying that he was the perfect person to buy their nonperforming notes, I would say no.

No he did not. The note buying opportunity found him. And it also seems that they are willing to accept any offer that he makes on that note.

Just for a little while, try to stop focusing on the fact that Joe might be able to offer a low bid on this note and actually close his first note buying deal. This can be a great a deal! If the value of the collateral is actually $4 million and if the loan is a non performing note, Joe will have the opportunity to foreclose on a motel.

But hang on a minute. I want to point out something that is so simple when you are trying to find notes, that you probably glossed over it already, thinking that you’re supposed to be looking for something more complicated.

Joe is from Korea, and this is a Korean Bank.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that this note, which is a California property happens to find its way to Joe.

A Good Tip On Finding Notes

Remember when you are trying to find notes, banks often want to sell notes to people that they can talk to.

And sometimes, the people they can talk to look like them, talk like them, act like them, do business like them, live like them, and entertain themselves like them.

Chances are: even if I were Mr. Well Known Note Investor and I found a way to that Korean Investment Bank, I would probably never get the same reception and credibility when trying to find notes that Joe has. You see, they’d rather deal with him than you or me because Joe is one of them in a way that you and I never will be. So the process of “getting to know one another” for Joe and this bank will always be a whole lot smaller than the same process for your or me.

So start applying this note buying tip today.

Find the Commonalities between You and your Sellers.

Go find someone who speaks your language, and then see if they have notes for sale.