This Is What It's All About!!

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

The "A-Team" was a very popular show back in the early 1980's. The premise of the show was a former Special Forces group that was wrongfully imprisoned (an escaped) for a deed they didn't commit, attempted with every episode to complete a good deed to attempt to clear their name. While clearing their names remained elusive,  after each successful "mission", the A-Team's leader, Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, would utter the phrase "I love it when a plan comes together." Often times, investing in promissory notes feels like being a part of the A-Team.
 

The small house in the above picture is the mission. This home was purchased by a couple in April 2013 for $34,200. The home is located in rural Wisconsin. As you can tell, this is a modest home that provides an affordable opportunity for home ownership. Current value on this house is just above $50,000. We purchased the contract on this home in mid-May. Part of our criteria in purchasing a low-value home was the home was owner-occupied, and the borrower had made some form of payment within the past 12 months. As with every note we purchase, we enter the transaction with the intent of the borrower to retain the home and we find a workout solution. If that doesn't work, we acquire the asset at a deep enough discount to liquidate at a discount, but still turn a profit. (On this asset, we acquired for just over $13,000.)

Unfortunately, life throws all of us curveballs. Things come out of left field that we aren't anticipating and we are caught looking. For these borrowers, their future together was not to be. John (not his real name) left the house and Mary (not her real name) remained in the house. Mary allowed her sister, Amy (not her real name) to move in with her 10 dogs. Then, Mary moved out, followed by Amy. A week later, the dogs moved out. Yes, you got that right. Yuck!!

I found this out after a phone conversation with John. But to find John, it took some commando reconnoitering. (Don't try this at home.) Facebook is a ubiquitous system. While John's real name isn't too unique, Mary's name is quite unique. A quick Facebook search found her quite easily. I sent her a covert message explaining my intrusion with a request to call me.  No response. I took a quick look at her "wall" and saw a recent photo that John "liked". So I shot him a similar message to call me, AND HE DID. The young man is a single father, working hard for his kids, and wants to find a way to retain his home. He has started cleaning up after the dogs, and we have engaged in conversation to get him back on the road to successful homeownership. 

And that is what we do.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Speaking about curveballs, I was honored to be a guest co-host on the Note Closer's Podcast June 12th. For more insight as to what we do and how a note investor needs to adapt and be flexible, I encourage to take a few minutes and watch. You can access this on my YouTube channel at the link below. While you are there, please subscribe to my page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n37TmU9FQY0
 

If you want to find out more about being on my A-Team, give me a shout this week. I've got more missions and more to accomplish. Thanks for reading, and enjoy the summer.

Oh, that reminds me, this past week summer crept in without any warning. Days are longer and nights are stronger than moonshine. For the next few months, I'm going to cut back on these missives being weekly. They may be a bit sporadic, but no less than once a month. So, if you go a couple of weeks and don't hear from me, I'm still here planning another mission, and I will be debriefing you when the mission is accomplished.