As you can see, this little deal provides a very high yield with a small investment, and it was done in a very short time.
What the note really creates
Let me explain what I’ve really done with just a few hours of work. You might think I simply put a little deal together and made a good profit. I did, but I’ve done much more than that.
I’ve spent a few hours creating a note that obligates somebody to send me a check every month for the next 40 months. Once the deal is done, what more do I have to do to get paid? Nothing but wait for the mail carrier to bring the checks.
I don’t even have to leave the house to get paid. That nice couple living in the mobile home goes to work every day so they can send me a check, for 40 months. All of it was made possible by an old, ugly mobile home that most investors wouldn’t consider of any value as collateral.
After explaining all this to Fred, I asked him to take another look at that mobile home and tell me what he saw. The first time, he saw a 15-year-old mobile home. Now that he realized he had been suffering from an optical illusion, he saw cash flow.
Then I asked Fred to figure out how many small mobile home payments like this he would need each month to equal what his job paid. I explained that if he did one deal a month, the payments would add up month after month. At some point, somebody else could be sending him as much as his job did, and if he still enjoyed his job, he could keep it as a hobby.
How I learned to make money work
I’d like to say a little more about this deal, to show how much difference some education and knowledge can make in a person’s life.
Before I learned how to make money do the work, I was doing all the work. I thought the answer to financial freedom was working two jobs, and that’s what I did for many years. Finally I realized there weren’t enough hours in a day, or in a month, to reach financial security that way. There had to be a better way.
So I started looking for it. Up to that point, all I had was some “schooling.” Now I realized I needed an education.
I started learning who the successful people were, the ones doing what I wanted to do. I attended seminars taught by those people, paying money I couldn’t afford and taking time off work I couldn’t afford to take. I bought books, tapes and courses I couldn’t afford, and spent many hours with them when I could have been watching ball games or fishing like many of my friends.
I did all the things I couldn’t afford to do, so that someday I would be able to afford to do the things I wanted to do.
Choices you make today shape your future
Looking back, I didn’t do all the easy things or all the fun things, but I did the right things. Today we enjoy financial security and can do what we want, when we want. Some of our friends are still working jobs, searching for a security they may never find. They had the same chance I had; they made different choices.
The best investment you can make is in yourself. Be willing to pay for your education now, or be prepared to pay a much bigger price for your lack of education later.
You’ll be the one living with the results of your choices. And if you plan on retiring on a “fixed income,” make sure you’re the one who does the fixing.
Fred paid for lunch that day: a burger and fries. (I think I’m working too cheap.) Next time, Fred, it’s going to be prime rib and good wine.
The concept behind the deal
What this deal shows isn’t really about mobile homes. It’s a concept: buy wholesale, sell retail and finance the transaction. When good notes became harder to find, I found a way to make my own.
Mobile homes are where I apply it. If you don’t like mobile homes, you can use the same concept for almost anything you are willing to sell with financing and accept as collateral.
