Clay Sparkman I am frequently asked by private money investors: “… so how do we get started investing in private money loans?” You know, there is no simple answer to this question. I tell them that it is kind of like dating. If we are going to do this as an investor/broker team, then they need […]
Posts Tagged ‘hard money lending’
Getting started with private money investing
Thursday, October 25th, 2018The west coast is on fire
Tuesday, March 6th, 2018Clay Sparkman Between Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, LA, and San Diego, home prices are off the charts. We broker short-term loans to real estate investors, so if you wish to invest in trust deeds in these markets, consider contacting us. And check out these two recent articles: A Third of U.S. Homebuyers Are Bidding Sight […]
Two hicks from Oregon go to Malibu – a cautionary tale
Thursday, January 25th, 2018Clay Sparkman I first posted this Blog piece on 11.11.09 at this site. The runway was drenched in sunlight as our plane touched down that morning at LAX. It was a golden balmy day. We grabbed our bags and headed for the rental car kiosks. I don’t recall how it happened exactly, but the fellow […]
Five potentially useful indicators of the likely movement of value
Friday, August 11th, 2017Clay Sparkman Any good real estate investor should be attempting to assess whether property values are rising, falling, or holding in the area of his/her latest potential investment. After all, the core question when buying investment property (particularly short-term) is, “what is value likely to do in the next year or so?” If you sense […]
A book that we must read
Thursday, January 19th, 2017Clay Sparkman This book strikes me as a must read for anyone in the lending business. I have not read it yet, but I intend to get started now. Have any of you read it, and if so, what was your take away? Here The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives Lisa […]
Resources for private money profesionals
Friday, January 6th, 2017Clay Sparkman I posted this article in 2011, and am sad to say that I haven’t come across much in the way of new resources since. I’m going to re-post, with a few small changes, and please let me know if you know of any useful resources available to private money professionals. These days–with uncertain […]
Private money for maijuana grow and sell operations
Thursday, December 29th, 2016Clay Sparkman Good article in the Los Angeles Times: Lending money to pot businesses is a high-risk move: ‘This is not for the faint of heart’ A few years back, this was starting to look like a pretty good place to consider investing your private money. Several things were favorable: (1) The general trend nationwide […]
Examining an FAQ about Trust Deed investing
Tuesday, December 20th, 2016S. Clay Sparkman TNG (The Norris Group) published the following FAQ on their site. I thought it might be fun to go through this and see where I agree and perhaps disagree, and offer my annotations (in red). Frequently Asked Questions About Trust Deed Investing 1. What is a trust deed investor? A trust deed […]
Twenty-eight questions you must ask
Friday, October 7th, 2016Clay Sparkman I first wrote and published this piece in its original form in September of 2009. I am of the firm belief that the key to success (defined as: having fun and maximizing your return, two closely correlated phenomena), is rigorous and comprehensive vetting of the loan proposal. If you do this right, the […]
10 things You should do before you start investing
Tuesday, September 27th, 2016Clay Sparkman Most of my discussions on this blog have to do with private money investing, and trends related to such. I cam across a Lifehacker article recently–one that I had saved in The Pocket to read *later* (if you know what I mean), and was reminded that before one can make sensible private money […]
