Brian Lauchner NoteSchool

GUEST: BRIAN LAUCHNER

Brian Lauchner purchased his first piece of real estate in 2008. Making the leap out of the financial software industry, he jumped full time into real estate as a wholesaler and rehabber. Gaining traction as a wholesaler, Brian expanded into other strategies including land trades, private lending, rentals, and buying/selling on terms through owner finance.

He has seen first-hand how becoming a deal architect is required to get deals done at today’s seller’s “kitchen table”. Brian also realized the reality of wealth building using real estate secured assets which inspired him to dream of connecting people and educating others so they too can build wealth using real estate. Brian has been teaching and consulting investors since 2017 and is very excited to bring his passion and experience to the NoteSchool team. Brian is a family man first, he’s married to his high school sweet-heart Chelsea, and has two amazing kids that drive him to be a change-agent in the world.

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When you work for somebody else, your destiny is never under your complete control. Most people live their lives on top of a trap door that they hope will never open. One day, the trap door opened under today’s guest, Brian Lauchner.

Normally, Brian is our host. But in today’s episode of NoteSchool TV, Brian sits in the guest’s chair. Joe Varnadore asks the questions, and Brian tells the story of being called to the boss’s office at the software company where he worked. He walked into that office with a job and walked out unemployed. It came at a bad time because he was his family’s breadwinner, with one young child and another on the way.

Brian tells the story of leaving his software career and starting out as a real estate investor by wholesaling and doing fix & flips. He learned a lot but realized how much work it took and how time consuming it can be to work with contractors. He first heard Eddie talk about notes in 2016 but didn’t get serious about shifting his focus to note investing until 2018. After finally realizing the advantages of note investing, he jumped in with both feet. Brian joined NoteSchool as a trainer in 2020, which is also when he took a keen interest in non-performing notes—which is our topic for today’s episode.

Brian takes us through the details of a recent non-performing note he purchased on NotesDirect. (He knew it was a great deal, and he actually let it sit there for two weeks so people wouldn’t think he had an inside track on scooping up great deals.) The property is in Missouri and Brian lives in Colorado, but that hasn’t been an issue. He also describes a few twists and turns along the way, such as the homeowner declaring bankruptcy.

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TIME STAMPS:

3:00 | Joe Varnadore gives an update on news: Fannie Mae nearly doubles home price growth forecast to 14.8% YoY, and recommends refinancing now. Realtor.com released top selling 50 zip codes.

7:00 | Joe introduces today’s guest, Brian Lauchner—who Eddie calls “our lead bird.” He bought his first property in 2008, but got serious about real estate investing in 2014 when the software company he worked for gave him the hook. He got into wholesaling houses and some rehabbing. He was extremely busy and started looking for more passive ways to make money such as with rentals and banking. He first heard Eddie in 2016 but didn’t jump into notes until 2018.

11:20 | Brian describes how the market shifted (where he lived in Dallas) in 2018. He got together with Eddie who told him, “Non-performing notes is not a thing right now.” It was all about creative seller financing.

13:05 | Brian joined NoteSchool in 2020. In January, 2021 non-performing notes once again emerged as a great opportunity to make money. He did his first non-performing note deal through NotesDirect (one of our sponsors) as a featured asset. The note was on a property in Missouri, with the auction set for the following Wednesday. He put in $80K with the unpaid balance of $101K. The house was worth $240K. The borrower filed bankruptcy at the last minute. Brian may do a deed in lieu with the owner, but it should be resolved very shortly.

17:05 | Joe shares his experience on how bankruptcy affects non-performing loans. He says there’s a clear cut path that defines the process, and shouldn’t scare investors off.

19:15 | Joe describes how today’s non-performing notes tend to be on much higher quality properties than in previous years. Brian describes how “there’s a market for assets and a market for money, and he wants to be the guy who puts them together.”

22:10 | Brian was inspired by the recent NSTV episode with Chaz Guinn, to set higher goals and grow his assets by redeploying money made from previous deals. Joe describes how a rehabber buys an “ugly house” to make money, and a note investor buys an “ugly note” to make money. But it’s less work than fixing up a rundown house. Brian also spends much less time driving around than when he was flipping houses.

27:20 | Joe describes the great Investment-to-Value ratio that makes note investing so secure. If things go wrong, your investment is still secured by the property.

29:10 | Today’s sponsor: Feeding Frenzy Friday! You can buy notes on NotesDirect by clicking a button (just like Brian did).

31:55 | After Party begins. They discuss topics such as: There’s a wave on new inventory expected to be coming in the coming months. The longer you invest in other facets of real estate, the more you love note investing. Note investing allows Brian to make money and spend time with his family. Burned-out landlords are a great source to buy properties with seller financing. Non-performing notes are the part of the industry where the most good can be done, and the most money can be made. Banks write off bad loans at a huge discount which is great for note investors.

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