Here are some times when you will find having a paper resume to your advantage:

•Beating the streets: Yes this is the old fashion way of job hunting. The idea here is to print out a dozen or so copies of your resume in paper form and hit the road. Whatever job it is you are trying to get, like insurance sales for example, will get a resume from you and if you don’t get a job the first day out you will try handing out another dozen paper resumes the next day. Eventually you will land a job. This type of tenacity is rare indeed these days, but you should never underestimate the power of a good personal introduction.

•Faxing potential employers: There are many job opportunities that want you to do nothing more than fax them a resume and then they will contact you if they are interested. It is true that there are programs now that will digitally fax a copy of your resume to the potential employer for you, but many people don’t have this software in which case it is easier to make a paper copy and fax it over and over again.

•Networking: When you are looking for a job you should be talking to everyone about it and not just your friends and family. You never know who could be out there waiting to hire someone just like you. If you do happen to meet someone who is interested in your services what are you going to do, tell them to check out your resume online? It can never hurt you, but it may help you to have a few paper resumes handy wherever it is you are going. Print them out and put them in a folder and leave that folder in your car. If need be you can excuse yourself just long enough to fetch a paper resume.

•At an interview: If you are being interviewed for a job then chances are that the interviewer has already looked over your resume, but what if they want a copy from you? It is better to have one ready and the interviewer not ask for it then it is to not have one ready and have the interviewer want it. Taking your paper resume with you ensures that you are covered.

Having paper resumes with you is no guarantee that you will find a job, but look at it this way; it can’t hurt. When you are trying to secure the job of your dreams it is always best to be prepared, even if you are a little over-prepared.

BUYING EXISTING PAPER VERSUS MAKING LOANS:

Here is a list of the pros and cons of lending money versus buying existing Paper at a discount. When have finished the list, you will understand why I abandoned lending money and went back to buying Paper at discount.

FACTORS:LOANSDISCOUNTED PAPER

Payors need cash nowyesno – making payments Payors under pressureOftenNot borrowing money
Payor loan constantsCan be highUsually much softer Payors Used to Making PaymentsNot yetYes
Payors used to areaoften notHave a history in area
Track Record of PMTsNoYes
Equity Build-upNoMost of the time
Property maintained wellNo historyOwner is/not taking care
Property AppreciationNo historyMost of the time
Low Interest Rates on noteMarket interest rateYes (owner financing)
High YieldsMarket Interest rateMuch higher
Cash Invested in the Paper105%40% – 70%
Availability of the PaperYesLess
ProfitableMostlyYes
Usury LawsYesNo
My Experience to DateProblems (YES!)Fixable

When you make a loan to a new borrower, there is now a payor often with no history in the property, no payment record, no equity build up in the property, and no appreciation or renovations. The payor is not used to making payments, often the payor is new to the property and inexperienced with its problems, and I have no equity in my loan. My yield is close to the interest rate for with the payor has contracted. This is not an idea situation for me. I do not like lending.

If I buy an existing note, the payor and the property and the seller of the note all bring their histories to the table for me to look at, study and evaluate. I get to see just how well the package is performing in all its many aspects. I can see that the property is worth more now than it was when the note was created. I can see that the payor cares about the property, cares about his finances, and cares to expand his property-management skills.

The great benefit to buying discounted Paper rather than lending is that the yield (or return on my investment) can be many times greater than the interest rate any lender could ever charge legally. This is because I have less dollars invested in the than note than are owed to me on the note. Hence, I have built in leverage and more flexability with in the note. You need to understand the great difference between the terms interest and yield.

Just about everyone thinks that because the two terms, “interest” and “yield” have a % sign after each of the them, Interest and Yield must be the same thing. Nothing could be further form the truth. They are in no way related. My yield is based upon my adjusted cost basis in the note; not the interest rate that the Payor has committed to pay. So my yield can be many times more than the face interest rate on the note. “Interest” applies only to the “Payor. “ “Yield” only applies to the “Payee” – the recipient of the payments.

So, for all of the above reasons, I gave up being a lender and returned to the world of discounted Paper only.