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By Jasmine Willois

Several years ago a lady in a pink cowboy hat set a goal of sharing the power of investing in mortgage notes with at least 5,000 people.

That has since morphed into a vibrant community of successful investors who have not only been learning the advantages of this asset class and investment strategy, but have been actively helping each other by teaming up to access large amounts of dealflow at attractive discounts, and in turn been sharing their blessed rewards through their combined Invest Profit Give initiative.

Realty 411 caught up with the lady in the pink hat, Jasmine Willois, to find out what they’ve been cooking up in their Mortgage Note Lab sessions, how the Note Assistance Program has been helping people, how they’ve been thriving through COVID lockdowns, and where you can tune into her very transparent podcast.

From Working For The Banks, To Becoming The Bank

Jasmine is an MBA rocking former investment banker and equity trader who worked with big Wall Street firms like Dean Witter and Morgan Stanley. She then ended up being recruited to help GMAC Homecomings with their loss mitigation.

Discovering the great benefits of real estate and mortgage note investing for herself, and craving more freedom to be able to help distressed homeowners, Willois decided to become the bank herself.

Lending is what has helped banks grow so big, and own their financial position for so long. As the noteholder you effectively become the bank. That means you also have the ability to help borrowers manage their mortgages and keep their homes. As a mortgage note investor you have even more freedom and ability to do that than corporate giants, who continue to do a pretty horrific job at that, even when helping should be in their best interest.

As the President and Founder of Note Assistance Program, Jasmine has been on an 8 year mission to share the awareness of the ability to invest in notes like this for yourself, and to simplify the process for individual investors and family offices.

She and her team have built an incredible community which support and partner with each other on a variety of levels, including JVs, and participating in acquiring larger batches of notes. Their combined buying power and Jasmine’s track record and industry relationships enable them to access $20M to $80M of notes each month. As you can imagine, that carries some pretty strong street cred when it comes to negotiating discounts and getting bank, credit union and fund decision makers to pick up the phone.

Those who have come to learn and invest with Jasmine and the Note Assistance Program incorporate burned out landlords searching for truly passive income, those looking for more security and control than is available in the stock market, accredited investors, family offices and individuals who have already reached some level of success, but want to create more surplus income and superior risk-reward balance in their portfolios and family finances for the long term.

From those who have attended her programs and joined the group, the feedback has been largely that the value of the information has been so great that they want to keep on coming back, even though she really lays out all they need to start investing for themselves right from the beginning.

Together they have been supporting several philanthropic initiatives, both international and domestic, which focus on helping the homeless.

The Bank Always Wins

The bank always wins, no matter what. In great economic times the bank is winning every day. In tighter economic times and periods of crisis, the banks are often profiting far more than you know. Even if they are complaining and saying otherwise.

The good news that Jasmine is empowering people with is that you don’t have to be the prey of that game any longer. You can effectively become the bank too, and use their own strategies to invest directly for yourself, for greater returns and security, and to make sure your capital is being used for good and not at odds with your values.

The Note Assistance Program focuses on investing in first lien position mortgages. Although she still enjoys a stimulating hand of Texas Hold ‘Em, traveling and eating out to support local businesses and workers, Jasmine said she really grew up overnight with the birth of her first child. Parenthood was a huge wakeup call to the need to take less risks financially, and to invest her money more wisely.

She says, “you can buy 600 cheap blenders and spend a lot of money without getting much value. I realized it’s probably better to buy the high quality $600 blender the first time. It works, it lasts, and you won’t need to be stalking the shelves, and spending half of your life buying new blenders every week.”

This is how she sees both education and acquiring quality investments. She loves the tangible security first position loan notes offer. That concrete and earth, and debt “is a whole lot more predictable than human behaviour,” she says. Which is all you are relying on if you are buying highly speculative unsecured debt, like second mortgages, credit card debt or most business loan notes. In fact, she told us that even on non-performing mortgages they are successfully working out 10 out of 10 of them. Even when you can’t, you have a great equity cushion and hard asset with value to bank on.

Despite all of the sensational media headlines and fake news that may suggest otherwise, Jasmine shared that the performance on the notes her group has been buying has been incredibly strong through COVID and all of the ensuing interruptions and restrictions. With around 85% of their borrowers wisely using their stimulus money to catch up on their payments and keep their homes.

What’s My Next Step?

So, how do you take the next step to begin learning more about how to intelligently, safely and profitably invest in mortgage notes for yourself?

Jasmine offers a great lineup of resources for investors. That includes her popular live and virtual two day Mortgage Note Lab events. These comprehensive sessions are in person and via Zoom. Here you’ll learn her scientific formulas for predictable results from investing in notes in interactive sessions, with the occasional DJ led breakout dance party. Because life is just too short not to be having fun and enjoying what you are doing too.

The Note Assistance Program offers personal service to hold your hand through to investing in your first note profitably, and access to their trade desk and large amount of inventory.

Though no matter whether it is the dealflow, discounts and equity cushion, security or passive income that attracts you most to note investing, and has made you curious to learn more, one of the best places to start is with her Naked Notes podcast. Check it out, and taste a few great nuggets of the insights she has to share about the note business, or if you are still locked down, binge out on the podcast for the weekend and come out all the wiser.

Find out more at NoteAssistanceProgram.com.


ABOUT JASMINE WILLOIS

An advocate for responsible investing Jasmine spends her time educating audiences on conservative real estate strategies. She has owned rentals and flipped out-of-state properties since 2005 in states such as California, Mississippi, Indiana and New Jersey to name a few. She is the Managing Director of The Note Assistance Program a firm that provides additional security and education on real estate investing, specifically with non-performing notes. Her reputation for the judicious use of resources, result-oriented management style and skillful negotiations, has opened many doors.

Jasmine offers a unique blend of experience. She received her B.A in Economics from California State University at Long Beach, and enthusiastically accepted her first job as an equity trader with Joseph Stevens, in New York, NY. She emotionally ended her 7-year long career on Wall Street as financial advisor with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter after losing colleagues to the world trade center attacks.

Jasmine focuses on conservative real estate cash flow strategies and the abundance of opportunities that lay out side of her backyard. She hosts a note mastermind at her Note Lunch & Learn every Thursday from noon to 2 pm at her Newport Beach, Calif., office. Find out more on Meetup.com or their Facebook page.