How to Safely Invest in Trust Deeds

What You Need to Know

Trust deeds can be sound investments to make if you’re looking for an investment offers a respectable return on investment with relatively low-risk. That doesn’t mean, though, that trust deed investing is without risk.

All investments carry some degree of risk, even if you’re considering investing in a real estate trust deed. The good news is that there are steps you can take now that will help you hedge your bets and point you in the direction of a more favorable investing outcome. These are some of the steps you’ll want to take to reduce your trust deed investing risks.

Perform Due Diligence

There are some key pieces of information you simply need to know before you invest in a real estate trust deed. This includes a variety of things including learning the market value of the property in question, establishing the creditworthiness of the borrower, and learning whether the borrower has the means to repay the loan or not. The more information you have to work with when considering trust deed investing, the better prepared you will be to make an informed decision about the viability or attractiveness of the investment.

Invest in Inspections

Property inspections tell the tale about the property. They can help you determine the actual value of the property in the current marketplace better. Inspections can also identify the scope of repairs and such that need to be made to make the home marketable should the borrower default on the loan.

After all, the purpose of investing in trust deeds is to make money. Property inspections can help ensure the value of the property is sufficient to provide a positive outcome if the borrower defaults on the loan.

Make sure you choose property inspectors wisely as well. Look for inspectors that have experience and a reputation for quality. Beyond the physical inspection of the property, make sure you personally inspect all relevant documentation. This alone can greatly reduce your trust deed investing risks and help you have the outcome you’re hoping for.

Protect Your Investment by Keeping Up with the Details

It’s important to know what’s going on with your borrower and his end of things throughout the repayment process. Specifically, you want to make sure that there will be something for you to recover if the borrower defaults on the land. What this means, is that you need to verify that the borrower is paying property taxes, insurance, deeds of trust, and other senior loans.

If the borrower does default on the loan, the odds are good that he will not have kept up with these payments. If you want to increase your odds of recovering your full investment, you may need to pay these if your borrower discontinues making these important payments. Otherwise, another entity may have a legal claim to the property.

Diversify

The key to hedging your investment bets in any portfolio is diversification. It is no different when investing in real estate trust deeds. The beauty of diversifying your portfolio is that it not only spreads the risk so that all your investments aren’t in one sector of the economy, but it also serves to spread the potential rewards, too.

The more diversity you have in your investment portfolio, the better able you will be to weather the ups and downs of a volatile stock market.

As you explore numerous ways how to invest in trust deeds, don’t forget that minimizing your risks should always be at the front and center of your investment strategy – even if you’re making more aggressive investments at this stage of the game. Don’t forget to turn to respected and experienced titans of the industry when seeking trust deed advice and coming up with an investment strategy.