Media

Managing Partner, Flynn Family Lending How has your outlook on the private lending industry changed in light of the new normal? We’ve always been a little more cautious than our hard money and private lending competitors, so our business model hasn’t changed much. Our LTVs remain ultra conservative and our terms are shorter than a year to help create a “speed bump” should anything happen with the project, the market, or otherwise. In fact, our business has improved and grown in the last year due to our lack of dependency on institutional capital or the secondary markets. This reaffirmed how

Originate Report caught up with Beth P. Johnson, co-founder of Flynn Family Lending and co-author of Lend to Live: Earn Hassle-Free Passive Income in Real Estate with Private Money Lending, where she discusses the recent establishment of a private debt fund, her “lazy” approach to lending, and how this all fits into today’s dynamic real estate and private lending landscape. OR: The last time OR caught up with you, you had just published a book about how to become a private money lender. How have things changed in the last year? Beth: It’s been quite a whirlwind since publishing Lend

Superlatives abound in the world of real estate investing. Articles, podcasts, and other media boast headlines like ”10x Your Business” and ”1,000 Doors in Only 2 Years.” The private money industry isn’t immune to peacocking either. Introductions boasting of how much in assets one has under management or origination volume to date are common. Those pronouncements can certainly be a little intimidating to a local lender like me, especially in a world where bigger always seems better. Trying to “keep up” with these boasts can lead to self-imposed goals that demand scale at breakneck speeds and the sacrifice of one’s

Knowledge is power. This oft-quoted adage applies to all things, private lending included. In our increasingly digital technology-driven age, the daunting task of sourcing, aggregating, and distilling the quantity of available information is understandably daunting, especially from a relative beginner’s perspective. For many, this initial knowledge base is the most substantial hurdle standing between them and obtaining true financial independence through private lending. That is the exact conundrum Alex Breshears and Beth Pinkley Johnson are planning to address in their upcoming book, Lend to Live: Earn Hassle-Free Passive Income in Real Estate with Private Money Lending, which will be available to

When you are considering an investment, don’t make the mistake of relying solely on opinions and experience rather than on data. Relationship building and networking are paramount to success for the small, independent private lender. These low-key lenders tend to fly under the radar. They don’t publicly advertise and typically do not have a brand that sets them apart in the real estate community. Additionally, these truly private equity lenders likely have less capital to deploy, and they are more risk adverse than institutionally backed lenders with more experience, resources, and deal flow. What Are Relationships Really Worth? Most will

It’s no secret there’s a lot of capital chasing yield right now. With historically low interest rates in the U.S. for a few years, many investments are seeing diminished returns. As a small or new private lender, you may often battle it out against larger, institutional capital offering super-low interest rates to your best borrower prospects. On the other hand, keeping your reserves in a CD at a bank often yields returns well below inflation, especially with the current economic outlook in the U.S. Given these choices, individual investors and investment managers may feel desperate. Wanting to at the very