Pop 'stache

No I am not talking about the new album I have coming out, I am talking about how can you live in two worlds and make your life better and music endeavours more profitable. I am not advocating anyone robbing a bank or selling drugs, I am talking about making some smart business moves while you do what really expresses your soul. If this is your first time on my blog, be prepared for a much less formal approach to reading than you may be use to as Pop ‘stache is my alter ego. Now, if you are familiar with my more polished lawyer side, then you know that I am going to show you the more clever way to navigate the process of transforming a contract for deed into a mortgage. The question that I get from musicians when they approach me wanting an explanation on a contract for deed and also when they are thinking of converting the contract for deed to a mortgage is usually along the lines of what is a contract for deed? Well for those of you that do not know, a contract for deed is a pretty nice way of financing a home purchase. No not with no money down but it can be pretty darn close as most lenders or sellers are not looking to go through the traditional mortgage process. So you may wonder why musicians like this way of purchasing a home. Well the answers are many, I am going to cover three. First, another person that is in the real estate world often being a seller, may not have the patience for a long drawn out process and so a contract for deed is better for them. Second, a contract for deed is often better for someone who could not qualify for a mortgage or loan. Lastly is a contract for deed is better if you have been denied for a loan before, because a contract for deed does not deal with interest rates other than the fact that it will typically be higher than a mortgage. Why would a musician want to convert to a mortgage? I know that sounds strange to even think about converting. Well for starters a contract for deed could hurt your ability to qualify for a better interest rate or greater loan amounts or even home equity loans. So these are definitely some reasons that musicians should consider converting their contract for deeds to mortgages. Now you are probably thinking I am going to give you a bunch of legal terms that even financing and real estate investors hate. Well, I am not going to give you all of that, because Pop ‘stache is not me at work, he is much cooler. So I am going to break it down like I would if you came to layaway records with me. The process is pretty easy, you are going to need to hire an attorney to assist you with this process, because legally you need that anyway. Do not just take a few of the legal documents out of your pack and try to sell it on the street. So we will be taking a look at a note and deed and creating something new. We will take these documents; along with a few other lawyer documents and go to the county recorder or court house, whichever one you have in your county and submit the papers. The county recorder or court house will then tell us yes or no, meaning your request was granted or not. The risks involved with not converting a contract for deed to a mortgage are that you are still subject to the restrictions of a contract for deed and you might not be able to do what you originally wanted to with the property. So do not miss out on the changing of the rememberings. Musician entrepreneurs are a rare but growing gig, there are a few out there that are successful and some are wealthy off of real estate ventures. Although I am not going to name any names, one of the largest music groups in the world has purchased their own private island and they turned that into a mini resort and have a lot of bang for their buck. So if you think that your band mates would more appreciate a condo instead of a tour bus, then by all means go ahead and invest in your own property. After all you are making money from the same people you were paying rent to. One thing that is important in any relationship is having a stable home environment, and well a stable home is a stable home whether you are a musician or Joe Schmoe. Musicians have also been known to have some crazy hours and if you are not married yet or perhaps even if you are married you can have a friend with benefits now would not be the time to stress out your relationship by playing the cash poor card. So you want to be someone that lends and not someone that borrows money. With the world of startup accelerators and entrepreneurship consulting, it is also important that if you are going to pass on a good deal that you know your value. And by that I mean get a financial advisor who can help you with your finances and help you with how to best allocate your money. Now I have got to plug my merchandising and how to sell that but the spending doesn’t stop with the instruments or the recording equipment, it also includes the home that you want and do not want to pay a lot of money for. While I am not going to write a novel on this blog post, I am going to list off some alternatives to real estate investing. Some of the alternatives are stocks, bonds or you can even pay up on your debt now and invest in your future. Your convert contract for deed to mortgage checklist: 1. Hire a lawyer or note professional to assist you with the paperwork. 2. Start doing the paperwork and I have to use my disclaimer here and tell you to make sure that the paperwork is legitimate and that it is not a scam. 3. Submit your paperwork to the county recorder or court house. 4. If your paperwork is not a scam then you will know within a few weeks if it was a go or a no go.