DME 2026 Recap: Big Opportunities + Relationships = Success | Real Estate Notes Show

Welcome back to another Real Estate Note Show. I'm your host, Dave Putz from JKP Holdings. Alongside me, as always, Mr. Nathan Turner. How are you? Hey, man. Doing great. It's one of those time of years when things are changing, excitements in the air. Yeah. Then when you thought that you had enough excitement, it just blows up. Yeah. Goodness. Yeah. Man, that was a great conference. Like really good. We held off doing recording just for it. I thought it was going to come out a week afterwards. But dude, the amount of information brainstormed my head just listening and sitting there and taking notes and meeting people.

And when you think you know everybody, you meet 10 more people. And it just, so for those who like, what are you guys talking about? We were the DME, Diversity and Mortgage Expo, down in Nashville this weekend of the first second of May. And it's just outstanding presentations. Even the people have heard before putting together a presentation that was astronomically awesome. Of course, mine was the best, but I think it was the energy and the sharing of knowledge is always appreciative. Nathan, you spent a lot of time putting this together. Tell a little bit about that process and what it meant for the final thing to come together.

You know, it's such an interesting thing. We talk about this being a relationship business, and it absolutely is to the point where, and I think we even talked about this a few months back, of organizing a conference like this. I see my biggest role in is just getting both the sponsors and the speakers and putting that stuff together. And I think we talked about using other services, AI or VAs or something like that to get that. But really, I think when it comes down to it is, again, it's those relationships. Because I know those people, we don't want just anybody up on stage. We want people who really are gonna add value, who know what they're talking about and who have something to actually share in front of people.

And so it takes a lot of work. And I do that all myself and just making sure that we've got all those things filled. But it really pays off. Like it was so good to have everybody there. That's the new speakers, people we haven't heard from before that were just phenomenal. It was great. It's funny, because we had some people there that said, listen, I don't go to a lot of conferences, but I go here and I asked the question, obviously, it's not my conference, why? What is it about this? And they said, that's not stuffy, people are warm and people are sharing. And I think that's the crush of what you tried building is that atmosphere of let's have fun, let's learn and let's network all the time.

And it's not about Nathan Turner. It's not about Ernest and Vest. It's about getting together and networking and building a relationship, building a family, growing it. And I was amazed at some of the seller plans. There's no creation, people out there going, wait, I thought I knew everything, which you probably do about your space. But this is a whole new world that I have to explore and learn. And some of the information was just astronomically blew my mind and some supported my stuff, which was really cool. I think the breakout rooms were really well done. They're presented extremely well and down to a level that even if I was a beginner, I could understand.

I could follow. Yeah, it's fun. Those breakout sessions are instruction to whoever is giving those is make sure it's interactive. Cause like we can be up on stage and we talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, but the breakouts, that's their instruction. Make sure it's interactive. Make sure that it's like back and forth. You're not just gonna do a presentation. You're certainly not doing a pitch, but obviously you're gonna talk about what you're doing. So make sure you involve everybody in that. And I think everyone has done a really good job of that. And so that's been, yeah, that's been really great just to see how that's come together.

So it was funny when you approached me first, I spoke on shockingly AI versus VA and the AI side. And I have to apologize publicly here. I waited the last minute to do it. That's not the AI skill. And I knew the fact that this strange person I thought I was gonna go against for the VA side would be a challenge for me. And it ended up being more of a challenge than I thought it was, but it was, what I found was the room is torn. And I thought I'd win it. But I also saw the fact the room was torn on a lot of topics. I found the room, felt certain ways about certain things, servicing and the market, the different conversations and experience.

I met someone who's been doing it for 10 years. I never knew the guy's name before, Steve. It was great meeting him. But then it was people out there who are buying, fixing, flipping and selling that are now gonna incorporate notes in their inventory, which is the goal of all of us. That's perfect. Yeah, that's great. Yeah. It's amazing. So many good things. I mean, goodness gracious. We had the MBA, Mortgage Bankers Association come and just chart upon chart upon chart. But it was fascinating. And I think the thing for me that stuck out the most was how, and we've been talking about this for a little while, but now we've got the numbers and the history to go along with it to see how much affordability is really straining the market.

Whoa. And that was fascinating to see really the trends that are happening with that. So that's been really interesting. And I think that's going to really shape the way that things continue on from here on out. And so that was interesting. And it just makes me think, so how can I be a solution for people where I can also profit from it? So that was... And it's funny, I think because of our age, we don't see affordability being a huge deal and we hear about it. But what it became, we have to adjust with the tide turning. How do we grab ahold of it, help these people, but also make a business out of it without just being emotional, but solving a problem is something we all like to do.

And it was just so interesting to hear that sharing of knowledge. I met with some great attorneys. Jason, I know we've been, we talked to, it's in the bar and talking. And the wealth of knowledge and the sharing of information was astronomically awesome. One thing it took away was some of these service providers, and I'm going to call you out by names eventually, that you guys are saying, buy some notes and learn it, right? I think that you guys would understand it a lot better. The insurance people out there, just understanding what the note buyer needs is astronomically awesome. So I'm going to encourage you guys who are service providers, to have them put a note, buy one, just to get the feel of it, and the stress and the worries and the thoughts, the process out of the book, theories that you guys have, and sit in the life of my property's under water.

What do I do this second? And how can I do it and whatnot? So I'm looking through some of the, Pat was speaking and bringing back, sitting in that chair. And I did one thing this time that I don't think I've done before. And I sat in that room for 70 to 80% of all the presentation. Inside, sitting outside and talking to people, which I love doing. And I got little tidbits, and I was impressed by some of the stuff that I probably missed in the last couple episodes, I've got years. Yeah. It was great. I liked those, we tried this out this year, and I liked it, and we may tweak it for next year, I don't know yet, or we may abandon it altogether, I'm not sure.

But we did the head to heads. Yeah. Those worked out as well as I hoped they would. And that was great. I'm just looking here, we had Bill By Mal talking about scaling up, versus Josh Whitman talking about staying small. That was a great one. Yes. Because Bill did a great case for not just scaling up, but making sure the timing is right, and the marketing is right. And he was saying, now is the time to do that, versus other times. And then Josh, I loved his approach, we were just like, you know what, I build robots in my spare time, he works 15 minutes a day. And that's awesome. That really appeals to me, of just time is such a valuable commodity that we're not getting back.

And so he's shaping the way that he does things, so that he has the maximum amount of time to go and do it as well. So very, very interesting, and where do you land on one side or the other, somewhere in the middle. Yeah. You know, thought provoking, that's what I was going for. I thought too, you know, how many people, whenever I've brought these, Jay Redding presented such a great thing for those. So good. We pushed this out there, and I think we all do, we just got a call that we all talk about it, is that these seller clients, people, if you're listening, thank you, first off. Thank you all.

You can create a note, get all your money out, and live forever. You can sell partially, Jay's presentation did, or you can sell first and hold the second. Either way, that makes such a good relationship. So if you are creating notes, please stop creating one single note, or if you do plan on selling a partial to get all your capital back out and get the back end, either way, the goal is to reach out to note buyers before you create it. Don't come afterwards and sell me a 4% note and ask me why I'm discounting it a lot. Come to me beforehand, or any of us, and say, how can I create this smarter? Yeah.

I understand your borrower is one way, but you've got to lean on the fact that you've got to have a win-win, not just for the borrower. Absolutely. For sure. Man, we've spent so much time on that, and even in our private call here before this, we're talking about like, we're really trying to get the word out on how to create that properly. And so I really, I wonder if the best approach is, like you say, just like one-on-one. If you've got any kind of question about it at all, we're more than happy to answer that question. And this is whether you plan on selling it or whether you don't plan on selling it.

You don't know what's going to change a year from now, or five years from now. If there's any chance at all that you might consider selling this in the future, at least have a conversation with a note buyer, whether it's me or Dave or somebody else. But have that conversation so you know how to create that properly today, because it will pay off in the future. Yeah. I'm just looking at some more of the schedule and the information sharing. I think Mark did a great job of sharing his knowledge. It was amazing to hear, because I think people get lost in a lot of the weeds that live in their own bubble.

We do too. But perspective on the other side is really crucial on what we gotta do moving forward. And I think we really need to think from another point of view and say, what can we do differently that we haven't done before? And I think we miss out on that thought process. And I don't know if it's done on purpose or if it's done by accident or if we have an ego. And a lot of us, not that we have an ego, but we know we're lean. We wanna stay in our lane. But sometimes opening ears and hearing from a different perspective, even from a fellow note investor, gives us insight. I mean, that also allowed me to see, I wasn't big on, which we're gonna get to in a minute, this new wave of possible investments and notes that are coming along like a steamroller, price decently well.

And it's not as bad as it was the first five, 10 years. And he gave me a second thought saying, this is a better way of doing what I've been doing for years and searching for. So if you're looking for inventory, you're looking for that angle, this is a way with the correct, proper legal to do that kind of facet. I think that was a huge takeaway. It was very interesting. I really liked Mark's. Approach to that because I think kind of the bottom line that I got from his presentation is if you're creating notes, you've got so much more control over what's happening in that deal. And I totally get that.

And I very much agree with that. Counterpoint to just by existing notes, if I have the kind of confidence in whoever's creating that note that they've gone through and been responsible and they've done it correctly and everything else, that makes it more valuable to me. And at the very least, we're gonna do repeat business with that particular note creator because I know that that person is doing it properly. And that we'll come back and do it again and again and again and again. So anyway, very interesting. Yes. So for those who are just curious, so the biggest takeaways, I met some really awesome people and I'm really grateful for it.

This is a world where Tom Selleck is on TV presenting a product for those, not only people who needs cash. And you say, why does someone older need cash? They've done a great job retirement, they may have, but what you don't realize is that cost of living goes up and as you're working or you're investing, you can keep up with inflation very easily. For most people. These people retirement can't. They can't keep up with inflation. Or their HOAs went up because they're living in Florida. Assurance goes high, Rob, because of flooding and hurricanes. So they lean on this product that is really actually a great product and I think it does a good job.

But then they need cash every month and they have a paid off house and they're able to borrow money on a monthly basis. They call it reverse mortgages, that comes. And the only way it defaults because the bank is literally paying you is by you dying or selling the house. Another way, but won't get into it. Those two options happen. And when they if they own the house, they're in this debt for three years. There's not much UPB here. They're only getting a certain amount of money every month. You may have a five hundred thousand dollar house with 40 grand in debt. You have the ability to buy this thing by this note.

And Nathan, I taught it all time in our first couple of years. We bought a lot of nonperforming. This is considered a nonperforming note. Oddly enough, it's not the borrower. We stopped paying. It's about the bar decided either sold house, no longer live in there or passed away. But then that becomes a nonperforming asset that gets sold off. Yeah. When they do this, this provides you an opportunity to buy a five hundred dollar property as 40,000 dollars in debt or discount on that number. And how amazing is it? And in the process, we're closing on it. The clean title. And the product at the end of the day, is it a nonperforming note with a borrower had no money and the property went where it went? It's a product that the person may have to the house perfection had the money and fix up the house regularly and just happen to pass away.

Yeah. And I've bought about a dozen of these over the years. And that's been my experience is when I get back to the house, it's in good shape. There's there's nothing, you know, structurally wrong with the property because, you know, when we're getting these nonperforming notes back in the day. Yeah, it's because they're broke. And that's not the case here. They're not broke. They're just they just died. And so so the house is actually in really good shape. It's just outdated. You know, it'll have, you know, carpet that they haven't replaced for the last 15, 20 years. And OK, that's fine. Those are some of the just those cosmetic things where then I can then turn that around to somebody local who's going to fix and flip it.

I bought it at a discount so that I'm not able to pass along that discount with adding a little bit for myself, but making it attractive enough for somebody to come in there and fix and flip it and make some money themselves. Awesome. Fix up the house and keep that neighborhood, you know, alive and well and keeping that very vibrant. Yeah. And this isn't just been note investors. If you're buying houses to fix and flip and sell or rent or hopefully credit note, you can buy the discount, right? And get ahold of them either through the directory, through the HUD or through a secondary market. Right.

So I think you guys have to look at this as a and both of us know that this isn't going to go away a year from now. And this is going to be the next 10, 15 years. And if you know anything about government like we do back in 2015, when they started releasing the assets in 2008, they take some time to release and they don't dump it on the market. So we're going to see these outcomes reverse mortgages being sold for the next 10 years. Plus minimum trickling out. It's it's going to be an opportunity to take care of a property that someone loved for years and buy it, help out the inventory, help the situation.

This is almost help out the family. Right. One of the caveats is you have to go through probate if there's errors, make sure that's all clear. And then you're foreclosing. There's no borrower arguments. There's no that. It's just really kicking somebody out of their house. There's none of that going on. So it's it's a good way to do it. For those who are saying, well, the spouse lives there, work, have you? And there are possibilities of evicting a spouse. And we won't get into that. But if that borrows you and live in there, you have a property that's probably pretty much maintained well. Yeah, the borrower cared about it.

May have a lot of knickknacks and old rugs, but they do put a lot of art into it. So you have an opportunity, guys. So that was a really cool feature that I learned about the DME that I really didn't give enough thought to. And I'm, you know, I'm going to create an AI product to help be figured out. But building that kind of tool will allow me to build more, buy more stuff. If you are interested in the heck comes more, reach out to us. We're going to bring on attorney eventually to talk about. I think it's an angle that most people are not familiar with. Or if they are, they're nervous about it's not bid the same way.

So there's another one that I wanted to talk about that I really liked. And I think you slept in, but yeah, it was the first one on Saturday morning where we were pressing notes. Yes, that was a great one. That was really interesting. Dealing with some stuff, some stuff. But yes, I heard so many good things going on with that. I figured I can skim through that because I'm not buying or selling at the conference, but I wasn't going to be on stage buying from people. Yeah. But I think it was from what I heard, the audience got involved. The yes was really, really good. It's about what your expectations was of it.

How did it actually turn out? Yeah. So the whole idea was it was was I wanted to. I figured there were two purposes. Number one, I wanted to have like live deals that are actually available for sale. And I wanted like our panel of experts to go through and look at the note and kind of pick out the details that actually matter to us, because we get pitch notes all the time and they talk about the new carpet and the granite countertops. And I'm like, that's great. I don't care. Like, that doesn't make any difference to me. Yeah. But going through and actually looking at the numbers and figuring out.

So what do I want and like what actually matters? So I wanted to do that because I figured it gives an opportunity. First of all, I just think it's interesting to kind of see the process that people go through and everyone's is just slightly different. We're all fairly much the same, but there's a little bit of difference. And then second of all, I wanted to be have that kind of be a demonstration to people who are creating notes. Yeah. So like really and truly, this is what we're looking at. So when you are out there originating your note, you know, there are certain things that have to be in there.

There are certain things that a note investor is going to care about. There's other things that no investor doesn't care about. So that was kind of the idea. Yeah. Approach. You just get that in there. And for new note investors saying, I'm worried about due diligence. If you've never bought a note before and you start looking at how they're doing it, maybe they're doing exactly you are and get confirmation. Maybe you're doing it. You didn't know what steps you're missing. And you got some fillers, which is really the goal of it. Right. Is to teach both sides of it. There was a lot of new note investors there that bought one, two notes.

And they're like, well, I don't know what I'm doing. You bought two notes already. Let's see your next. Yeah. But you've got a lot farther. Some people there who I've known going to go to probably gone to three or four conferences and hasn't bought a note yet. So those who have bought high five, those who haven't got to help you out and get you through. And yeah, interesting again, you know, as always, and it's fascinating. I don't necessarily target any specific groups when we're out there marketing or anything. But it seems like every year we get a pretty good balance between those who are just starting, those who are somewhere in the middle and then those who are like really advanced.

And it's it's pretty even across the board. So I really like that because then you've got somebody who's got lots of time and experience in the business versus somebody who is just getting started. And it's awesome to have that interaction happen. And those who are super experienced are learning all the time as well. Yeah, it's great having these fresh, you know, minds out there that are like, well, what about this and what about that? And it makes you think and you go, well, that's a great question. And oftentimes I've had where they ask the question. I'm like, I've never even considered that before.

But let's think about that. Yeah, it's great. And it's just a great mix of having all those different levels together. Yeah. And you know, it's funny, I think within 10 minutes of being there, someone came up and said, you don't know who I am. I've seen you in the podcast. I feel like I know you. And they complimented the show and stuff like that. And I was amazed because they didn't realize we don't get a lot of feedback in the show and they realized while we do the show, it's more about networking, getting out there and being different. But we asked you guys, if you have topics, if you have feedback, please, please send it in.

We'd love to give you the information. Bring on a guest. We have some really cool guests that we talked to there at the conference, as well as some we thought the mastermind were bring on the show. I we want to hear more back from you guys. We appreciate the compliments, but we really want to challenge you and give us some more feedback. Give us some more things we could do better or guests we could bring on our topics you want to learn about. So that portion was really cool. And do yourself a favor. Just make sure you tell us who you are. You may know us. We don't know you, which is fine. But just share a little bit what your background is.

I don't care if you're new or experienced, whatever you do, you have value. That value means everything. Just because you're a CPA and never bought a note. There's things I can learn about CPA world that I don't know. Share that information. And it's amazing. Insurance, the conversation about insurance was outstanding. I think people don't. Insurance is boring, but the information is gold. And that's one thing we have to learn. That's one of those things that will make or break your business. You know, one deal goes sideways and you're not properly insured. And that can take you a long time to recover from.

But if you're properly insured and if and that was something I was talking about is like there are products out there that I didn't know existed until I started Beth. And she's like, oh, did you know, for example, that they will cover payments? So if I've got a borrower that's making payments and all of a sudden they stop, there's an insurance for that so that I can continue getting paid. I didn't know that. I didn't know there was such a thing. So, I mean, there's and that's just one example. But just to give you an idea, like there's all kinds of things you can do with insurance that I didn't realize you could do.

Yeah. And the last part of DME for me was the people, you know, we all joke around about who your personality is, what you do, how you do it. Go to dinner, getting up in the morning, sit next to someone at a bar and having food. That to me is just as important as being inside that room. Yeah. Sitting around afterwards and talking to people, going up to a complete stranger. And I think you did a great job of presenting this, saying, where are you from? Because if you don't go to these conferences, you're missing out a lot. And I think for me, I breathe these conferences, not because I'm an extrovert, but because of the connections and the resources I get from these things.

I connect with someone who I never met in person. I talked to all the time in the weeks and shaking and having a meal with them will change our relationship forever. Yeah. If you haven't done it, give it a shot. Yeah, we're social people. That's just how we operate and in person. So I'll give a shout out to one. So David Alexander was there. Oh, yeah. I'd never met him before. Never. He's a legend. Oh, my God. Awesome. High five, Dave. We had very planning conversations. Oh, so good. And he's just just a wealth of knowledge. Been doing this for 30 plus years. Yep. Talking about he talked about residential notes and then Bo did a fantastic job.

That was really I miss the land notes. I walked outside, but I heard David saying, oh, yeah, I get. Oh. But I got to give David's got an event coming up here June 5th to 7th back out in Tennessee in the Smoky Mountains. So he rents cabins and you get out there and you just mastermind for two, two to three, three days, whatever it is. Yeah. And you just get in there and you just talk and all kinds of different stuff going on there. David Alexander dot com. Go check it out. Yes. I think that would be very useful if you're looking for something. This is even out in nature. I mean, that's even better.

I got to figure out how to do that. Yeah. So, guys, we wanted to do a show to recap the DME. As you know, in the summertime, we're going to dial this down. They're probably once a month just living family and life and things like that. We'll continue to do the show. I think it's valuable to both of us and to everyone who listens to us and do us a favor. Reach out to us more and share what you think of it, how we can do things better. Well, what value can we add in topics? We come up with topics, shockingly, people say, how do you always come up with a topic? It's brainstorming. It's sharing knowledge.

It just happens. And I think we are grateful for those who share knowledge with us. They did. The only negative, I'm going to say, but the DME or I'll give you the negative with Spirit Airlines shuts down the middle of Saturday and then see the room go pattern. Right. For those who don't know, Spirit Airlines shut down and all the flights got canceled. So you can see people get up and walk out. And I was like, oh, yeah. My play got delayed until almost three o'clock in the morning on Sunday. And I really wish I actually stayed after or stayed over an extra night. There was some really great networking.

And I first time ever. I don't know if it was you started it. I didn't make it. It's not my cup of tea. But someone had a Bible study. I would never, ever guess that a composite the fact that you can do that and feel called to doing is amazing. Yeah. I was totally stole that from Dustin Heiner, who was there as well. He's a he's a real estate investor. OK. And he did it at his conference a month ago and I went to his. And I'm like, you know what? Let's do it. Yeah, we did that. We had about I think 20 or 22. Well, I had a great discussion. It was awesome. So we'll keep doing that. But yeah, it just totally optional.

But for those who came, it was great. And we had a good time. We'll do that again for sure. Yeah. So guys, go free. Reach out to Nathan. If you're interested in speaking or I can't promise he'll get you there or speak on stage, but topics, suggestions, all stuff for the show. We'll continue doing it. We're going to bring on a heck of a stoppix. We're going to bring out some other things. We'll reach out to David. I'm sure David will join us. And there were some new people that have done a lot. Just preaching and talking to them is really cool. If you are in the creative, I answer several fans world.

Please reach out to us and talk to us. We'd love to speak more with you guys. Nathan, I have a question for you. What's your plan for DME next year? What did you and the wife take home on a flame trip home that. You said it worked. What did the wife and the kids say? I think Rebecca slept most of the way home, but no, I. It'll be very interesting. I, you know. When we took this over a few years ago, it's always the question of like, what do we do next year? And and now it's next year again, and there we're always looking to improve. So we're going to take actually some time today where Rebecca and I do this every year.

We go through and we just download and say, OK, what did you like? What did you not like? We get feedback. Anybody who filled out a survey, we read all those things. We want to know what what's working because it is. This is not our profession. This is a total side gig. Yeah, but but we want to make it better. So there are some things I'm sure we'll do again. Other things will change up. But I can tell you what our biggest concern with this is making it the best we can for the people who are going to be there. Yeah, they get this. It's not about me. It's not about what I'm trying to accomplish.

I'm not really trying to accomplish anything. I just want to bring people together and have a space where it can, you know, really the whole idea from the very beginning. Everyone get together, let's do some deals. And so that's that's always been the same thing. So it's I don't have anything else to gain from it other than just having people come together and learn network grow. That's the whole point. So we're looking forward to doing that again next year. And we'll start working on the schedule and everything like in September. Like it's it's a several month preparation time. And for those who are saying I missed this year or wow, I really should have went.

Let's share when and where next year. So it'll be back in Nashville. Excuse me. Back in Nashville. Same hotel. Just the biggest plug for that hotel is that atrium. It's such a great space just for anybody to get together and talk and network and all that. Yeah. So I'm almost certain we'll go back to that same hotel. And April 30th, May 1st, one of the dates next year. And can't wait to see everybody. It's like I said in my talk, like this is what it's all about. We have to get in person. That's how this how it works. You can't do it otherwise. Well, guys, thank you very much for tuning in this episode.

We will be back in a few weeks. We want to share a quick feedback on this thing as best we could. Get this out there. Reach out to us if you have any questions, concerns, any topic suggestions as well. And we will see you soon. Thank you, everyone. Take care..