Gustavo J. Gomez Author Interview

Private Money Lending is a comprehensive book that details the different ways someone could make money from their investment in private money lending. What were some key ideas you wanted to pursue in this book?

Every investor should know that learning to generate a consistent, substantial, and predictable passive income stream sufficient to cover your total monthly expenses is the ultimate goal for anyone who wants to retire early. In fact, creating a safe and consistent passive income stream is considered the ” Holy Grail” of personal finance.

My objective in writing this book was to present to potential readers the existence of a little-known but crucial area of investing. This area of investing is private mortgage investing. What makes this investment vehicle safe is the fact that the investment is guaranteed by a tangible asset, brick, and mortar, such as a house or a commercial building.

Under a worth case scenario, a real estate tangible asset will always retain a certain amount of value, which it’s something that can’t be said for stock market correlated investments that can simply evaporate overnight based on bad news. Therefore, the important aspect of investing in private mortgages is that it is a non-correlated market investment that works under all market condition.

Private Money Lending is the only book on this topic that is based on a university-level qualitative research study. The study demonstrated the power that private mortgage investing has in generating a safe, substantial, and consistent passive cash flow under any market condition. This investment can generate a 9%-12% return on investment (ROI) safely in addition to providing all the legal protections a first mortgage provides banks.

Typically, investors learn about this investment vehicle by happenstance; that is, by knowing someone who is a private lender and understands all the nuances of this type of investment and who is willing to teach someone else the concept. Private mortgage investing is an especially useful investment vehicle in low-interest rate environments, such as the current market we have been experiencing for the past 12 years, where you can only receive 2%-2.5% for a 1-2 years CD and 3% for a 5-10 years CD. These low-interest rate environments are always devastating for the retired or soon to be retired individuals living on a fixed income. There needs to be a safe alternative, and private mortgage investing meets this requisite.

I believe that with the use of the book Private Money Lending: Learn How to Consistently Generate a Passive Income Stream as a guide any potential investor will no longer have to learn about this investment vehicle by happenstance.

What is your experience in this field and how has that helped you write this book?

I learned about private mortgage investing by happenstance like most people back in 1992. Thus, since 1992 (27 years) I’ve been safely investing in private mortgages, specifically in commercial and residential non-owner-occupied properties. As a result of learning about this investment vehicle, I no longer invest in the stock market because I can safely and consistently generate double-digit returns with a higher degree of safety.

There are many different investment opportunities out there, why did you want to write about private money lending?

I wanted to write about private money lending with an emphasis on private mortgages because I believe this is an investment vehicle that can generate the necessary cash flow to sustain a comfortable retirement with much less volatility and risk than with stock market correlated investments.

Yes, there are many different investment opportunities in the market, however, the majority carry too much risk. At least for my taste. The approach I use in this book was to first describe the advantages and disadvantages of the majority of available market investments before making the case of why I consider private mortgage lending a superior investment vehicle.

If you are an investor searching for a safer way to invest you should ask yourself three questions:

• Would you like to generate a passive and meaningful income stream in all market conditions?
• Would you like to generate this income stream consistently?
• Would you like an alternative with less risk than investments subjected to the volatility of the stock market?

If your answer to at least one of the three questions is “yes,” then reading this book will not be a waste of time or financial resources for you. In fact, learning about this investment strategy will change your financial life for the better.

What are some common mistakes investors make when they first start?​

For investors entering this industry, the most common mistake is not possessing the necessary education to be safe.

It is important to learn how to perform the necessary due diligence regarding the loans that you will be considering.

It is also important to physically inspect the quality and location of the properties under-consideration to ensure a safe loan. Investors should never make any loan simply because of the high returns they can garner.

Author Links: GoodReads | Website

If your answer to at least one of the three questions is “yes,” then this award-winning book is a must-read for you.

• This book is an important and timely research study that explores a little-known area of investing, which is that of private mortgage lending. The reason for undertaking the study was twofold; reason one is because, for the past 15 years, retirement portfolios had been devastated by stock market fluctuations, resulting from a greater prevalence of boom and bust economic cycles. It is quite possible that currently, another bust cycle might be unfolding, in spite of the Trump apparent bull market. 
• The second reason is that of the adopted Federal Reserve policy of creating an artificially low-interest rate environment in an attempt to sustain the continued growth of the stock market and support of the current real estate recovery efforts.
• These two economic conditions primarily affect income investors because of the low yields being offered by the customary available fixed-income investments, such as bonds, CD’s, savings, and money market accounts (MMA). The combination of a reduced interest rate environment and increase stock market volatility has dramatically impacted the livelihood of the fixed income investor. Moreover, it has forced these investors to take greater levels of investment risk by incentivizing them to seek higher yields by investing in the stock market; in essence, the place that has created most of their financial problems.