Terry Vaughan, founder of CREonline, invented The 60-Second Real Estate Course a long time ago. I first heard Terry share it in a live meeting in Atlanta GA, USA. Terry is a friend and I was attending the meeting as a graduate of the Lenders Workshop which Terry was running with his business partner Ed Garcia. The workshop was run for 11 years during the 1990s and 2000s.

From where I stand, the course has three reasons why it is relevant today to the readers of Property Investor News™. First, it dispels some of the secrets that some gurus promote. The gurus will tell you they have 25, 29, 101 ways to do a deal. The reality is the gurus need pages in their book so they are re-spinning the core principals that Terry explained in his 60 second course.

Second, Terry suggests that the course is a way to keep your focus and avoid the confusion that can happen when you are deep in the heat of a deal.

Third, Terrys course was a great way to increase creativity when trying to creatively structure a deal. You are reminded that given there are only three main levers to pull, it is how you mix and match the lever settings that will win the day.

Let me recap the course. If you read fast it will take no more than 60 seconds.

The key is looking at the sellers equity position. Equity is defined as the market value for the property minus the combined charges secured by or attached to the property. Many times the sellers equity is all they really care about. For those situations where the seller has no equity the focus will be on removing the legal liability to continue paying on the loan.