Comment by duxup

5 years ago

I think Planet Money also bought a mortgage backed security a while back when things had already gone south.

They tracked the houses involved and their history.

It was interesting to see the investment tied to specific homes, and etc.

22 comments

duxup

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NikolaeVarius  5 years ago

Also a junk/high-yield bond https://www.npr.org/2020/02/19/807544557/meet-our-junk-bond

  • wefarrell  5 years ago

    Schwab allows retail investors to buy junk bonds. I bought one a few weeks ago.

    • perl4ever  5 years ago

      What happens in the event of a default? I would have thought that your broker would zero it out, but I remember hearing about someone buying a worthless bond from a friend for like $1 once as a favor.

kart23  5 years ago

I've always wondered If I could just go out and buy like 10 mortgages or car loans in my area, and try to recover some of the money. I've heard that debt goes for pennies on the dollar, so I would think it would be possible to make a decent amount if you have the time.

  • HeyLaughingBoy  5 years ago

    I think in most states, if you are the original owner of the debt (i.e. you or your business lent the money), you can just go collect it.

    But in a case where you're collecting a debt you did not originate, you'll need a debt collector's license in the state where you plan to operate. The license isn't hard to get, but typically there is a very large bond that needs to be posted.

    And you're right: if you have the stomach for consumer debt collection and are good at being nice to people (being nice has a much higher success ratio than being a dick when trying to collect), and you're incredibly patient (the really cheap debt is almost uncollectable) it's basically printing money.

    source: wife used to be a commercial debt/receivables collector and a long time ago I considered writing debt collection software.

    • kart23  5 years ago

      Thanks for giving some insight into that process. I'd rather be patient and take on 'human' risk, which for some reason I feel more comfortable with. I'm probably being overly idyllic, but I just imagine being friendly and reasonable with people and their situations might go a long way, especially reaffirming that you're not some massive bank that doesn't give a shit.

      3 replies →

ngold  5 years ago

They also have a bot kicking around somewhere to buy stocks on Trump tweets. Pretty interesting stuff.