What's a great way to diversify your real estate portfolio so you STILL get great cash flow… but without the headaches or legal risk of having a constant stream of tenants? This may be my favorite type of asset of all, my friends, and I'm going to tell you about it right now. I'm Bryan Ellis. This is Episode #207! Hello, SDI Nation! Welcome to the podcast of record for savvy self-directed investors like you, where we help you to find, understand and profit from exceptional investment opportunities! Check my first article for TheStreet.com, a major news website that focuses on stock market investing. It seems they wanted to get some perspective about the real estate world, and they feel that your's truly will bring them a big audience. I'm betting they're correct. Hehehe. So, the last couple of days have been a bit downcast, I'll admit. The ugly lawsuit going on in Virginia against that landlord who made the unthinkable mistake of demanding background checks… and yesterday's discussion of the harsh reality of the fact that Uncle Sam is not on your side… well… I know that's a mouthful of bitterness to swallow. But let's return from the land of gloom and doom to focus on what we all love: Investments that are SIMPLE, SAFE and STRONG! Today I'm going to tell you about my favorite asset class: Real Estate Notes! But let's not bore ourselves with discussions of LTV's and interest rates and principal balances. No way! Rather, I'm going to tell you a story about a wonderful, amazing, magical golden box. Here's the story: You are visiting Omaha, Nebraska, headquarters of Berkshire Hathaway, the investment firm made famous by super-investor Warren Buffett. You're there for Buffett's annual shareholder meeting. This event, if you've ever been to it, is totally unlike any other shareholder meeting in the world. People come in from all over the world to attend this meeting – very, very smart, well informed and well connected people attend this meeting. They attend it because they're going to get the chance to hear from the man himself, the Oracle of Omaha… the one man on the planet who is revered as something nearly god-like in the investment world, none other than Mr. Buffett himself. Buffett always uses this meeting to give his impressions of how he's performed at Berkshire Hathaway, and he also talks more broadly about the state of the stock market, the economy, and the world. When Buffett speak, people listen… and that's why you're there… to learn from THE MAN. So, much to your delight and surprise, Buffett grabs you by the arm and pulls you into a private room. He says, “Look, I've got a magical box made of pure gold. This box is magical because every month for the next 30 years, it's going to spit out $1,000 cash. It just works automatically, no effort required from you. Plus, the box itself is worth $150,000 just from the gold content. I'd like to sell this box to you for only $100,000. Would you like to buy it?” So you think it over… and honestly, it's kind of a no-brainer. You get $1,000 per month for 30 years. And the box is worth $50 GRAND more than you've got to pay for it. If that wasn't enough, it's none other than WARREN BUFFETT recommending it to you… and like the box, his reputation is pure gold. So you tell Mr. Buffett: “Yes, I'd like to buy the magical golden box.” Then he looks at you and says “GREAT! But there's one catch: In 30 years from now, I get the box back." Well, that puts a bit of a curveball in your plans. You were secretly considering just “flipping” this magical golden box to capture as much of the $50,000 profit as you could, but it turns out, that could be difficult since Buffett gets the box back in 30 years from now. But you put pencil to paper, you do the math, and you realize that it's still a pretty strong deal to get $1,000 per month for 30 years in exchange for $100,000 now. But then, something important occurs to you. So you ask: “Mr. Buffett, what happens if the box stops working correctly, and