Creatively structure seller finance loans like a pro.
A 9-module video course for investors who sell a property and carry the paper. Learn to structure notes that are profitable, sellable and compliant — the whole process, in one place, taught by the underwriter who sees more seller-finance deals than anyone in the country.
Get the Playbook — $600One-time payment. Lifetime access. Includes a $600 CTU underwriting credit. Doors open October 4.
The note you create is the asset. Most investors build it by guesswork.
Roughly 100,000 seller-financed notes get created every year. Most of them are put together from a template someone found, a rate that felt fair, and a buyer who "seemed good for it." The investor finds out what the note is actually worth years later — when they try to sell it and get offered 70 cents on the dollar, when the borrower stops paying and the foreclosure turns into a two-year fight over paperwork, or when a regulator or a borrower's attorney asks for disclosures that were never sent.
The difference between that note and one that trades near par isn't luck. It's how it was structured, qualified, and documented on day one.
A bad note isn't a small mistake. It can cost you tens of thousands of dollars, years of your time, or the loan itself.
Taught from the underwriter's chair.
Call The Underwriter underwrites hundreds of seller-finance loans every year — more than any other RMLO in the country. That volume is the pattern library behind this course: what makes a note fundable, what makes it worthless, and what borrowers do when a loan goes bad.
Nobody else teaches this end to end. Most investors learn it by doing, or find a mentor who learned it by doing. This is the first course that walks the entire process — structuring, qualifying, disclosing, closing, valuing and selling — in one sequence, from the underwriter's chair. Dan Deppen built CTU, has originated and bought notes for over a decade through Fusion Notes, and hosts the Seller Finance and Creative Deals Podcast.
Built to last. Built to sell. Built to comply.
A well-built note does three things for you. Together they lower your investment risk and your compliance risk at the same time.
Leverage
A thorough underwrite without becoming an underwriter. You'll know exactly what to collect, what to verify, and what to ignore — so your loan survives the one scenario you actually worry about: the borrower stopping payment.
Optionality
A note you can sell, borrow against, or sell a partial in — years from now, whether or not you plan to today. Institutional buyers pay 100–103% of balance for compliant paper. They shop or reject everything else.
Protection
Dodd-Frank, ATR and TRID apply to more seller-finance deals than most investors think, including land contracts and wraps. You'll know which lane you're in and how to stay in it, so a compliance problem never becomes an enforceability problem.
One deal, worked end to end.
Every module uses the same deal so you see how each decision compounds: a $160K acquisition sold for $220K with $22K down and a $198K note at 9.5% fixed over 30 years, about $1,665 a month in principal and interest. You'll structure it, qualify the borrower, disclose it, price it for the secondary market, and decide whether to hold or sell it.
Nine modules. About six hours. Built so your first deal isn't blocked by the last chapter.
- The Seller Finance OpportunityWhy seller financing is so lucrative, why the note is the asset, and which of four origination models you're actually running.
- Building Your Origination TeamThe RMLO, servicer, attorney and title company you need, and what each one does.
- Finding & Pre-Screening Your BorrowerThe conversation, the deal-killer red flags, and how to handle ITIN and marginal borrowers.
- Structuring the LoanThe 10/10/10 rule, down payment and reserves, and the terms that make a note fundable.
- Compliance Fundamentals, in Plain EnglishDodd-Frank, ATR, TRID and the SAFE Act: which lane you're in and what it requires.
- How Underwriting Works / Working With CTUThe term sheet, income documentation, and how to read your DTI, 1008 and conditions.
- Closing and Life After ClosingDisclosures at closing, then managing the note for the years that follow: servicing setup, payment tracking, late payments, payoffs and modifications.
- Harvesting the Value You BuiltHow buyers price your note, the four ways to turn it into cash, and how to decide whether to hold, sell, sell a partial, or borrow against it.
- Compliance Deep DiveOptionalRules of 1, 3 and 5; balloons; the slow flip; servicing compliance; enforcement case studies; and how to cure a problem you already have.
Hosted in the Creative Note Originators community on Skool. Watch on any device, at your pace, with lifetime access to updates.
Tools you'll use on the next deal, not just this course.
A few notes on the tools: the Business Model Selector helps you pick your origination model. The Alternative Credit Documentation List covers ITIN and marginal borrowers. The Plain-English Compliance Quick-Reference covers Dodd-Frank, TRID and the SAFE Act. The Income Documentation Guide covers W2, self-employed and benefits income.
Document checklists are for understanding what an underwriter looks at. When you submit a loan to CTU for underwriting, we collect the documents from the borrower directly.
This is for the investor carrying the paper — and doing the next deal.
For you if
- You have a seller-finance deal in front of you, or one coming in the next twelve months.
- You flip houses and want to exit on owner finance instead of a straight sale.
- You buy subject-to and wrap.
- You're selling one property you own and want it done right.
- You're a landlord converting a rental into a note.
Not for you if
- You're buying a house on owner financing.
- You want a course on finding deals. This is about building the loan, not the acquisition.
- You're collecting information with no deal in sight.
$600. One time. And you get it back on your first underwrite.
The course is $600 with lifetime access. It includes a $600 underwriting credit at Call The Underwriter — submit one deal and the course has paid for itself.
- All nine modules and every download
- Lifetime access, including future updates
- $600 underwriting credit at Call The Underwriter, applied to your first underwrite
- Launch Q&A: a live 45-minute session with Dan on October 14 at 7pm ET — everyone enrolled by October 11 gets a seat
How the credit works: CTU's flat fee is $799 per underwrite — $199 at term sheet, $600 at Loan Estimate. Your credit covers the $600 Loan Estimate invoice on your first underwrite. The credit is good for 12 months from purchase — plenty of time to run your first underwrite, if you're actually going to do a deal.
Get the Playbook — $600Secure checkout through Zoho. Access instructions by email within minutes.
Questions investors ask before they buy.
I'm going to hold my notes, so why does resale value matter?
A note that's good to sell is the same note that's good to hold. The documentation and ability-to-repay work that makes a buyer pay near par is what protects you if the borrower disputes the loan or you have to foreclose. Plans change, too — the investor who never plans to sell is often the one who needs to recapitalize a few years in.
Do these rules even apply to me? I've done this for years without an issue.
If you originate three or more owner-occupied seller-finance loans a year, you're the "habitual" lender Dodd-Frank is written for. The CFPB has said land contracts and contracts for deed are covered the same way. "Nothing's happened yet" describes every investor right up until it does.
Can't I just verify income myself and foreclose if I have to?
Foreclosure is the deal going wrong, and how the loan was built decides whether that takes months or years. Income verification alone doesn't catch illegal terms, ATR failures, or documentation gaps that make a loan hard to enforce exactly when you need it.
I took a subject-to course. Doesn't that cover this?
It covered the deal structure. It didn't underwrite your borrower — and in a wrap, a bad borrower leaves you paying the underlying mortgage no matter what.
I title my deals in an LLC. Am I exempt?
No. Occupancy and use decide which rules apply, not whose name is on title. The Rule of 1 exemption is for a homeowner selling their own residence, not investors or entities.
Do I need to hire CTU to use what's in the course?
No. The course teaches you to structure and qualify the deal yourself. CTU is there when you want the underwrite, disclosures and compliance certificate done for you — and the $600 credit is included if you do.
Is this legal advice?
No. It's practitioner education from a licensed originator. Confirm state-specific questions (usury caps, foreclosure process, tax treatment) with your attorney and CPA.