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Too Many Investment Choices?
Here’s How Informed Investors Create Clarity, Confidence, and Predictable Results.
"An honest, structured way to evaluate your options and discover why trust-deed lending became my preferred path to predictable income."
For California Investors · Education Only · No Sales Pitch
No hype. No pressure. Just clarity.
THE PROBLEM
The Real Problem: Investment Confusion
Today’s investors aren’t struggling with too few opportunities — they’re drowning in too many.
Stocks. ETFs. REITs. Rentals. Syndications. Crowdfunding. Notes. Crypto.
Endless advice. Endless opinions. Endless noise.
Everyone is selling something, but very few people are teaching anything.
The result?
• Cash sitting idle
• Fear of choosing wrong
• Jumping from trend to trend
• Analysis paralysis
• Relying on hype instead of structure
Confusion feels safe — but it’s expensive.
Clarity is what protects capital.
“Clarity is what protects capital.”
Overwhelming Choices
Too many investment types and too little explanation.
Conflicting Advice
Everyone is selling something — few are teaching anything.
Fear of Choosing Wrong
So money stays idle and opportunities pass by.
Analysis Paralysis
Confusion becomes a habit — and it’s expensive.
WHY INVESTORS STRUGGLE
Why Most Investors Get Stuck
The average investor is never taught:
• How risk actually works
• How to compare investment types
• How to understand collateral
• How to evaluate borrowers
• How to separate speculation from structure
• How to think like a lender, not a gambler
Most advice today is promotional, biased, high-pressure, and filled with jargon.
But clarity doesn’t come from a “plan someone sells you.”
Clarity comes from understanding the landscape — and having a framework to evaluate every opportunity you encounter.
“Most people had never been taught the basics.”
ORIGINS & FOUNDATION
My Story & Why I Built the
Trust Stone Method™
My journey into private lending didn’t begin with spreadsheets or business plans — it began with a simple lesson from my grandfather, a request from my father, and two mentors who fundamentally changed how I think about lending, structure, and protecting investors.
My Grandfather’s Lesson
My grandfather believed money should always be put to work.
He told me:
“A dollar wasted never returns.
But a dollar invested can pay you for the rest of your life.”
I didn’t fully appreciate that wisdom until years later, but it shaped everything I do today.
The $30,000 Lesson from My Father
My father invested $30,000 into a commercial loan-brokering program that he believed would change his life — and instead, he felt scammed.
He asked me to take the training and help him recover the investment.
What I discovered was that the system wasn’t the problem — the environment was. He was trying to use the strategy in a market where banks dominated everything.
That experience taught me:
Success requires structure + the right environment — not hype.
Phil — The Mentor Who Grounded Me
My primary mentor was a local broker named Phil.
He worked out of a small office on Plumas Street.
His wife handled the paperwork in the next room.
And his little dog practically lived on his lap.
Watching Phil work taught me:
• discipline
• empathy
• conservative underwriting
• the importance of protecting capital
• doing business in a way that lets you sleep at night
Phil showed me what it meant to do this business the right way.
Sylvan — The Tahoe Weekend That Changed Everything
At a Lake Tahoe conference, I met an old-school lender named Sylvan — a charismatic storyteller with decades of experience.
Over one weekend, he taught me:
• the mechanics of trust deeds
• how deals were structured
• how private lenders think
• the creative side of lending
Phil taught me discipline.
Sylvan showed me possibility.
Both were invaluable.
The Moment I Learned How Easily Money Gets Misunderstood
As I began arranging loans at 28, word spread quickly through my hometown.
People were grateful, curious, and often confused about what I actually did.
Many assumed I had the money, when in reality, I was simply structuring it.
That flood of questions didn’t change my investment philosophy —but it did reveal something important:
Most people had never been taught the basics of borrowing or financing.
To help my community, I wrote a book that explained Conventional, FHA, and VA financing in plain, everyday language.
The original file is long gone and every copy has disappeared over the years —but the experience shaped how I communicate to this day.
It taught me that clarity matters.
That people deserve straight answers.
And that complicated financial ideas can — and should — be explained simply.
Those lessons stayed with me, and they eventually became part of how I approach private lending today.
Why This Matters for Investors
For the last two years, I’ve been developing what all of these experiences pointed toward — a structured, transparent, step-by-step way to help investors understand, evaluate, and participate in private lending with confidence.
A method built on:
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clear communication
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conservative structure
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disciplined underwriting
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real-world experience
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and the belief that investors deserve a process they can trust
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That framework is what became the Trust Stone Method™.
“Investing isn’t about hype. It’s about structure.”
THE TRUST STONE METHOD™
The Trust Stone Method™
A Clear, Structured Solution for Investors Who Want Predictable Results
Most investors don’t need more options —
they need a repeatable way to think about the options they already have.
The Trust Stone Method™ is the 5-step framework I’ve developed over the last two years to help investors
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cut through noise and hype
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evaluate opportunities with confidence
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understand collateral, borrowers, and structure
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and make decisions based on discipline, not emotion
It doesn’t sell a product.
It gives you a process you can trust.
Step 1 — Understand the Private Lending Model
You learn how private lending actually works:
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who owns what
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how lenders are protected
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why collateral & LTV matter
This step gives you the foundation:
you own the loan, not the property — and your protection comes from structure.
Step 2 — Evaluate the Deal, Not the Pitch
You learn how to look past stories and review:
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lien position
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borrower equity
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exit strategy
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risk structure
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red flags
Good deals become clear.
Bad ones become easy to walk away from.
Step 3 — Structure the Investment for Protection and Profit
You’ll understand how terms shape outcomes:
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interest rate
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points
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loan term
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protective clauses
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collateral position
Protection first.
Return second.
Noise never.
Step 4 — Manage the Investment Like a Professional
Most returns are lost during management, not underwriting.
This step covers:
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servicing
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communication
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renewals & extensions
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inspection & documentation
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handling bumps with calm discipline
This is the part no one teaches — but everyone needs.
Step 5 — Reinvest and Build Predictable Income
Finally, you learn how to:
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apply the same framework to future deals
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avoid over-concentration
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reinvest intelligently
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build consistent, predictable returns
The goal isn’t excitement.
It’s predictable income.
NEXT STEPS
Ready to Build Clarity Into Your Investing?
The Investor Starter Kit shows you:
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how the Trust Stone Method™ works
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why disciplined structure beats hype
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the 5 steps to evaluating private lending deals
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how to think like a lender, not a gambler
It’s quick, clear, and designed for California investors who want confidence and predictable outcomes.
👉 Download the Investor Starter Kit
No pressure. No hype. Just structure.
“People deserve straight answers.”
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