Realizing there was no easy middle ground between real estate lenders and borrowers to complete transactions, Terra Notes formed to meet that need. Now, the platform is a one-stop shop for both parties to track their portfolio statuses, automate payments, and streamline operations, removing the complexity from real estate loan management.
Founded in 2021, Terra Notes was launched by land investor JT Olmstead, who sought a middle ground between mom-and-pop lenders who manually manage their loans or those who use costly third-party services. With the stress of using spreadsheets and QuickBooks to track loan payments, authorization schedules, and reminders to borrowers, Olmstead recognized that investors needed more tangible control over their portfolios.
Thus, Terra Notes was formed, a self-servicing platform for privately held mortgages and notes. The Terra Notes portal allows private lenders to seamlessly track their loan portfolios to the same degree as a third-party service – completely in their own hands. After Olmstead organically grew the business and added a series of functions to the website, real estate investor Jake Huddelston took over the organization last May.
Streamlined Loan Management, All in One Place
Regarding their company’s mission, Huddelston emphasized the importance of simplicity. He clarified,
“We want to take as much friction out of the process as possible, so our lenders get paid on time, and it’s easier for borrowers to make those payments.”
While the competition focuses on providing retrofitted mortgage software to service loans, Huddelston recognizes that its strength lies in removing the guesswork from loan management and focusing on the users themselves.
First launched as a basic ledger, Terra Notes lenders can now create amortization schedules, enable recurring payments, download their tax information, complete loan-to-loan transfers, and more. For borrowers, it’s even simpler: they can just log in and send payments in one centralized location.
According to Huddelston, Terra Note’s secret to success is that, “It’s actually really user-friendly. It’s easy to use. It’s, “I don’t have any questions. I got my first loan set up, the borrowers already added, they’re good to go.” I think that’s really what sets this apart. It’s just super simple. It’s easy to use. It makes sense.”
Statistics
PaymentCloud’s embedded payments solution freed the Terra Notes team from day-to-day payment management, cutting costs and delivering a seamless lender experience that organically fueled an estimated 10-15% monthly growth rate.
Seeking a Stable Processor for a Stable Business
Despite having its pulse on an emerging market, Terra Notes initially faced the challenge of finding a payment processor capable of handling real estate transactions. Many processors classify their industry as high-risk, creating an additional roadblock for an otherwise stable business model.
“In my personal opinion, I believe it’s even more secure because it’s an asset-backed security,” assures Huddelston. “These people don’t want to lose their land, don’t want to lose their property. And so we have a very small default rate, because, again, we make it easy.”
Noting that similar businesses typically explore Stripe and Square first, Huddelston shared the challenges that can arise after onboarding to these platforms. Even if they signed up and started processing, Terra Notes could be shut out of its account at the platforms’ discretion.
Huddelston further explains, “Payments are the lifeblood. It’s literally the heart and center of what we do. It doesn’t make sense if we can’t collect timely payments from our borrowers and distribute them to our lenders, then we don’t have a platform.”
PaymentCloud: The Right Fit
Their concern ultimately led Terra Notes to PaymentCloud, where they built a payments infrastructure tailored to their needs. Huddelston explained,
“We wanted somebody who’s totally on board with our industry and understood it. And that was you guys.”
Besides its industry expertise, what differentiated PaymentCloud from the other providers was its effortless white-glove user experience. Terra Notes was able to integrate embedded payments into its workflow, enabling hassle-free transactions between lenders and borrowers.
Before heading the organization, Huddelston joined Terra Notes as a merchant. Evaluating his personal payments experience, he recognized, “I didn’t know there was anyone else behind it other than Terra Notes. To be honest with you, it performed its function seamlessly.”
Now, on the other side of the aisle as an owner, Huddelston explores the tangible benefits of their payment partnership. He shares, “PaymentCloud definitely saves us time and money every month. I essentially don’t have to manage anything that PaymentCloud processes for us,” adding that they are able to pass on an affordable processing rate to their lenders as a result.
He also highlights the benefits of its hands-on customer support. This includes frequent check-ins to maintain a working user experience, guidance on issues such as borrower card declines, and ensuring adherence to PCI compliance requirements. Although Huddelston was not part of the initial sign-up with the provider, he assured,
“You guys have been right there with us and have been continually checking in on us. So we definitely appreciate that.”
Next Steps
With their company growing, the Terra Notes team acknowledges PaymentCloud’s role in their success, with an estimated embedded payments growth rate of 10-15% per month. According to Huddelston, “On the card side, things have grown organically, almost like month over month. We’ve seen more people just adopt it. And I think it’s because it is that seamless experience.” He adds, “It’s giving lenders the autonomy to service their loans and portfolio as they wish.”
With its payment processing infrastructure stable, the Terra Notes team can now look ahead and determine the business’s future. They are looking to bring on a title company to add escrow management to their services, and are considering exploring ACH payments, funding services, and API plugins to add white-label options. They also plan to target new verticals to expand their lender pool.
Huddelston shares, “Real estate investors are always going to be our bread and butter, but I’d like to continue to add more, maybe hard money lenders, institutional people, institutional lenders, or business lending.” Ultimately, their goal is to be a powerhouse one-stop shop for lenders of all levels who want the autonomy to service their notes.
No matter how their business evolves, Terra Notes will continue its mission to provide lenders with a streamlined, user-friendly loan management system. And with an equally simple payments infrastructure at their disposal, they are equipped not only to meet that goal, but to surpass it at every stage.
