Rolled 78k in, sat on cash for 14 months, then lost the one note I wanted over funding speed
Posting the boring failure because it cost me real money and nobody warned me about it.
Moved 78k out of an old employer plan into a self-directed account in early last year. I was building a list, comparing note sellers, learning what a decent seasoned first looks like. Fine. But that money sat in cash the whole time earning almost nothing while the account charged me an annual fee plus a per-asset fee I hadn't budgeted. Two years of fees and the transfer costs came to about 2,300 with nothing to show.
Then I found the one I wanted. Seasoned first on a modest single family, borrower 26 payments in, priced to yield me around 10 and change. Seller wanted funds in five business days.
I sent the buy direction letter and the assignment package on day one. Custodian came back on day three asking for the collateral file index and a corrected vesting line, because I'd written my own name instead of the custodian FBO format. Resubmitted day four. Their internal review queue was five to seven business days on top of that. Seller sold it to somebody else on day seven.
So I paid 2,300 to learn how to name my own account correctly.
What I'd do differently: open the account only when I have a live deal in sight, and run one small practice transaction, even a tiny participation, before I try to hit a real deadline.