For the person holding the note
Know where your owner financed note stands, today.
You carried the paper. Now you are the lender, and the questions do not stop coming — from your borrower, from a title company, from your accountant in January. OwnerNote is a tracker built for the person on your side of an owner financed note.
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Free for your first note. Nothing to install.
Paid through September · 8 payments recorded
What OwnerNote is
It is a record of your note that stays current. You enter the terms once and log payments as they arrive, and it answers the five questions that otherwise cost you an evening with a spreadsheet:
- What is the balance today? Not the balance at closing, and not the balance in the amortization schedule you printed two years ago — the balance after every payment that actually arrived, on the date it actually arrived.
- What is the payoff good through a date? A title company asks for a figure good through the end of the month. You need per-diem interest carried to the right day, not a guess.
- Did the payment arrive, and how was it applied? Late fee, then interest, then principal, then escrow — in whatever order your note actually specifies, applied the same way every single month.
- What do I send the IRS at year end? Total interest received for the year, separated from principal, ready to put on the form your borrower is waiting for.
- What can my borrower see without calling me? A read-only view of their own payment history and balance, so the routine questions answer themselves.
It also keeps the rest of the paperwork a note collects over the years: late fees you charge or waive, escrow for property taxes and insurance, email reminders and receipts for your borrower, printable payment coupon books, year-end interest statements, rate changes, a contact log, and the documents themselves. It handles wraparound notes with the underlying loan alongside, quarterly or annual payment schedules, payoff letters for a title company, the Texas annual statement for a contract for deed, a year-end packet for your accountant, and a package for a note buyer if you ever sell.
OwnerNote is a tracking tool. It never touches your borrower's money and it is not a servicer — payments go to you exactly as they do now.
Who it is for
Individual note holders and small portfolios. If you hold one note, that is a completely reasonable reason to be here — someone who just carried back their first note has all of the same obligations as someone holding thirty, and none of the practice.
It fits the person who sold a rental with seller financing, the family that carried paper on land, and the investor running a handful of wraps. It is not built for a servicing shop with a compliance department; that is a different product with different problems.
Owner financing software, a servicer, or a spreadsheet?
There are three common ways to keep the record on a seller-financed note. None is right for everyone.
| Note tracker (OwnerNote) | Loan servicing company | Spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who receives the payment | You, directly, as today | The servicer, who then pays you | You, directly |
| Who keeps the record | You, with the math done for you | The servicer | You, by hand |
| Payment application | Set once, applied the same way every time | Done by the servicer under your note | Whatever the formulas do that month |
| Payoff good through a date | Calculated, with interest carried to that day | Prepared by the servicer | Worked out by hand |
| Year-end interest total | From the payments that actually arrived | Provided by the servicer | Summed by hand |
| Escrow for taxes and insurance | You hold it; OwnerNote keeps the ledger and flags a shortage | Usually held and paid by the servicer, for an extra fee | A separate column you keep straight by hand |
| Late fees | Suggested after the grace period; you charge or waive | Charged under the servicer's process | Worked out and remembered by hand |
| Reminders and receipts | Emailed to your borrower if you turn them on, plus printable coupon books | Sent by the servicer | Whatever you send yourself |
| Payoff letter | A PDF good through a date, emailed to the title company from the record | Prepared by the servicer, often for a fee | Typed up by hand |
| Borrower statements | Printable, or emailed monthly if you turn it on | Sent by the servicer | Whatever you make yourself |
| Ongoing cost | Free for one note; paid plans by number of notes | Usually a setup fee and a monthly fee per loan | None |
| Best fit | Sellers who collect their own payments and want a record they can trust | Sellers who want collections and defaults handled for them | One simple note with no late, short or extra payments |
If you want someone else to collect and chase payments, a servicer is the right call; read loan servicing for owner financing for what to ask before you sign. If you keep a spreadsheet today, the payment ledger template shows the columns a good one needs.
Why it runs in a browser
A note outlives the computer you were using when you wrote it. A thirty-year amortization will see several machines, at least one operating system you have not met yet, and probably a change in who is keeping the records. The format has to survive all of that.
- It works in a browser, on any device. The laptop, the phone in the truck, your daughter's tablet when she is helping you sort out the year. Same record, same numbers.
- There is nothing to install. No setup disc, no flash drive, no license key taped inside a drawer, no wondering whether the version you have still runs.
- Nothing to reinstall when the computer is replaced. New machine, sign in, everything is there. This is the failure that loses people their payment history, and it should simply not be possible.
- Your data exports in one click. The record is yours. You can take the whole thing out whenever you want, in a format a spreadsheet and an accountant can both read.
Common questions
Does OwnerNote collect payments from my borrower?
No. OwnerNote is a record-keeping tool, not a servicer. Payments go from your borrower to you exactly as they do today; OwnerNote records what arrived and works out what it did to the balance.
Can I bring in the history I've kept in a spreadsheet?
Yes. You can import your notes and payment history from a spreadsheet, and OwnerNote recalculates each payment's interest and principal from the note's terms so you can compare its balance with yours.
Can I get my data out?
Yes. Every payment exports to CSV at any time. If you cancel a paid plan, your notes are never deleted.
Do I have to send my buyer a Form 1098?
It depends on whether you hold the note in the course of a business. OwnerNote gives you the year's interest total either way. See Form 1098 reporting for individual note holders.
Do I need to install anything?
No. OwnerNote runs in a browser on a laptop, phone or tablet.
How does support work?
Paid plans include email support; the Free plan does not. See Support for how to reach us.
Holding a note in Texas
Texas law has a lot to say to a seller who carries the note: a contract-for-deed statement every January, wrap disclosures, the seven-day lien notice. Start here if your note is on Texas property.
- Owner finance note tracking in Texas
What a Texas note holder has to keep track of after closing, structure by structure, and how OwnerNote keeps it.
- Seller finance note servicing in Texas
Hire a loan servicing company or keep the records yourself: what servicing involves and how to choose.
Free calculators
The same calculation engine OwnerNote uses, free to use without an account. No signup, no JavaScript, and the math is exact to the cent.
- Seller financing calculator
The buyer's monthly payment and the full schedule, read from the seller's side: your interest and your principal coming back.
- Owner financing calculator
Monthly payment and a full amortization schedule, split into interest and principal.
- Balloon payment calculator
The payments on a note that balloons early, and the exact amount due at the balloon.
- Per-diem interest calculator
Interest between any two dates under 30/360 or Actual/365.
- Payoff quote calculator
What it takes to pay a note off on a given date, from its terms and payment history.
- Wraparound calculator
A wrap note beside its underlying loan: what comes in, what goes out, and the spread.
Guides: start with the mechanics
Most of the trouble with a carried-back note comes from a detail nobody explained at closing. These are written for note holders, not for lawyers.
- Owner financing by state
How each state enforces a seller-financed note or land contract, the statements some require, and seller licensing exemptions.
- Loan servicing for owner financing
What a loan servicing company does for a seller-financed note, the questions to ask one, and when to keep the records yourself.
- Payment ledger template
A free spreadsheet ledger for a seller-financed note, the columns explained, and where spreadsheet ledgers go wrong.
- Escrow for owner financing
Collecting property taxes and insurance with the payment: working out the monthly amount, where to keep it, and what to do when it runs short.
- Payment coupon books
What a payment coupon book for a seller-financed note should show, and how to keep the amounts right after escrow, rate changes and a balloon.
- Payoff letters
Writing a payoff letter for a title company: the balance, interest to a good-through date, per diem, late fees and escrow, and keeping wiring details out of email.
- Selling an owner-financed note
What a note buyer looks at, the documents and pay history they ask for, and getting the record straight before you call.
- How a wraparound note works, with a worked example
The wrap sits on top of an underlying loan that stays in place. What the borrower pays you, what you pay out, and what is actually yours.
- Why payment application order changes the balance
Late fee, interest, principal, escrow — apply them in the wrong order and the balance drifts a little further off every month.
- Contract for deed versus deed of trust in Texas
Two very different ways to carry seller financing in Texas, and why the executory contract rules changed which one most sellers use.
- Texas seller finance notice requirements under the Property Code
The notices a Texas seller-financed transaction requires, who has to send them, and when the clock starts.
- RMLO licensing thresholds and the de minimis exemption
How many owner-financed notes you can originate before licensing enters the picture, and what the exemption actually covers.
- What a certified payment history is and when a borrower needs one
A refinancing borrower will ask you for one. What belongs in it, and why a spreadsheet screenshot is not it.
- Form 1098 reporting for individual note holders
Whether you have to issue one, what interest figure goes on it, and what your borrower expects to receive in January.