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The 5 Biggest Mistakes New Investors Are Making Here In The Forums

Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Posted May 29 2024, 07:32

These are here to help you make better connections in the forums. It's ok to be new, but if you consider these five tips, you will get much better responses to your questions.

1. Writing too little or too much in a post looking for answers. There is a happy medium out there. If you write a novel, most of us won't read it because it's just too much. If you write too little, we have nothing to go on. Ask one question and tell everyone what you have done up to this point to get the answers. Also, give relevant information on rates, prices, square footage, etc.

2. Asking for a mentor without having anything to give. This is running rampant. It's great to get in the forums and look to make connections, but when you only put your hand out and ask for help and have nothing to give back, you are only going to get people who are going to pitch you. A few locals may reach out (more likely local agents), but you will never hear back if you hop on that call and only want to take from them.

3. Being fragile when you don't get the responses you want. If someone doesn't give you the answer you want and you clap back, your time in the forums will be short. Not because you will get removed but because you aren't open to advice. Sometimes, you will ask one question, but pros will have other questions to see if you are even asking the right question. Open forums aren't the best option if you are prone to fragility.

4. Asking questions without researching how often the same question has been asked. See "Should I start an LLC?" as an example. If you want to get the best responses, don't ask a question that has been asked a million times. Do your due diligence in the forums, looking for other answers, and use those to frame a better question.

5. Posting the same question in multiple forums. This is a definite no-no. Please stop. Pick one forum where your question makes the most sense. If it's a good question, we will find it. If you post the same question in several forums, we all know it's spam. You know it's spam. Don't spam.

If you are an experienced commenter here, let everyone know what you think of these to help them even more. Add some of your own.

If you are new, please use these to help yourself get better answers here.

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Replied Jun 2 2024, 14:46

@FR W.I am going to bring my participation on this thread to a close.  We strayed too far from the original subject.  

@Jim K.  Thanks for your humorous insert at times breaking the monotony of the thread.  We had our differences but closed out respectfully.

@Dan H.  I liked your post made about 4 hrs. ago better.  It was more unbiased.  Just my opinion.

@FR W.  You came out of nowhere and saw my point of view.  Thanks for your support.

@Jonathan Greene  I thought your earlier post said you were concluding.  Anyway, you have your opinion of me and I have of yours.  It is irrelevant of each other.  This thread was part fun, part waste of time and part educational. Hint- educational was not RE....but people!

I have no desire for this thread to be the longest non-educational thread like @Jim K mentioned at one point(humor again by him :))  On second thought, if it could break that record and need a few more response from me then.....What the heck!  Why not!!  :)

Peace out!!

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Replied Jun 2 2024, 14:47

@Jim K.

You were right.  It reached page 8 before the day ended.  

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FR W.
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Replied Jun 2 2024, 14:49
Quote from @Kevin S.:

@FR W.I am going to bring my participation on this thread to a close.  We strayed too far from the original subject. 

@FR W.  You came out of nowhere and saw my point of view.  Thanks for your support.

@Jonathan Greene  I thought your earlier post said you were concluding.  Anyway, you have your opinion of me and I have of yours.  It is irrelevant of each other.  This thread was part fun, part waste of time and part educational. Hint- educational was not RE....but people!

I have no desire for this thread to be the longest non-educational thread like @Jim K mentioned at one point(humor again by him :))  On second thought, if it could break that record and need a few more response from me then.....What the heck!  Why not!!  :)

Peace out!!

Good for you, Kevin, and best wishes for an amazing week :)

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Replied Jun 2 2024, 14:58

@FR W.

Thank you again.  Best wishes.  

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Bruce Woodruff
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Bruce Woodruff
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Replied Jun 2 2024, 18:39

Good lord, did this thread get entertaining..... I'm just eating popcorn and drinkin' beer.

And @FR W. there's no way you are a licensed Psychologist. You may need one... but you sure ain't one yourself....

You wouldn't know bullying if it hit you upside the head.........

(See what I did there? :-)

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FR W.
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Replied Jun 2 2024, 18:43
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Good lord, did this thread get entertaining..... I'm just eating popcorn and drinkin' beer.

And @FR W. there's no way you are a licensed Psychologist. You may need one... but you sure ain't one yourself....

You wouldn't know bullying if it hit you upside the head.........

(See what I did there? :-)

No, we don't see what you did there, but you have an amazing weekend.  I am never disrespectful... especially to elders.  Take care and have an amazing weekend :)  

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Don Konipol
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Don Konipol
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 05:32

@Jonathan Greene

VERY GOOD!

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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 05:49
Quote from @Don Konipol:

@Jonathan Greene

VERY GOOD!


Based on your posts, Don, I had a feeling this one would be up your alley. Thanks.

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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 05:58

5 Takeaways From This Thread

1. The thought that the forums are where people gang up on others is absurd. Most of us do not know each other in person, are not friends, and have never spoken. What we do know of each other is built through constructive forum interactions and responses over the years. Call it mutual respect.

2. Everyone shows up in the forums with a different life. None of us will ever know what is going on behind the scenes. While some grace should be given to all if they are having a bad day, constant muckraking is a sign of something that can't be fixed here.

3. The best way to judge the middle of a thread is to go back to the original post and review it. When a thread goes off the rails, it is because of the responses, not the original post. If you take the time to review the original post in a vacuum, it often is objectively fair.

4. Something else is at play when people allege privacy concerns about why they have no photo or information in a forum where they are there to learn and hopefully make real-life connections.

5. A thread can rise and fall based on user interaction and feedback. Some people may continue to post to get their numbers up on the site. The best way to know a poster's value to the BiggerPockets community is to check their posts vs. votes. When there are more votes than posts, it indicates inherent value on the site. When there are very few votes and many posts, that explains itself.

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FR W.
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 08:29
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

5 Takeaways From This Thread

1. The thought that the forums are where people gang up on others is absurd. Most of us do not know each other in person, are not friends, and have never spoken. What we do know of each other is built through constructive forum interactions and responses over the years. Call it mutual respect.

2. Everyone shows up in the forums with a different life. None of us will ever know what is going on behind the scenes. While some grace should be given to all if they are having a bad day, constant muckraking is a sign of something that can't be fixed here.

3. The best way to judge the middle of a thread is to go back to the original post and review it. When a thread goes off the rails, it is because of the responses, not the original post. If you take the time to review the original post in a vacuum, it often is objectively fair.

4. Something else is at play when people allege privacy concerns about why they have no photo or information in a forum where they are there to learn and hopefully make real-life connections.

5. A thread can rise and fall based on user interaction and feedback. Some people may continue to post to get their numbers up on the site. The best way to know a poster's value to the BiggerPockets community is to check their posts vs. votes. When there are more votes than posts, it indicates inherent value on the site. When there are very few votes and many posts, that explains itself.

I see you're starting the day calling out for your helpers to run to your defense again.  So sad.

So, here are my tips for you:

1.  You are the only person here concerned with VOTES and posts.  I've been on BP for only a couple of years and I can assure you, if those things mattered to me, I'd spend as much time as you do here racking up the numbers.
2.  As I've stated before, there are so many folks on BP who have no photo and who use only their initials.  Stop trying to get folks to jump on board that little bandwagon of yours that makes absolutely no sense.
3.  No one needs to go back to your original post in hopes that they will all say YOU'RE RIGHT.  Everyone here knows how much you need that.  Let it go.  

In summation, this all goes back to you attempting to BULLY others when they...
1. Don't agree with you
2. Don't bow down to you (in this forum)
3. Use their own minds and make their own decisions
4. Dare to challenge you or anything you've said
5. Call you out on your crap

For those who are new to the forum, here are some REAL tips, without any ugly jabs included to make you feel small and "NEW":
1. Don't be intimidated by the bullies - ask your questions.  It's the only way you'll learn.  Hopefully you will get a response from some decent folks who are not here to build themselves up by tearing others down.  There are some genuine folks who will give you the answers you're seeking;
2. Don't feel bad because you don't know what you don't know.  You'll get there in time.  Do your research.  Find books on the area you're interested in investing in and dig in.  Learn all you can.  It's OK if you make a mistake, ask a question that others might think is "dumb," - just keep in mind that there are no dumb questions, but there are some pretty ignorant responses.  If you feel the question will move you forward, keep seeking the "right" answers.
3. In no way accept that you should be made fun of simply because you're new here.  Shut down the noise immediately.
4. I've found that the "little" people who use the term NEWBIE, use it as a way of demeaning others.  Stop using that term on yourself.  No matter how new you are, if you're just getting into investing, if in your heart, you're an investor, then guess what?  You're an investor - just like them.  They are no better than you!  
5. If you're a decent person, don't jump on the bandwagon of those BULLIES who like to make fun of others.  Clearly they forgot that they were once new to RE.  Don't you forget.
6. Always treat others with kindness... no matter how much you grow, and how much you come to know, don't turn into one of the BULLIES.  And when you come across a BULLY, call them out.  It's the only way to shut them down.

And for the "little" man with "little man syndrome" who will come back with... "I started this post and you replied to it!  You all go back and read it and see where I wasn't helpful!  They're hiding behind the initials and no photo, just like the MANY others who are here on BP who I interact with all the time are doing (oh look what I did there)! Meet me on Zoom so I can prove I'm right and I'll post it here for my FRIENDS to back me up!  You're wrong and I'm always right!  I say things in hopes that my FRIENDS will jump in and fight for me because my "little" emotions can't take on this person by myself! Stop calling these people my FRIENDS! No one has ever called me out on my crap before and this embarrasses me that you've shown me up on here!  My numbers are greater than yours because I'm so successful because I spend all my time here on BP pretending to not read long comments that are putting me in my place!  I was on the BP podcast twice!  Go listen to it so you can see how "little" I really am!  I'm a Pro because I have more votes and more posts than you and I can say nasty things about others and make my FRIENDS laugh and keep them afraid to go against me here!" grow up. You are sad.

And because it's Monday and I am SOOOOOOO busy, and because I have done my job here by showing the BULLY that he has no power and that his little votes and posts mean nothing to anyone but him (and the cowards who back him up because they're afraid of his WORDS turning on them - if you're not one of those cowards, then don't respond to that), I am clicking the little check mark so that it doesn't notify me of any more posts, because again, I'm so busy.  I will leave this to the "little" "person"  (hehehe) to have the last word. HE NEEDS THAT to make himself feel bigger. Because if I don't respond, he'll feel in charge again, but everyone who read every comment that I posted here, knows that he got his hiney "checked" this weekend.  Oh, his "little" friends will come back and leave comments (because they're just so cute) that will garner a few snickers (all the while, I'm amazed at the number of folks who sent me messages about the "little" person.  One of them even said, "Get him!")  Oh, I did.  LOL.

Oh, I forgot, the "little" person will also say TLDR.  That means he read every word because he can't stand the thought of NOT KNOWING WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT HIM.

Goodbye (for now).  

"The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a FOOL feeds on folly."  ~Proverbs 15:14

Now let's see who this will apply to here. 

Comment away, "little" person.  I'm gone.  Have an amazing time!

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Joe S.
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Joe S.
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 08:34
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

5 Takeaways From This Thread

1. The thought that the forums are where people gang up on others is absurd. Most of us do not know each other in person, are not friends, and have never spoken. What we do know of each other is built through constructive forum interactions and responses over the years. Call it mutual respect.

2. Everyone shows up in the forums with a different life. None of us will ever know what is going on behind the scenes. While some grace should be given to all if they are having a bad day, constant muckraking is a sign of something that can't be fixed here.

3. The best way to judge the middle of a thread is to go back to the original post and review it. When a thread goes off the rails, it is because of the responses, not the original post. If you take the time to review the original post in a vacuum, it often is objectively fair.

4. Something else is at play when people allege privacy concerns about why they have no photo or information in a forum where they are there to learn and hopefully make real-life connections.

5. A thread can rise and fall based on user interaction and feedback. Some people may continue to post to get their numbers up on the site. The best way to know a poster's value to the BiggerPockets community is to check their posts vs. votes. When there are more votes than posts, it indicates inherent value on the site. When there are very few votes and many posts, that explains itself.

Very entertaining post. I enjoyed it a lot.  Some good points. Glad you got it going with some activity. :-) You really got one going with activity several years ago. 
A couple of posters on here I suppose made the people that doesn’t have their whole name and photo look kind of bad, but not all posters that does not have their full name are like that.

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Ismael Ayala Jr.
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Ismael Ayala Jr.
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 11:29

That is great advice. Thx. Especially posting the same questions on multiple forums. I didn't realize that was a problem. Now I know better.

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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 11:59
Quote from @Ismael Ayala Jr.:

That is great advice. Thx. Especially posting the same questions on multiple forums. I didn't realize that was a problem. Now I know better.


It actually reduces the number of good responses you will get because people will think they looked and missed it or already responded because it is in too many places. Just pick the best forum and if the question is well thought out, someone will answer and then it goes up from there.

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Jim K.#2 Investor Mindset Contributor
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Jim K.#2 Investor Mindset Contributor
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 13:30

This is creepy as hell.

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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 13:31
Quote from @Jim K.:

This is creepy as hell.


Agreed.

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Kevin S.
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Replied Jun 3 2024, 16:05
Quote from @Dan H.:
Quote from @Jim K.:
Quote from @FR W.:

The level of professionalism is astounding (and childish).  Name calling... insults.  Are you the only one who can have an opinion?  Or an idea?  Or a point of view?  

And yet, Jonathan's not hiding his identity behind initials and no picture.

 If I had to do it over again, I would have used “Dan H”.  with my last name I am very easy to identify.  There are also many weird people out there.  Some that believe all LL are evil and that they should not expect to make money for the risk, investment, and effort of investing in residential RE.  I continuously run into more people like this (I am sure living in Ca does not help).  What virtually all these people have in common is they know less than $hit about RE.  They feel they have 0 opportunity but at the conferences and REA meeting I go to I meet young people with a different attitude that appear to be on a great path to success.  

I recently attended the MTR summit.  There were a lot of young hustlers.  2 local girls worked supporting the summit to go.  They made a good pitch to try to manage my STRs.  I loved their enthusiasm and hustle.  As near as I can determine they own no Properties but co-host some and are eager to grow.  Their mindset was so different than the socialist that believe housing is a divine right and they should be able to live wherever they want.  I know who will be more successful and it is not those that think they should be provided free/low cost housing in San diego for doing virtually nothing. 

My point is I understand wanting some anonymity.  I wish I had more anonymity with respect to BP. 

Anyone at BP want to help getting my user name changed to “Dan h” or “Dan R H”?


 Did you try clicking on FAQ at the bottom of your profile page, then ---> 'privacy and security' --->How do I hide my last name ??  Hope that works.

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Marcus Auerbach
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Replied Jun 4 2024, 04:37
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:
Quote from @Jim K.:

This is creepy as hell.


Agree

Normally we don't see that much from trolls here..

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Replied Jun 4 2024, 06:55
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

These are here to help you make better connections in the forums. It's ok to be new, but if you consider these five tips, you will get much better responses to your questions.

1. Writing too little or too much in a post looking for answers. There is a happy medium out there. If you write a novel, most of us won't read it because it's just too much. If you write too little, we have nothing to go on. Ask one question and tell everyone what you have done up to this point to get the answers. Also, give relevant information on rates, prices, square footage, etc.

2. Asking for a mentor without having anything to give. This is running rampant. It's great to get in the forums and look to make connections, but when you only put your hand out and ask for help and have nothing to give back, you are only going to get people who are going to pitch you. A few locals may reach out (more likely local agents), but you will never hear back if you hop on that call and only want to take from them.

3. Being fragile when you don't get the responses you want. If someone doesn't give you the answer you want and you clap back, your time in the forums will be short. Not because you will get removed but because you aren't open to advice. Sometimes, you will ask one question, but pros will have other questions to see if you are even asking the right question. Open forums aren't the best option if you are prone to fragility.

4. Asking questions without researching how often the same question has been asked. See "Should I start an LLC?" as an example. If you want to get the best responses, don't ask a question that has been asked a million times. Do your due diligence in the forums, looking for other answers, and use those to frame a better question.

5. Posting the same question in multiple forums. This is a definite no-no. Please stop. Pick one forum where your question makes the most sense. If it's a good question, we will find it. If you post the same question in several forums, we all know it's spam. You know it's spam. Don't spam.

If you are an experienced commenter here, let everyone know what you think of these to help them even more. Add some of your own.

If you are new, please use these to help yourself get better answers here.


LOVE these.  #3 really resonates with me: people often ask the wrong questions completely.  One of the biggest takeaways from my Master's Program in Engineering that has made a huge impact is this: Great solutions come from great problems - you can't find the solution without first understanding the problem.  To understand the problem, you have to ask the right questions.

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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Replied Jun 4 2024, 06:57
Quote from @Josh Green:
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

These are here to help you make better connections in the forums. It's ok to be new, but if you consider these five tips, you will get much better responses to your questions.

1. Writing too little or too much in a post looking for answers. There is a happy medium out there. If you write a novel, most of us won't read it because it's just too much. If you write too little, we have nothing to go on. Ask one question and tell everyone what you have done up to this point to get the answers. Also, give relevant information on rates, prices, square footage, etc.

2. Asking for a mentor without having anything to give. This is running rampant. It's great to get in the forums and look to make connections, but when you only put your hand out and ask for help and have nothing to give back, you are only going to get people who are going to pitch you. A few locals may reach out (more likely local agents), but you will never hear back if you hop on that call and only want to take from them.

3. Being fragile when you don't get the responses you want. If someone doesn't give you the answer you want and you clap back, your time in the forums will be short. Not because you will get removed but because you aren't open to advice. Sometimes, you will ask one question, but pros will have other questions to see if you are even asking the right question. Open forums aren't the best option if you are prone to fragility.

4. Asking questions without researching how often the same question has been asked. See "Should I start an LLC?" as an example. If you want to get the best responses, don't ask a question that has been asked a million times. Do your due diligence in the forums, looking for other answers, and use those to frame a better question.

5. Posting the same question in multiple forums. This is a definite no-no. Please stop. Pick one forum where your question makes the most sense. If it's a good question, we will find it. If you post the same question in several forums, we all know it's spam. You know it's spam. Don't spam.

If you are an experienced commenter here, let everyone know what you think of these to help them even more. Add some of your own.

If you are new, please use these to help yourself get better answers here.


LOVE these.  #3 really resonates with me: people often ask the wrong questions completely.  One of the biggest takeaways from my Master's Program in Engineering that has made a huge impact is this: Great solutions come from great problems - you can't find the solution without first understanding the problem.  To understand the problem, you have to ask the right questions.


Thank you. That's a great lesson. I also think the problem is often tied up inside a person's self-awareness. That self-awareness is lower when someone is new at anything, so sometimes they don't even know how to react, so they react based on their feeling of inadequacy in a big pond with killer fish.

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Replied Jun 4 2024, 20:55
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:
Quote from @Josh Green:
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

LOVE these.  #3 really resonates with me: people often ask the wrong questions completely.  One of the biggest takeaways from my Master's Program in Engineering that has made a huge impact is this: Great solutions come from great problems - you can't find the solution without first understanding the problem.  To understand the problem, you have to ask the right questions.


Thank you. That's a great lesson. I also think the problem is often tied up inside a person's self-awareness. That self-awareness is lower when someone is new at anything, so sometimes they don't even know how to react, so they react based on their feeling of inadequacy in a big pond with killer fish.


 These are so good. Even for AI, to get the best answer, the AI needs to understand the "context", so how to "prompt" or how to ask proper and good question, could start a nice transformation of knowledge.

Do not ask question like these "I only have 50k in my bank, how I can start become real estate investor so I don't have to work 9 to 5".

It's just so lousyyyy question lol

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Replied Jun 4 2024, 21:19
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:
Quote from @Josh Green:
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

These are here to help you make better connections in the forums. It's ok to be new, but if you consider these five tips, you will get much better responses to your questions.

1. Writing too little or too much in a post looking for answers. There is a happy medium out there. If you write a novel, most of us won't read it because it's just too much. If you write too little, we have nothing to go on. Ask one question and tell everyone what you have done up to this point to get the answers. Also, give relevant information on rates, prices, square footage, etc.

2. Asking for a mentor without having anything to give. This is running rampant. It's great to get in the forums and look to make connections, but when you only put your hand out and ask for help and have nothing to give back, you are only going to get people who are going to pitch you. A few locals may reach out (more likely local agents), but you will never hear back if you hop on that call and only want to take from them.

3. Being fragile when you don't get the responses you want. If someone doesn't give you the answer you want and you clap back, your time in the forums will be short. Not because you will get removed but because you aren't open to advice. Sometimes, you will ask one question, but pros will have other questions to see if you are even asking the right question. Open forums aren't the best option if you are prone to fragility.

4. Asking questions without researching how often the same question has been asked. See "Should I start an LLC?" as an example. If you want to get the best responses, don't ask a question that has been asked a million times. Do your due diligence in the forums, looking for other answers, and use those to frame a better question.

5. Posting the same question in multiple forums. This is a definite no-no. Please stop. Pick one forum where your question makes the most sense. If it's a good question, we will find it. If you post the same question in several forums, we all know it's spam. You know it's spam. Don't spam.

If you are an experienced commenter here, let everyone know what you think of these to help them even more. Add some of your own.

If you are new, please use these to help yourself get better answers here.


LOVE these.  #3 really resonates with me: people often ask the wrong questions completely.  One of the biggest takeaways from my Master's Program in Engineering that has made a huge impact is this: Great solutions come from great problems - you can't find the solution without first understanding the problem.  To understand the problem, you have to ask the right questions.


Thank you. That's a great lesson. I also think the problem is often tied up inside a person's self-awareness. That self-awareness is lower when someone is new at anything, so sometimes they don't even know how to react, so they react based on their feeling of inadequacy in a big pond with killer fish.


something that can be done from biggerpocket site , is that , before someone post question, there should be chatbot that say "hey that question has been asked before, maybe your question has been answered here and here" ...... Lot of BP question especially in the new section, is the same question over and over, and would be answered (or going viral) the same over again and again. There should be mechanism to minimize duplicate or a question that's not having too much context.

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Chris Seveney
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Replied Jun 5 2024, 05:08
Quote from @Carlos Ptriawan:
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:
Quote from @Josh Green:
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

These are here to help you make better connections in the forums. It's ok to be new, but if you consider these five tips, you will get much better responses to your questions.

1. Writing too little or too much in a post looking for answers. There is a happy medium out there. If you write a novel, most of us won't read it because it's just too much. If you write too little, we have nothing to go on. Ask one question and tell everyone what you have done up to this point to get the answers. Also, give relevant information on rates, prices, square footage, etc.

2. Asking for a mentor without having anything to give. This is running rampant. It's great to get in the forums and look to make connections, but when you only put your hand out and ask for help and have nothing to give back, you are only going to get people who are going to pitch you. A few locals may reach out (more likely local agents), but you will never hear back if you hop on that call and only want to take from them.

3. Being fragile when you don't get the responses you want. If someone doesn't give you the answer you want and you clap back, your time in the forums will be short. Not because you will get removed but because you aren't open to advice. Sometimes, you will ask one question, but pros will have other questions to see if you are even asking the right question. Open forums aren't the best option if you are prone to fragility.

4. Asking questions without researching how often the same question has been asked. See "Should I start an LLC?" as an example. If you want to get the best responses, don't ask a question that has been asked a million times. Do your due diligence in the forums, looking for other answers, and use those to frame a better question.

5. Posting the same question in multiple forums. This is a definite no-no. Please stop. Pick one forum where your question makes the most sense. If it's a good question, we will find it. If you post the same question in several forums, we all know it's spam. You know it's spam. Don't spam.

If you are an experienced commenter here, let everyone know what you think of these to help them even more. Add some of your own.

If you are new, please use these to help yourself get better answers here.


LOVE these.  #3 really resonates with me: people often ask the wrong questions completely.  One of the biggest takeaways from my Master's Program in Engineering that has made a huge impact is this: Great solutions come from great problems - you can't find the solution without first understanding the problem.  To understand the problem, you have to ask the right questions.


Thank you. That's a great lesson. I also think the problem is often tied up inside a person's self-awareness. That self-awareness is lower when someone is new at anything, so sometimes they don't even know how to react, so they react based on their feeling of inadequacy in a big pond with killer fish.


something that can be done from biggerpocket site , is that , before someone post question, there should be chatbot that say "hey that question has been asked before, maybe your question has been answered here and here" ...... Lot of BP question especially in the new section, is the same question over and over, and would be answered (or going viral) the same over again and again. There should be mechanism to minimize duplicate or a question that's not having too much context.


 With AI now you can create a bot to scrape the data from the site - issue is the data needs to be accurate - and lets be honest - there is a lot of bad advice on this website

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Jonathan Greene#2 Starting Out Contributor
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Replied Jun 5 2024, 05:31

@Chris Seveney hit it on the head about AI. It will not work here, it might save you a little time, but will just collect similar data which is not necessarily accurate. I don't use AI at all, for anything, and see no value in it for me. Most people who are using it are using it the wrong way in real estate. It's a measuring tool or an efficiency tool to start research. It's not the research.

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Replied Jun 5 2024, 05:53
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

@Chris Seveney hit it on the head about AI. It will not work here, it might save you a little time, but will just collect similar data which is not necessarily accurate. I don't use AI at all, for anything, and see no value in it for me. Most people who are using it are using it the wrong way in real estate. It's a measuring tool or an efficiency tool to start research. It's not the research.


 Also, anytime a computer runs a program its called "AI". AI has been around forever, how do you think sports betting lines get their spreads? They take historical data/analysis and run it through a model.... Excel has had "what-ifs" forever in their program. Now technology has progressed (just like self driving cars), but getting to 80% is easy, getting things perfected to the last 10-20% takes forever (see blockchain which a decade ago was going to change real estate forever - how has that worked?).

Its best use is for repetitive processes but as you mention jonathan, its a tool but you still need the human. This is not to say we do not use it,we use it for our business but its a tool and never used to make a specific decision.

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Replied Jun 5 2024, 07:18
Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

@Chris Seveney hit it on the head about AI. It will not work here, it might save you a little time, but will just collect similar data which is not necessarily accurate. I don't use AI at all, for anything, and see no value in it for me. Most people who are using it are using it the wrong way in real estate. It's a measuring tool or an efficiency tool to start research. It's not the research.


 In my experience, AI is the only thing that would work here and greatly help newbies. The AI can summarize whether the data has a majority of strong opinion or they kind of mixed opinion.

The fact that you don't use AI is showing your opinion that you may not know what the AI can help on this specific thread.