NOOB on info and guru overload

[Andrew Gallegos]

All the guru advertising everywhere is getting out of hand. All the advertising for guru mentoring, marketing, flippers and everything guru is everywhere. As a novice and just getting into the business I've been doing a lot of reading and watching here on BP. I know people who have wasted 10"s of thousands of dollars on guru training to never get it back. Besides, educating and learning where does a Noob get going. Information overload is frustrating and paralyzing. I've been reading a lot on the Buffalo NY market and I'm relocating there this month. I cant find much info on the future plan for the city as far as what sustainable growth the city has to keep the city alive...

[Andrew Johnson]

@Andrew Gallegos I think you're asking two different questions.  One might be what to do about deciphering cornucopia of (often contrasting) guru information.  The second is around the status of Buffalo, NY and the viability of it as a place to invest.  Trying to mix the two into one answer is probably a horrible recipe.  

The first thing that I usually do is take a look at the demographics:

1970	462,768	−13.1%
1980	357,870	−22.7%
1990	328,123	−8.3%
2000	292,648	−10.8%
2010	261,310	−10.7%
Est. 2016	256,902	−1.7%

Right off of the bat you have to decide how comfortable you are with those decade-over-decade numbers.  Or put another way, a city that is 55% as populous as it was in 1970.  You'd then have to marry that information with looking at the housing stock, development/redevelopment plans, business coming to the area, etc.  Give yourself 6 months and I'd imagine all of that (and just living there, driving around, etc.) will give you all of the insight that you need.