Am I invisible? Help! Need advice getting relevant connections.

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Am I invisible? Help! Need advice getting relevant connections.

Lori Greene
Specialist · Huntsville, UT · Member since 2015 · 458 posts · 249 votes

I love BiggerPockets! Using a Free account, I've been able to learn from investors, give advice, make connections, and so much more. But recently I started a unique new business that needs more growing. So I decided to give BiggerPockets Plus a try. I'm not new to BiggerPockets, just new to a paid account.

A few days ago I posted my first Marketplace Ad. And after several days, not one single reply. And I know it's not because no one on BiggerPockets is interested because we have a very high click through rate from investors outside of BiggerPockets. Investors are our best customers.

So I must be doing something wrong. Maybe the wrong category?

I need suggestions for a good category for what we do. We are a real estate comps service with a network of real estate agents in every market the U.S. ready to pull comps for investors. But I couldn't find a good category for what we do because our service is so unique. No one else does what we do. We are not agents or brokers, we just work with them.

First, I tried Real Estate Services, but none of the sub categories were relevant to what we do and there was no category "Other." I ended up choosing a Coaching category because we are also real estate mentors. But that's not really what our service is about. As coaches/mentors, we have been asked constantly by investors over the years where they can order comps online and we've always had to tell them that there is no place online to simply order comps. That's why we decided to start a service that does just that. But I don't think a Coaching category is relevant for a comps service.

Does anyone have advice on what category I should choose for Marketplace Ads that is relevant to what we do?

Also, does anyone have advice on the best ways to grow a business using a BiggerPockets Plus account? (besides what the guide advises).

I'm already good at giving advice on various real estate investing topics in forums, posts, answering questions etc. I'm also very good at article writing. So I was thinking about writing articles in the members blog on how to analyze comps to get the most accurate property value.

What else should I be doing?

Any advice would be so greatly appreciated.

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  • Caleb Heimsoth
    Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    8y
    Lori Greene how is your service different then Zillow, Redfin etc? I can type in info to either of those websites and get comps from a local agent. It’s also possible that experienced investors already have agents they work with and just use those guys. That’s what I’d do, and I don’t consider myself overly experienced
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  • Lori Greene
    OP
    Specialist · Huntsville, UT · Member since 2015 · 458 posts · 249 votes
    8y

    Zillow and Refin don't get actual sold comps or CMA's from an agent. They use various algorithms and public data which vary wildly. That's why you can go to 10 different estimation sites like that and get 10 different values. Those sites are also not updated daily. Sometimes the sold properties they use are months or even years old. And they can't get any public sold data at all in non-disclosure states.

    Yes, of course investors will use their own agent, if they have one. If you have a good agent who will pull comps for you again and again, then by all means, they are your best resource. But many investors don't have an agent who will do that for them time after time. Or sometimes you just need comps now and can't a hold of your agent.

    In any case, sales don't lie. If there was no demand for this service, we wouldn't be getting orders, but we are.

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  • Caleb Heimsoth
    Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    8y
    Sorry it doesn’t look like I was clear in my first post. I’m saying I can go on Zillow or Redfin and get a cma from a local agent. I’m not talking about just pulling data from their website. Anyways it’s probably a marketing thing. You have to market a lot to get any meaningful traction. One post isn’t going to do that
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  • Lori Greene
    OP
    Specialist · Huntsville, UT · Member since 2015 · 458 posts · 249 votes
    8y
    Yes you can find agents through Zillow but you can’t actually order your comps on Zillow can you? What we do is to send your comps order to an agent for you, an agent who we know is eager to get your comps. If that agent isn’t immediately responsive we send it to another. We also follow through to make sure you’re satisfied with your comps and we provide comps analysis consultation if requested.
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