I'm one of the "Find a Lender" lenders, here are my thoughts

[Erik Browning]

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

[Jason Sousa]

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 I am an agent an did their find an agent program too. I would agree with most of what you are saying. I feel the program needs more of a "certification" process for the leads. It took so much of my time to verify these leads. It is like paying to do what BP should have done. I will not make that mistake again.

[Erik Browning]

Quote from @Jason Sousa:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 I am an agent an did their find an agent program too. I would agree with most of what you are saying. I feel the program needs more of a "certification" process for the leads. It took so much of my time to verify these leads. It is like paying to do what BP should have done. I will not make that mistake again.

 The fix is simple. Have BP make them run, and pay for, their credit report. If they're not serious, they won't pay. If they are serious, they will pay.

[V.G Jason]

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Quote from @Jason Sousa:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 I am an agent an did their find an agent program too. I would agree with most of what you are saying. I feel the program needs more of a "certification" process for the leads. It took so much of my time to verify these leads. It is like paying to do what BP should have done. I will not make that mistake again.

 The fix is simple. Have BP make them run, and pay for, their credit report. If they're not serious, they won't pay. If they are serious, they will pay.

99% of folks that are serious, were serious. What I mean by this is the entire game of REI has now vaulted into the top 10-20% of W2 folks, but really the top 5% mainly the top 1-3%. It use to be the 20-40% could get into it. The 40-50% were the reach.

Now the 10-20% are on the outside looking in, likely the one's that are calling you. Therefore, you're getting a really, really shallow pool that can qualify but BP pushes this REI as if it was the yesteryears to where most could qualify. So the pool is shrinking as BP provides the leads to the original pool

With that said, the actual mechanism of BP's paid program I am sure it could be better but your strike rate is just going to get even more minute. The top .5% enter cash only or CRE, or rarely finance out. The .5%-5% are hesitant as the REI profile is as disastrous as they've seen and they keep reading stuff from pre-covid to judge the analysis and we all know that won't materialize.

Then for 5-15%  is nervous cause the COL has jumped in their face, plus the aforementioned issues. The lender is now the barrier of entry of their risk appetite and they'll need you to gauge if it's healthy or not-- it's not your job, but there's too many headwinds for them not to do that.

[Joshua Mckenzie]

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

just a side note I get leads as well.. And what I find out is there is no context to them folks dont take the time to explain what they want.. also on the form i get from BP it cuts off the e mail address if its a long one so I cant even e mail them back..

But we do have to remember BP is basically an incubator site but there is plenty of active investors watching etc so there are lots of highly qualified folks as well.

Seems to me BP is justs following the same play book as Zillow RE leads.. But I do know they are concerned about FAKE lenders so that is a good thing. 

 we do much better organic and thought the cost for BP was very high compared to using other avenues - what we also see no matter where you are promoting is a lot of the leads want to pick your brain or want 100% financing... If you do this, make sure you have a separate email address just for them.

U know I offer 100% financing and very few people actually contact me.. But of course we are very particular so most would not qualify anyway..

I think it's odd that non-VA 100% financing is so underutilized. I, and I'm sure you guys do also, have EPM's FHA Forgivable DPA product that I think is great for first time investors. It's BPC, but with the right house, the seller can pay that plus the closing costs. Then they can streamline refinance in 7 months! Such a good product. Maybe I'm just not marketing it right.

 My wife and I did this about 13 years ago we had the chafa program I didn't know this was still available to first time  home buyers 

it is essentially down payment assistance you put the majority of the down payment into a 2nd loan 30year fixed with means your mortgage payment go up like 100.00,  we then payed off that with the tax savings the following year..

don't quote me I am not a advisor . Entertainment purposes only 

[Erik Browning]

Here's a fun example

[Bill Schrimpf]

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Quote from @Jason Sousa:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 I am an agent an did their find an agent program too. I would agree with most of what you are saying. I feel the program needs more of a "certification" process for the leads. It took so much of my time to verify these leads. It is like paying to do what BP should have done. I will not make that mistake again.

 The fix is simple. Have BP make them run, and pay for, their credit report. If they're not serious, they won't pay. If they are serious, they will pay.

kind of like landlords with tenants.. but issue is too many pulls and your fico goes down not only that myself I would never give an on line person my SS.. Never. 

[Calvin Thomas]

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

[Brandon Croucier]

Quote from @Erik Estrada:

I was on the featured lender for about 4 months, I actually did get decent leads back in December and January. What I dislike about the program is the lack of transparency and communication from their staff that facilitates the whole thing. I was taken off the featured page since I had states listed on my page I was not licensed in, even though many DSCR, Commercial, and Hard Money lenders do not require brokers to be licensed in several states. I did tell them that I would take the states off since I did not know it was a compliance issue (even though there is no specific requirement for business purpose loans on the NMLS website), and despite my efforts of only promoting myself as a CA lender, I got on the waitlist to rejoin since there are so many lenders joining the program apparently.

I have gotten a lot more results organically though. The paid leads just helped supplement those slower days (very few of them thankfully). I hope BP can fix both their onboarding process (at least lay out the ground rules and not just cancel someone at any moments notice without a warning) and hopefully provide more qualified leads. 

I had the same issue... 

BP Really needs a better understanding of rules & regulations in the Non QM Space. 

[Scott Trench]

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

Can you please let me know what getaway or expo BP has promoted, other than our annual conference in 2024? I will address it promptly. 

 And, can you please point to an instance of a guru hacking crap or events on BiggerPockets content in 2024? We take this seriously and this should not be happening on the platform, again, outside of us promoting BPCON, which we hope is a wonderful event for our members. 

[Erik Estrada]

Quote from @Brandon Croucier:

Quote from @Erik Estrada:

I was on the featured lender for about 4 months, I actually did get decent leads back in December and January. What I dislike about the program is the lack of transparency and communication from their staff that facilitates the whole thing. I was taken off the featured page since I had states listed on my page I was not licensed in, even though many DSCR, Commercial, and Hard Money lenders do not require brokers to be licensed in several states. I did tell them that I would take the states off since I did not know it was a compliance issue (even though there is no specific requirement for business purpose loans on the NMLS website), and despite my efforts of only promoting myself as a CA lender, I got on the waitlist to rejoin since there are so many lenders joining the program apparently.

I have gotten a lot more results organically though. The paid leads just helped supplement those slower days (very few of them thankfully). I hope BP can fix both their onboarding process (at least lay out the ground rules and not just cancel someone at any moments notice without a warning) and hopefully provide more qualified leads. 

I had the same issue... 

BP Really needs a better understanding of rules & regulations in the Non QM Space. 

 It is what it is. I have a lot more success just commenting on posts than I do paying for leads. 

[Calvin Thomas]

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

Can you please let me know what getaway or expo BP has promoted, other than our annual conference in 2024? I will address it promptly. 

 And, can you please point to an instance of a guru hacking crap or events on BiggerPockets content in 2024? We take this seriously and this should not be happening on the platform, again, outside of us promoting BPCON, which we hope is a wonderful event for our members. 

 You also have those all inclusive conferences in the tropics I believe.  I see ads all over the forums about these guru's BP is interviewing, and how they have to buy these books and seminars.  A few weeks back, a young woman was asking about how to start out in real estate.  One of your minions popped right in and quickly promoted, well, you need get this book to start off and pointed her to the BP store. 

Listen, I know you have to make money as no business can be sustained without income.  However, I will say, BP seems to be moving away from it's founding principles.  Run your company the way you like, but when a company moves away from their founding principles and starts to alienate their core; they usually have some rough waters ahead.

[Scott Trench]

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

Can you please let me know what getaway or expo BP has promoted, other than our annual conference in 2024? I will address it promptly. 

 And, can you please point to an instance of a guru hacking crap or events on BiggerPockets content in 2024? We take this seriously and this should not be happening on the platform, again, outside of us promoting BPCON, which we hope is a wonderful event for our members. 

 You also have those all inclusive conferences in the tropics I believe.  I see ads all over the forums about these guru's BP is interviewing, and how they have to buy these books and seminars.  A few weeks back, a young woman was asking about how to start out in real estate.  One of your minions popped right in and quickly promoted, well, you need get this book to start off and pointed her to the BP store. 

Listen, I know you have to make money as no business can be sustained without income.  However, I will say, BP seems to be moving away from it's founding principles.  Run your company the way you like, but when a company moves away from their founding principles and starts to alienate their core; they usually have some rough waters ahead.

 Thanks, Calvin - I appreciate your advice. It’s hard to hear this perception shift, as to me it seems like we are just building on our foundations. We’ve had books, conferences, our paid membership, and networking between businesses and investors the duration of my tenure. But, clearly something in your view and certainly some other folks as well has changed. Perhaps it’s how we are doing things? Scale?

What would you recommend for 2025 to me? We plan to have our conference in Las Vegas, at a less than $800 price point. We plan to sell no courses, and have “Bootcamps” be included in the pro membership, at current price. We plan to build on our “Deal Finder”, introduce a mobile app, and build out solutions to help investors meet contractors, lawyers, wholesalers (avoiding wannabes who just bought some guru course), and maybe foray into commercial - allowing investors to connect with Commercial Brokers. 

If you were me, what would you change? 

And, please do let me know if you can recall where an expensive course was promoted, directly or indirectly, especially anything in the last year. I will get that out of our content. 

[Stephen DeThample]

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

Can you please let me know what getaway or expo BP has promoted, other than our annual conference in 2024? I will address it promptly. 

 And, can you please point to an instance of a guru hacking crap or events on BiggerPockets content in 2024? We take this seriously and this should not be happening on the platform, again, outside of us promoting BPCON, which we hope is a wonderful event for our members. 

 You also have those all inclusive conferences in the tropics I believe.  I see ads all over the forums about these guru's BP is interviewing, and how they have to buy these books and seminars.  A few weeks back, a young woman was asking about how to start out in real estate.  One of your minions popped right in and quickly promoted, well, you need get this book to start off and pointed her to the BP store. 

Listen, I know you have to make money as no business can be sustained without income.  However, I will say, BP seems to be moving away from it's founding principles.  Run your company the way you like, but when a company moves away from their founding principles and starts to alienate their core; they usually have some rough waters ahead.

 Thanks, Calvin - I appreciate your advice. It’s hard to hear this perception shift, as to me it seems like we are just building on our foundations. We’ve had books, conferences, our paid membership, and networking between businesses and investors the duration of my tenure. But, clearly something in your view and certainly some other folks as well has changed. Perhaps it’s how we are doing things? Scale?

What would you recommend for 2025 to me? We plan to have our conference in Las Vegas, at a less than $800 price point. We plan to sell no courses, and have “Bootcamps” be included in the pro membership, at current price. We plan to build on our “Deal Finder”, introduce a mobile app, and build out solutions to help investors meet contractors, lawyers, wholesalers (avoiding wannabes who just bought some guru course), and maybe foray into commercial - allowing investors to connect with Commercial Brokers. 

If you were me, what would you change? 

And, please do let me know if you can recall where an expensive course was promoted, directly or indirectly, especially anything in the last year. I will get that out of our content. 

I have been a “premier agent” or wherever it was called for a while and I have 0 leads for the year. Not sure why I paid $80 a month for so long. I agree that people are just trying to get information.  I’ve been on calls for an hour to find out that they have no interest in actually using me.   I love BiggerPockets , but I’m not sure paying to be on the site is worth it at this point. And I never received any notification about the changes. I guess I need to do a deep dive and see where the value is, but I know there’s no leads coming in.

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Stephen DeThample:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

Can you please let me know what getaway or expo BP has promoted, other than our annual conference in 2024? I will address it promptly. 

 And, can you please point to an instance of a guru hacking crap or events on BiggerPockets content in 2024? We take this seriously and this should not be happening on the platform, again, outside of us promoting BPCON, which we hope is a wonderful event for our members. 

 You also have those all inclusive conferences in the tropics I believe.  I see ads all over the forums about these guru's BP is interviewing, and how they have to buy these books and seminars.  A few weeks back, a young woman was asking about how to start out in real estate.  One of your minions popped right in and quickly promoted, well, you need get this book to start off and pointed her to the BP store. 

Listen, I know you have to make money as no business can be sustained without income.  However, I will say, BP seems to be moving away from it's founding principles.  Run your company the way you like, but when a company moves away from their founding principles and starts to alienate their core; they usually have some rough waters ahead.

 Thanks, Calvin - I appreciate your advice. It’s hard to hear this perception shift, as to me it seems like we are just building on our foundations. We’ve had books, conferences, our paid membership, and networking between businesses and investors the duration of my tenure. But, clearly something in your view and certainly some other folks as well has changed. Perhaps it’s how we are doing things? Scale?

What would you recommend for 2025 to me? We plan to have our conference in Las Vegas, at a less than $800 price point. We plan to sell no courses, and have “Bootcamps” be included in the pro membership, at current price. We plan to build on our “Deal Finder”, introduce a mobile app, and build out solutions to help investors meet contractors, lawyers, wholesalers (avoiding wannabes who just bought some guru course), and maybe foray into commercial - allowing investors to connect with Commercial Brokers. 

If you were me, what would you change? 

And, please do let me know if you can recall where an expensive course was promoted, directly or indirectly, especially anything in the last year. I will get that out of our content. 

I have been a “premier agent” or wherever it was called for a while and I have 0 leads for the year. Not sure why I paid $80 a month for so long. I agree that people are just trying to get information.  I’ve been on calls for an hour to find out that they have no interest in actually using me.   I love BiggerPockets , but I’m not sure paying to be on the site is worth it at this point. And I never received any notification about the changes. I guess I need to do a deep dive and see where the value is, but I know there’s no leads coming in.

not sure if this helps.. But my daughter is an agent in Las Vegas.. Primarily the lux market.. while she is not on BP .. because of my interactions on BP I will get folks frequently asking me for agent referrals not only Vegas or Portland the two markets I have personal homes in but all over the country.. I find the referrals I have given my daughter when they are looking to relocate from LA or a second home have been great.. she has done half a dozen multi million dollar sales then subsequent listings with those leads I have given her..

on the flip side those that want to buy rentals are generally newer and are not really realistic about returns in higher priced markets.. so she has not converted many if any of those.

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

Can you please let me know what getaway or expo BP has promoted, other than our annual conference in 2024? I will address it promptly. 

 And, can you please point to an instance of a guru hacking crap or events on BiggerPockets content in 2024? We take this seriously and this should not be happening on the platform, again, outside of us promoting BPCON, which we hope is a wonderful event for our members. 

 You also have those all inclusive conferences in the tropics I believe.  I see ads all over the forums about these guru's BP is interviewing, and how they have to buy these books and seminars.  A few weeks back, a young woman was asking about how to start out in real estate.  One of your minions popped right in and quickly promoted, well, you need get this book to start off and pointed her to the BP store. 

Listen, I know you have to make money as no business can be sustained without income.  However, I will say, BP seems to be moving away from it's founding principles.  Run your company the way you like, but when a company moves away from their founding principles and starts to alienate their core; they usually have some rough waters ahead.

 Thanks, Calvin - I appreciate your advice. It’s hard to hear this perception shift, as to me it seems like we are just building on our foundations. We’ve had books, conferences, our paid membership, and networking between businesses and investors the duration of my tenure. But, clearly something in your view and certainly some other folks as well has changed. Perhaps it’s how we are doing things? Scale?

What would you recommend for 2025 to me? We plan to have our conference in Las Vegas, at a less than $800 price point. We plan to sell no courses, and have “Bootcamps” be included in the pro membership, at current price. We plan to build on our “Deal Finder”, introduce a mobile app, and build out solutions to help investors meet contractors, lawyers, wholesalers (avoiding wannabes who just bought some guru course), and maybe foray into commercial - allowing investors to connect with Commercial Brokers. 

If you were me, what would you change? 

And, please do let me know if you can recall where an expensive course was promoted, directly or indirectly, especially anything in the last year. I will get that out of our content. 

 My thoughts, for what it's worth and in no particular order:

1. The biggest gripe I see from people who have been around here for awhile is the monetization of things that perhaps used to be free, or not offered at all. Frankly I think this is just the way it is on the internet - people expect everything to be free, and don't really want to pay for anything. It doesn't particularly matter to them that it costs money to run and maintain the site. 

2. Some forums that I am a part of allow someone to be a "contributing member" for some small price point and get a site devoid of pretty much all advertisements. Kind of like deluxe Netflix vs cheapo Netflix. 

3. It is a great idea to both have next year's conference in LV (or anywhere) and at a lower price point. Cancun sounds like a lot of fun but the logistics and cost of it (and need for a passport) excluded a lot of people. 

4. I never understand people that dog the *voluntary* sites they participate in; if things are so bad around here, why not just leave and go somewhere else? 

5. A lot of griping is also because old-timers want it "back the way it used to be" when there was really nothing but the forums. It's unrealistic.

6. I agree that there should be better ways to screen out the dreamers and tire kickers from services that people and firms are paying to utilize here. The credit report payment is a good one. There could be others. 

[Blake Anthony Carter]

I have had a similar experience with the agent leads as well

[Calvin Thomas]

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

Can you please let me know what getaway or expo BP has promoted, other than our annual conference in 2024? I will address it promptly. 

 And, can you please point to an instance of a guru hacking crap or events on BiggerPockets content in 2024? We take this seriously and this should not be happening on the platform, again, outside of us promoting BPCON, which we hope is a wonderful event for our members. 

 You also have those all inclusive conferences in the tropics I believe.  I see ads all over the forums about these guru's BP is interviewing, and how they have to buy these books and seminars.  A few weeks back, a young woman was asking about how to start out in real estate.  One of your minions popped right in and quickly promoted, well, you need get this book to start off and pointed her to the BP store. 

Listen, I know you have to make money as no business can be sustained without income.  However, I will say, BP seems to be moving away from it's founding principles.  Run your company the way you like, but when a company moves away from their founding principles and starts to alienate their core; they usually have some rough waters ahead.

 Thanks, Calvin - I appreciate your advice. It’s hard to hear this perception shift, as to me it seems like we are just building on our foundations. We’ve had books, conferences, our paid membership, and networking between businesses and investors the duration of my tenure. But, clearly something in your view and certainly some other folks as well has changed. Perhaps it’s how we are doing things? Scale?

What would you recommend for 2025 to me? We plan to have our conference in Las Vegas, at a less than $800 price point. We plan to sell no courses, and have “Bootcamps” be included in the pro membership, at current price. We plan to build on our “Deal Finder”, introduce a mobile app, and build out solutions to help investors meet contractors, lawyers, wholesalers (avoiding wannabes who just bought some guru course), and maybe foray into commercial - allowing investors to connect with Commercial Brokers. 

If you were me, what would you change? 

And, please do let me know if you can recall where an expensive course was promoted, directly or indirectly, especially anything in the last year. I will get that out of our content. 

 Apologies for the delayed response.  I was away for a couple of weeks.  No problem with you scaling and growing; that's a great thing! However, I would caution you on quality over quantity.  If your lead gen is lackluster, which it seems it may be according to the other posters, that might be something you would want your team to look in to.

I am not sure on these conferences, as they are just, in my opinion, companies selling their services, and not much else.  Is there value, I am sure somewhere, but I am not one to know if it's worth $800.00.  I am in Manhattan, so there are conferences galore here.  Trust when I say they are mostly shills and sales presentations.  

I would consider asking someone from the outside if you would attend this conference. What do you want to obtain or learn from this conference?  Most importantly, is this worth not only $800.00, but is it worth my time to travel to this conference?

They may be some networking opportunities, but what can I, the end user, actually learn from going to the conference rather than watching it on Youtube, going to the BP forums or going to a local real estate meet-up?

I will have to look and see in my emails on the promos.  I do recall seeing it pumped about some guru who purchased 20,000,000 or so in real estate and he can help you too as an ad on the site. I never heard of the guy and googleing him brings up a very similar MLM page.

I am not knocking you.  You have to do what you must to grow your BP; I applaud you for that.  I just hope it's not going to detract from why you originally founded the site.  With all the ads and promos, it's like night and day.

[Scott Trench]

Thanks, @Calvin Thomas - This is helpful feedback. For the record, I am not the founder. I took over from the Founder in 2017 when he sold the business and stepped away. I have been lucky enough to continue to be chosen to lead the company by our investors. 

My charter, expectation, and belief is long-term growth. I love BiggerPockets, and was a fan of the company before I ever joined as an employee. My job is to fulfill our vision as a complete one stop shop for investors to go from newbie to early retiree.

Absolutely, to get there, and to make money, we have to provide so much value that people not only decide to come, but to come back to, our conferences and events. We have to generate so much value that people choose to watch, re-watch, and keep watching (or listening to) content we put out, using our site, etc. It all starts from value. 

I think that if you look back at 2022 and 2023, you WILL find that there were some gurus who got into the fabric of our content ecosystem. I began the work, with our team of putting an end to that in Q3 2023, and there should be little to nothing of gurus pumping syndications, masterminds, courses, etc. in our content in 2024. If you can find that example, let me know, it should be a rare miss from our team, not the theme.

I fully understand that the sentiment of alignment with sensational gurus is embedded in some folks minds and will take time to unwind, but there should be zero recent examples to point to. If there are, I will talk to the team.

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Bill Schrimpf:

Quote from @Calvin Thomas:

Quote from @Erik Browning:

Pro's: 

It's great to have BP as a trustworthy partner to give clients a level of trust that they will be taken care of. BP cosigns our ability to operate and vets us both on the phone and online prior to featuring us. If we do a bad job, then it looks like BP also does a bad job. Neither party wants that.

I've helped out a handful of people that found me on the platform and heard a variety of unique and exciting stories from real investors that need some help with their situation. Whether it's a refinance on a balloon payment coming due or as simple as an active duty military person wanting to house hack their first home. Really rewarding when I can help them meet their goals.

The cost of the service is pricey, however it can pay itself off if you are helping folks consistently.

Most of the clients that come in are not qualified or don't actually want financing, however there are some folks that are indeed serious.

Con's:

Incorrect phone numbers and email addresses

Delusional keyboard warriors threatening to start being an investor. These folks are imagineers that have a real estate empire in their own heads.

Many folks that fill out the "Find a Lender" form just want to talk to someone for educational purposes and are not interested in actually purchasing a property. Instead of reading one of the many books and podcasts BP publishes on the foundational elements associated with REI, they would prefer that I take 1-2 hours out of my day on the phone to explain everything. I'm a complete stranger. Although I'm happy to talk about REI (it changed my own life), the purpose of the platform is to facilitate financing, not to be a full time educator. This happens so frequently that changed my lender page description's first line to read, "SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY."

Dopamine hits. In the age of same day delivery and on-demand streaming, filling out a form gives newer folks a hit of dopamine and makes them feel like they are doing something positive in their lives. How do I know this? Well, I've done it myself and so have you, if you're being honest. "Learn to code and create a coding portfolio to get a $100k job in just 18 weeks!" Regrettably, I've filled out that form many years ago and ultimately decided that's not what I want to do with my life just 30 seconds after filling it out. When folks fill out the find a lender form that have not put in the simple research into what it takes to buy a house or investment property, the euphoria quickly fades and they go back to work and forget they ever filled it out.

New client inquiries from the "Find a Lender" platform keep coming in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping and cannot reach out immediately. I've set up a Zapier zap to text my phone whenever I get a new client message because folks are very impulsive (see above about wanting education and dopamine hits). The impulse and question they have quickly subsides once they get off of the BP platform and they go back to their late night cocktail, TV show, or go to bed and forget they even filled out the form. Again, many folks are just looking to talk to someone about HOW TO START investing in real estate instead of having a basic foundation of what is feasible - and they want the money right now. Often times, folks have little to zero income, little to zero capital, and want me to sell them the dream of purchasing real estate with no money and no job. I'll leave the dream selling to David Greene and Tom Cruz.

Fake leads. I've sent support a number of bots or fake leads with false information. 

Our job as lenders is to provide education for clients for THEIR SPECIFIC scenario, not to educate the population as a guru on why they should get into real estate investing. Folks will need to decide on their own if REI is right for them and have a basic understanding of how it works - it is very personal to them. I am not a guru or a podcast host, just a resource to help you carry out your plan

 So basically high priced garbage. I'm not surprised. BP has become a marketplace for everything real estate. If it wasn't for the forums, this place would have died a long time ago.

Thank you for your honest review.

My experience with Featured Agent has been hit and miss, seem similar to the find a lender program.  The lead quality had taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.  I started with BP in 2005, upgaded to pro 2007, Featured Agent 2 years ago.  BP used to be the "anti Carleton Sheets" platform, but the good ol days are gone!  The forums are still good, but the rest of the content is basically a bunch of advertisement.  I guess as a featured agent, I'm part of the problem!  Ha!

 They need the funds for the BS expos and getaways.  BP was amazing when it first started.  When it slowly started to become heavily commercialized and ads ads ads, it's gone down hill.  If BP didn't have the forums, it would just beyond pointless to visit. I understand one needs to make $$$, but these skeptical at best "gurus" hacking their crap and their events, promotions, etc.  In the end it's just damaging the brand.  Once you lose the community, there's really no way in turning things around.  Hopefully, it doesn't go that route.

@Scott Trench

Can you please let me know what getaway or expo BP has promoted, other than our annual conference in 2024? I will address it promptly. 

 And, can you please point to an instance of a guru hacking crap or events on BiggerPockets content in 2024? We take this seriously and this should not be happening on the platform, again, outside of us promoting BPCON, which we hope is a wonderful event for our members. 

 You also have those all inclusive conferences in the tropics I believe.  I see ads all over the forums about these guru's BP is interviewing, and how they have to buy these books and seminars.  A few weeks back, a young woman was asking about how to start out in real estate.  One of your minions popped right in and quickly promoted, well, you need get this book to start off and pointed her to the BP store. 

Listen, I know you have to make money as no business can be sustained without income.  However, I will say, BP seems to be moving away from it's founding principles.  Run your company the way you like, but when a company moves away from their founding principles and starts to alienate their core; they usually have some rough waters ahead.

 Thanks, Calvin - I appreciate your advice. It’s hard to hear this perception shift, as to me it seems like we are just building on our foundations. We’ve had books, conferences, our paid membership, and networking between businesses and investors the duration of my tenure. But, clearly something in your view and certainly some other folks as well has changed. Perhaps it’s how we are doing things? Scale?

What would you recommend for 2025 to me? We plan to have our conference in Las Vegas, at a less than $800 price point. We plan to sell no courses, and have “Bootcamps” be included in the pro membership, at current price. We plan to build on our “Deal Finder”, introduce a mobile app, and build out solutions to help investors meet contractors, lawyers, wholesalers (avoiding wannabes who just bought some guru course), and maybe foray into commercial - allowing investors to connect with Commercial Brokers. 

If you were me, what would you change? 

And, please do let me know if you can recall where an expensive course was promoted, directly or indirectly, especially anything in the last year. I will get that out of our content. 

 My thoughts, for what it's worth and in no particular order:

1. The biggest gripe I see from people who have been around here for awhile is the monetization of things that perhaps used to be free, or not offered at all. Frankly I think this is just the way it is on the internet - people expect everything to be free, and don't really want to pay for anything. It doesn't particularly matter to them that it costs money to run and maintain the site. 

2. Some forums that I am a part of allow someone to be a "contributing member" for some small price point and get a site devoid of pretty much all advertisements. Kind of like deluxe Netflix vs cheapo Netflix. 

3. It is a great idea to both have next year's conference in LV (or anywhere) and at a lower price point. Cancun sounds like a lot of fun but the logistics and cost of it (and need for a passport) excluded a lot of people. 

4. I never understand people that dog the *voluntary* sites they participate in; if things are so bad around here, why not just leave and go somewhere else? 

5. A lot of griping is also because old-timers want it "back the way it used to be" when there was really nothing but the forums. It's unrealistic.

6. I agree that there should be better ways to screen out the dreamers and tire kickers from services that people and firms are paying to utilize here. The credit report payment is a good one. There could be others. 

From what i am reading the complaints are the quality of leads.. As someone who has sold real estate and been in the lending world.. Leads are never going to be perfect no matter how they are sourced.. there maybe some unrealistic expectations for those that are paying for leads.
I know in the RE sales world when I started I would do 1000 door hangers and get maybe 5 to 10 responses and that boiled down to one sale.. cant really comment on the mortgage side since we were not brokers we were the actual money and my business came to me referrals from other folks in the business.  Not Brokers but folks actually buying and selling and needed someone to help fund their deals for them or their buyers..  I would be interested to hear from these folks who are not satisfied with lead quality what service does it better.. ???? What is the best lead gen source . ???   One point for the lenders and maybe not really relevant for the bP lenders but the ones doing owner occ.. most of them the lead source is RE agents.. My wife gets 5 e mails a day from lenders..