How has Bigger Pockets helped you personally?

Question

I'm writing an article about BP for a real publisher. Could some of you, especially new-ish investors, comment on BP? I'm especially interested in a) how BP has helped you, b) how BP is different than the "guru" or expert real estate learning options out there, and c) what do you think of the peer-to-peer type community education that happens through BP?

Dev Horn · Answer

Hey Alex.  I'm not a newbie, more like one of the guys that spends a LOT of time in here answering questions.  Even so, BP is a huge benefit for me and our business, and I feel that it is THE online community for real estate investors right now, especially the newer folks whose alternative would be the guru courses, etc.

If you're interested in my perspectives on BP, I'd be happy to tell you why I've spent hundreds of hours over the past 2 years in here helping people, most of whom will never pay me a dime...  This is really about "community"...

I'm a big time fan of BiggerPockets.com!

Mike H. · Answer

I think I would add the same thing. Not a new investor. But I have met several people that I've become friends with on here that I email or talk with more than my old friends.

And the real value in that is that we are now sharing ideas, strategies, issues, and even though they were newer investors, I've gotten a ton of great stuff from them. Found my current contractor. Some great discount ideas like buying 10% lowes coupons from ebay for $5. New financing sources with better terms.

I'm sharing with them and they're sharing with me.Thats the real beauty of what BP does. Its somewhat of a double bubble.

1) You have the education/learning aspect from being able to have the question/answer forums that you can help yourself, help others, or simply learn something new from reading other members questions/answers.

2) You can more easily find people local to you to network with that will significantly help your investing as well.

BP has hit on the double bubble!

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

@Alex Lyon  Its very easy to use.. that's important for someone like me who can't use Linkin because its too complicated. Or other sites.

but for the newer investor this site is very valuable.. Net working is top notch.

with caveot that one needs to always vette the person at the other side of the computer just because they are here does not give them authority status I learned that the hard way a few times.. but I like everyone.. LOL so my fault there.

good luck on your investments.

Dottie Bee · Answer

A. BP has helped me with networking, answering questions about Real Estate, serving as a resource for building my knowledge base of different types of investing and informing me on common drawbacks of certain avenues of investing.

B. The major difference between gurus/REI education is that there needs to be a big incentive for a single guru or real estate education vehicle to build a comprehensive knowledge base for Real Estate education that can fully address all the different types of people looking to learn about REI and the different gaps in education they will have in a cohesive way.  At the same time they are de-incentivized on educating the (now paying) audience they built on the drawbacks and dangers of following their program.

BP on the other hand is comprised largely of a huge number of individuals that willingly share smaller amounts of information pertinent to their experience which will fill in a particular gap in understanding of the BP audience at large. They do not require much incentive besides the altruistic and status rewards of sharing what they know. An incentive which carries over to informing others of possible drawbacks of a certain REI approach.

So goes the power of the crowd.  The drawback of the crowd however is that you get an over abundance of information of varying quality and the audience is left to sift through all the information and identify what is truly valuable and actionable for themselves.

C.  I absolutely love BP.  There is a HUGE amount of thoughtful work put into the site from both the site creators and the community at large.

If I had internet god powers, I would add a vote based ranking system to the BP forums like on Reddit, Quora and Slashdot, which would create an hierarchy of where replies to posts rank so that their was a more visible reaction from the BP community of the validity of responses.

Joshua Dorkin · Answer

Hey @Alex Lyon - I'd be curious to hear more about what you're working on. And if I can be helpful, please let me know.

Troy Sheets · Answer

Lots of coffee meetings with anyone I could find locally, especially on BP. LOTS of coffee. Network your a$$ off. Go to meetups, search BP members near you and reach out, go to REIA's, stop at job sites that look interesting, tell everyone what you're doing/want to do, etc. Everybody knows somebody in RE in some capacity. Simply participating wherever you can on BP is huge too. People see you're active and passionate and that makes you interesting and approachable. The more you post, the more people can get a sense of who you are, what you're about and what you're looking for. Set your keyword alerts for your city/town and jump in wherever you can, welcome new people on BP, especially ones in your area.

Do you have your realtors license? What better way to meet other investors than by listing a smoking deal!?

I had more experience than both of my partners in RE directly but they both bring expertise in areas where I'm weak, so it's a great fit. Maybe you don't know RE but you're a finance whiz or a design whiz. Leverage that. Offer to work for free doing grunt work or using your expertise for another investor.

If you put yourself out there, stuff starts happening. I know it sounds silly but you have to build some momentum and make some connections. Shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to help any way I can.

JD Martin · Answer

Networking, seeing ideas from others that I hadn't thought of, and having someone else's ear to chew off about this stuff rather than my wife (who hears it every night) or my friends (who don't want to hear it because they are paycheck-to-paycheck grasshoppers).

Troy Sheets · Answer

There are a ton of ways but the biggest one for me has been networking, by far. I met my business partners on here, I've met people I share resources with (contractors, properties, banks, etc.), and a gent that is doing a small direct mail campaign for me.

Stone Teran · Answer

I'm not a newish investor but I constantly run into things for the first time, so I post questions here and get great answers/opinions.  It's also great when I can answer a question for someone else.  We help each other.

How has Bigger Pockets helped you personally?

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