What BiggerPockets has done for me

[David Greene]

Hello folks, at Brandon's encouraging I thought I would take a minute to share how BP has helped me both make money and be encouraged to stay in the real estate game during times I was discouraged.

A few of the highlights Bigger Pockets has provided in my investing career:

People I've met through the site-

Jeff Brown- (The bawld guy-if you haven't read his posts, you need to) and I have partnered on 10 flips managed completely by his team. He also runs a note fund I have invested in as well as putting me in touch with note extraordinaire, Dave Van Horn.

Dave Van Horn- A note expert who runs several funds that turn non-performing notes into performing notes, then sell them to investors like me. Dave has an air tight operation, knows his stuff, and has provided me with several investment deals.

Brian Burke-Another great article poster, Brian has both helped steer me away from several bad deals, as well as encourage me to move on several good buys.  Brian is a very successful investor, runs a huge capital management fund, has been a repeat guest on the podcast, and is a super down to earth guy who provides very valuable advice when I can't offer him much in return.  Brian has steered me in the right direction many times.

Sharad Mehta-Another podcast guest (episode 155, my favorite episode). Sharad and I have had several long conversations about real estate and will be partnering on deals (where he will do ALL the work and I will just collect the money) in the near future.  Sharad has a very efficient, value filled system and knows his stuff.

In addition to the people I have named, bigger pockets has provided:

A hard money lender to back the flips I am doing in AZ at rates better than what i was getting before.

Lenders in Florida that are able to lend to people with more than 10 financed properties.

An agent in Florida that is currently bringing me cash flow deals.

Calculators I use to analyze deals.

Bids from contractors on projects I'm working on.

Channels to use to find new flip projects.

Flip strategies to save money.

Design strategies for rehabs that appeal to more people.

Synergistic investing strategies to amplify results

Mentoring opportunities for new investors where I learn through teaching.

A constant stream of podcasts to listen to while I drive to keep investing on my mind and introduce me to new ideas, strategies, gameplans, and encouragement.

Bird dogs to send me flip deals.

and

Articles written in the blog about how to solve common problems that encouraged me enough to keep me from quitting when I made mistakes everyone makes but didn't realize that was ok.

I'm now a licensed real estate agent in CA in addition to an investor with properties that span over 5 states and several flip projects going on at once.  I firmly believe I could cut my success by more than 75% if not for biggerpockets, and I may have quit altogether. 

Check me out on the BP podcast #169 to hear a little more about what I've learned through trial and error and combining strategies I learned on Bigger Pockets with those of the advice I've received from successful mentors.

Let me know your thoughts!

[Dawn Brenengen]

@David Greene I love this post.  I too have met some great folks who have done some big things.  I even got chauffeured around my city by @Ben Leybovich in his Tesla S.  :)

I have gained so much knowledge over the last 1.5 years that I've been on this site.  I've met many new clients, and have started working with some repeat investors.  Some are local to my area, and some are as far as Singapore, London and Australia.  

I was also a podcast guest (#101), and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my story, and it's so much fun to meet new people who have already heard it.

I can't thank @Joshua Dorkin and @Brandon Turner enough for making this site into the great resource it is.