One Year Bigger Pockets Anniversary - Where I'm at now

[Julie Marquez]

January 15 marks my one year anniversary with Bigger Pockets. I was one of those New Year resolutions people, but I stuck around and have made 754 forum posts and half a dozen blog posts.

I found Bigger Pockets because I was searching about the credibility of one of those real estate guru courses. Instead of shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for a course, I invested in the BP pro membership and participated in the online community as much as I could. Here's what I accomplished in my year of Bigger Pockets.

1. I've listened to all BP podcasts and went to a couple BP webinars.

2. I was encouraged and attended local REIA groups, foreclosure actions, and met up with dozen of local investors for coffee.

3. I finally labeled myself as a (hobbiest) real estate investor!

4. I realized that my parents way of investing (conservative landlords) is not the only way to go. I have learned so much from everyone else on the forums! I also learned that I don't need a real estate empire, and that my full time job is great; I just want to smartly add some passive rentals to the life portfolio.

5. Asking questions, answering questions, and connecting with people on BP has given me the confidence to get to point #3 and to buy my first rehab property. BP also just gave me the language of real estate and how to talk shop. Thinking and analyzing real estate is second nature to me now.

6. We wanted to complete a flip in 2016, but I've learned that real estate can be a slow process. We finally closed on our rehab house in December and are slowing working and learning as much as we can about the ins and outs of an old house.

7. I don't have a story where I've made tons of money from real estate yet, so nothing exciting in that department. But I'm not measuring my success by dollars, as you can see, there were so many other great successes in 2016 for me. And outside of real estate, 2016 included getting married, moving for a new job project, and now expecting a new baby.

THANK YOU BIGGER POCKETS COMMUNITY!

My advice for others is to fully participate. You'll only get out what you put in; and hopefully all the new, excited folks will stick around to share all their future success stories. I'd love to encourage and connect with more real estate investors! Here's to a prosperous 2017!