All Forum Posts by: Barb F.

Greetings, BP Family! This will be the SECOND meeting of BPREI - Prince William County (aka Bigger Pockets Real Estate Investors in Prince William County). My main goals for this group are for it to be education-oriented, welcoming to all no matter where they are in their journey, and useful for networking.

I (Barb) am a newbie and would love to see this group be a welcoming mix of folks from the new to the experienced. Let's make this a rewarding experience for anyone and everyone who turns up. Maybe we won't know everything, but we'll put you in touch with someone who can help with what you're trying to learn about.

As for how we use the time, I think there's benefits to both general socializing as well as a more structured discussion group. Let's plan on this first one being meet & greet, getting to know each other, what our goals are, what our expertise is in, what we're looking to get out of such meetings, etc. Maybe we can plan discussions on a topic for some months, or we can stick to people discussing what's on their plates at the moment and get everyone's input. Let's turn this group into what we need it to be. For example, I myself am looking for a mentor, with a few successful buy-and-hold rental properties, for accountability with good rapport and a similar philosophy to mine.

Logistically speaking, my / our goal is to meet on a Monday or Thursday in approximately the third week of every month. Right now we're looking at a 6:30 - 8:30 time frame and using libraries in Eastern Prince William County to keep these cost-accessible to everyone. For this second meeting we'll be in the larger Community Room. Food and beverages are permitted! 

Next meeting: TBD.

Greetings, BP Family! This will be the first meeting of REI - Prince William County (aka Real Estate Investors in Prince William County). My main goals for this group are for it to be education-oriented, welcoming to all no matter where they are in their journey, and useful for networking.

I (Barb) am a newbie and would love to see this group be a welcoming mix of folks from the new to the experienced. Let's make this a rewarding experience for anyone and everyone who turns up. Maybe we won't know everything, but we'll put you in touch with someone who can help with what you're trying to learn about.

As for how we use the time, I think there's benefits to both general socializing as well as a more structured discussion group. Let's plan on this first one being meet & greet, getting to know each other, what our goals are, what our expertise is in, what we're looking to get out of such meetings, etc. Maybe we can plan discussions on a topic for some months, or we can stick to people discussing what's on their plates at the moment and get everyone's input. Let's turn this group into what we need it to be. For example, I myself am looking for a mentor, with a few successful buy-and-hold rental properties, for accountability with good rapport and a similar philosophy to mine.

Logistically speaking, my / our goal is to meet on a Monday or Thursday in approximately the third week of every month. Right now we're looking at a 6:30 - 8:30 time frame and using libraries in Eastern Prince William County to keep these cost-accessible to everyone. For this first meeting we'll be in a small group study room but in May (and hopefully in the future) we'll be in the larger Community Room.

Logistics: Beverages, but not food, are allowed in the Group Study Room. (In the future, beverages AND food are permissible in the Community Room).

Next meeting: Monday, May 13 from 6:30 - 8:30 at Montclair Community Library in the larger Community Room.

Okay! Great news. I have meeting rooms requested for the first two meetings! Because of availability at the libraries, they'll be on Mondays for April and May. I'll figure out how to create an event on here too. For now:

Location: Montclair Community Library (5049 Waterway Dr, Montclair, VA 22025)

First meeting: Monday, April 15 from 6:30 - 8:30. We'll be in Group Study Room #4 (last minute availability was very hard!) Beverages are permitted in the group study room but not food.

Second meeting: Monday, May 13 from 6:30 - 8:30. We'll be in the larger Community Room. Both food and beverages are permitted in the Community Room.

As for how we use the time, I think there's benefits to both general socializing as well as a more structured discussion group. Let's plan on this first one being meet & greet, getting to know each other, what our goals are, what our expertise is in, what we're looking to get out of such meetings, etc. Maybe we can plan discussions on a topic for some months, or we can stick to people discussing what's on their plates at the moment and get everyone's input. My main goals for this group are for it to be education-oriented, welcoming to all no matter where they are in their journey, and useful for networking. Let's turn this group into what we need it to be.

Okay! Great news. I have meeting rooms requested for the first two meetings! Because of availability at the libraries, they'll be on Mondays for April and May. I'll figure out how to create an event on here too. For now: 

Location: Montclair Community Library (5049 Waterway Dr, Montclair, VA 22025)

First meeting: Monday, April 15 from 6:30 - 8:30. We'll be in Group Study Room #4 (last minute availability was very hard!) Beverages are permitted in the group study room but not food.

Second meeting: Monday, May 13 from 6:30 - 8:30. We'll be in the larger Community Room. Both food and beverages are permitted in the Community Room.

As for how we use the time, I think there's benefits to both general socializing as well as a more structured discussion group. Let's plan on this first one being meet & greet, getting to know each other, what our goals are, what our expertise is in, what we're looking to get out of such meetings, etc. Maybe we can plan discussions on a topic for some months, or we can stick to people discussing what's on their plates at the moment and get everyone's input. My main goals for this group are for it to be education-oriented, welcoming to all no matter where they are in their journey, and useful for networking. Let's turn this group into what we need it to be.

@Marcus House Thanks for letting me know! Unfortunately Wednesdays just will not ever be able to work for me. Is there flexibility to when your group meets? I'm also interested in holding meetings in a free location, hence the library, rather than at a restaurant where folks will be obliged to spend money. I think having things in such a way that there are multiple groups in the area just gives folks more options for networking because you never know someone's availability. I'd love to do some cross-advertisement though so that people know there's more stuff around. Does the group you mention post their events here on BP or somewhere else?

@Account Closed Fantastic! I'll try to get a room reserved and post tonight :) 

@Account Closed

Hi, everyone! I followed @Josi Colley to this thread. I'm new and want to get a group going in my area. I can't tell from this thread is anyone ever got something off the ground. 

I'm interested in starting a meetup in eastern Prince William County. I'm thinking of using the Montclair Community Library (5049 Waterway Dr, Montclair, VA 22025) and picking either a Monday or Thursday after work from 7 - 8:30 pm once a month.

Would you be interested in attending this meetup? Please respond here (or on my original post here) and if there's interest (literally just about any interest at all) I will reserve a room and create an event! Will likely post it this weekend, and I'll put the link here too when I do.

If you have thoughts about shifting the time, I could go as early as 6 - 7:30 instead. I'm looking at the week of April 15-19 for a first meeting, but a regular schedule can be worked out at the first meeting or here in the forums. Perhaps alternating Monday and Thursday from month-to-month will help accommodate folks with different schedules? Third month of the week is probably best for me.

Thanks, everyone! Let's make this happen :)

@Josi Colley Yikes, I don't think I can do that! Looks like it's an hour and a half from where I live (further south and east than the library location I picked and another half hour from where I work)... I'm already out of my home 5 nights per week and I just don't think I can add a 3 hour round trip drive. Maybe you can spearhead starting a meeting in your area? :)

Thanks for that input, @Sean Lunny. I started my career as a research scientist... doing all the research I can before pulling a trigger is often my specialty! I like to think it's something I bring to the table as a teammate. However, when I'm the one making the decisions I usually will try to optimize EVERY aspect and dither around... hence trying to find an accountability buddy (or course, in this case). I tend to be a bit hesitant to take others' advice until I've talked with them a while to understand their biases and motivations, and one thing pulling for this course is listening to dozens of episodes going back about a year now... but that's also a false sense of feeling like I know someone I've never met! On the other hand, her approach still does speak to me more than a lot of the BP stuff.

I've already had one person respond to my post about starting a group in the northern VA area near me. They're a newbie too, so that's at least some support if not expertise. Perhaps we'll be able to grow it!

Thanks again for letting me bounce around ideas. And for sharing your experience with the social media influencers... I suppose we all have lessons that we learn the hard way :)

@John Elias That's great! Thanks for responding. I'll look into the week of April 15 - 19 so that we can keep the momentum going :)