All Forum Posts by: Bill Schrimpf

@Scott Trench  @Jay Hinrichs @Gregory Schwartz - Sounds like you need to be open to growth and feedback.  Get out of your own echo chambers.  @Scott Trench please listen to people that have been members longer than you have been a BP employee.  

Today, I received another JUNK lead from BP.  The guy did not know what Bigger Pockets is and never filled out a contact agent form on BP.  He assumed BP was listing aggregator like zilow or redfin.  Im not sure who/how/where BP is advertising, but it needs improvement.

@Gregory Schwartz I appreciate the input, but I'm paying for BP to find leads.  What your describing is organic lead gen.  Most of the so called "leads" in the last few months did not have BP profiles, so they did not look me up on BP.  I suspect they were responding to some clickbait BP put up somewhere.  They never respond to multiple calls, e-mails and texts.  Junk, but I still have to pay BP for them!  I do know what it looks like when BP provides good leads, Ive had a few, but it's been a while.

I enjoy talking to the aspirational investor that has very little money or credit; almost as much I like talking to the active investor!  Those are good leads I'm happy to pay for.

What burns my britches is paying for a service that does not deliver.  If we don't tell 'em, the leads are getting bad, again, they won't improve!

On another note, BP seems to have corrected a mis-step regarding removing services.  Good on BP for that.

 Thanks for the info Shane.  I just received the notice from the county the taxes were not paid again, leaving me the option to pay.  I was debating with the new changes, but I think Ill see this one through with this new data.

@Scott Esmail - This is a terrible situation!  If you used a title company or closing attorney, start with them, right away.  These items are often time-sensitive.  You would be wise to hire an attorney in your county that is familiar with such topics, specifically "Quiet Title Action".  Although your not specifically doing a quiet title, what you need is closely related.

Every state and county will have very specific procedures about how the process works in their jurisdiction.  Be confident the mortgage company, and the wholesaler is well aware of the procedures and will out maneuver you, even if you are factually correct.  Do not waste time.  

Good luck, Hopefully someone in your area will be able to provide specific advice!

 @Tiamo Wright - Appreciate your looking into this.  Perhaps BP sent an e-mail that looked like it was trying to upsell more services, again, so it was considered junk/solicitation.

It is insulting to BP members to remove a bundled service, turn around sell it back, and say BP is improving the Featured Agent business relationship!    I have been a BP member since 2014, over 10 years, and a paying pro member since 2017, among BP's oldest and most loyal, because I believe in the BP mission.  I have e-mailed support twice about this matter and still have not heard from "customer success".  Perhaps you can raise the matter with them.  It appears BP may be in violation of the terms of our contract.  I would appreciate a meaningful conversation with an authoritative person on this topic, not in the forums.

Can you address the decline of lead quality I and others are experiencing?  It appears lenders are seeing a similar issue?

The Featured Agent program got off to a terrible start, then good people did good things and it got better.  It appears the program is heading in the wrong direction again.  I guess more revenue is needed to support the merger.

Thanks @Henry Clark - Our short term goal is to have a nice place for vacation, make a few dollars, and serve as a jumping-off point as we explore becoming part of the expat community in a few years.  Appreciate the feedback, building from a distance does appear to be a challenge!  

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!

Taking a trip to San Pedro to check out Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker in 2 weeks.  We are looking mostly at new(ish) condo projects or land to build. I'm in contact with an agent there, seems to be good, but any additional insights are appreciated!

For those that have already spent some time and $$$ there, what are your experiences and numbers looking like for things such as:

Rental/property management fees

closing costs (as percent of transaction)

vacancy rates (on and off season)

price to rent ratio

yoy appreciation

$/sqft to build (I know, this is a "it depends" number)

Utility issues (water, power, trash, septic, etc.)

Anything else that you think would be helpful!

Thanks in advance!

It appears Featured Agent is rebranded into "Business Membership" and a few things changed.  #1, they removed pro/platinum features (calculators is what I care about).  #2, the lead quality took a nose dive!  Leads used to be OK for about a year, if a BP member, but the last few months have been completely unresponsive, are not BP members, BP will not credit back.  

In summary decreased services and decreased quality.

BP and I do have a contact regarding the services, so will update here based on how that conversation goes.

Funny thing, I don't have ANY e-mails or attempts to contact from BP about terminating the featured agent program.  Maybe it was posted on the website somewhere.  It is possible I overlooked it.  BP is ALWAYS trying to sell something (I ignore the constant barrage of advertisements) and perhaps did not notice a significant program change, that looked like advertising.

What has been your experience with Business Membership, particularly if you were a Featured Agent?

@Steven DeMarco - Welcome to running a business!  So many answers some down to "it depends" and "will it cash flow" is at or near the top of that list.

This won't help your cash flow, but may help other parts of your balance sheet.  Look into cost segregation and accelerated depreciation, if you have not already.  Apologies if someone already mentioned it.