This is one of the most challenging things when you are new to real estate investing or BiggerPockets. Social media makes it look like everyone is an expert, but we all know that is false. Regarding the forums, it can also be hard to know who is giving you good advice and who is trying to give you good advice but doesn't have the experience. Most people are trying to help you.
You should take all advice with a grain of salt here and see if it's backed up in future responses. Watching the forum's ebb and flow and hearing both sides can help you. Here are some things to look out for to help you know who to take advice from when you are just starting out:
(Note: There are exceptions to every rule. These are just ways to help you verify which advice might be backed by more experience.)
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1. Look at how long the person has been on BiggerPockets and consider their profile. Just because someone is new to BP doesn't mean they don't have experience, but using their profile as a guide may give you more information. If someone owns no properties, you may want to consider that when reading their advice. You can also see the number of posts someone has made on the site and balance that against the number of upvotes. Generally, if the upvotes are more significant than the posts, that metric may give them more credibility.
2. Does the person have something to gain from their answer? If you ask about a city in Kansas and three agents from Kansas answer and all have some call-to-action, they have business to gain from their answer. It doesn't mean their answer is wrong, but in that scenario, you would want to know if they all own properties in the area you are asking about. You also may give more credibility to those who don't ask for something at the end of their response. That means they have something to gain from the dialogue.
3. Did a responder DM you first before you reached out to them, and did the DM have a pitch (see number two)? When you are new, getting pitched sucks. You don't even know who is who or what is what and people are trying to talk to you about coaching or buying in North Dakota - it's a lot. DMs are a great way to communicate on the site, but you can judge the tenor based on when you received the DM. Did you ask for something and did they answer or were they seeking you out? Again, some people may be helpful, but when you are new you should be more careful until you know who is who and what is what.
4. Watch how others build off what someone said in the forums. This is very important. When other responders quote and agree with what someone said, that is a good indicator that the forum agrees. When other responders quote and disagree, that is also a good indicator that maybe it is not the best advice.
5. Trust your gut (and do your research, but don't only look for verification). If a response feels weird, it's probably weird. Or maybe it's just not your vibe. But don't just look for agreements with what you want. You want to get a wide variety of responses to drill down on the ones that seem the most verified, not that most suit what you want to hear. Do your research on people off of the site - on LinkedIn, Instagram. That can tell you a lot about whether it matches up or whether it's all part of a funnel. (Skip TikTok)
Any others to add here?
