A speaker was selected and the group announced the speaker and topic several weeks before the date on the Facebook page (and it was posted on their website).

Finance Minister Mike de Jong announced new rules Tuesday aimed at ending the controversial practice of 'shadow flipping' by eliminating a means for anyone but the seller of a house to profit from real estate contract assignment.The CBC News article can be read here.Naturally, the provincial government's attempt to curb this form of racketeering in the Lower Mainland's drastically overheated housing market will only be as good as the ability to enforce it {look out for a rise in unreported "side deals"}.It also sounds like this change pretty much puts to rest any thoughts of wholesaling that does not involve purchasing, then reselling.

BiggerPockets Publishing is pleased to announce that The Book on Tax Strategies for the Savvy Real Estate Investor is now available in paperback!

Meetup announcements belong in the Events & Happenings Forum.

I find it very helpful for keeping up with new job announcements, deals, trends, etc.Finally, as @Todd Dexheimer mentioned, Dave Lindahl's book Emerging Markets is a good overview and I highly recommend it for learning the big picture. 

I'm not sure if you're familiar with cruise lines, but the Norwegian Cruise line just announced a 400 million add-on to dock 1 mile away from our Belize properties.

My understanding is that you need to study Columbia closely, because there are very good areas and very bad areas, but overall Columbia has never attract the investor interest that Charleston and the Upstate have because it doesn't get sexy announcements like Boeing, Volvo and BMW moving have caused for the other regions.In terms of your plans, here are my comments.1.a.  

I would like to start off by saying that I am proud to announce that I am now a BP Pro member!  

Now if a major employer announces an expansion in the area, that could be interesting.

I would agree with your analysis that rental prices will be on the upswing again soon as over the last several months we have seen major announcements on jobs growth for the Huntsville metro.