BiggerPockets

Ticket giveaway update.

Last month I offered 2 tickets to the BiggerPockets Summit through a write in competition. There was a single winner. :(.

Which leaves 1 ticket available.

My first thought is that the person must be able to travel and attend the entire Summit or their entry would be unuseful. I understand it is expensive and travel and accommodations are expensive.

With this said. I've upped the offer.

1 ticket plus 500 towards travel

After you attend and if you fax/email/mail me receipts I will reinburse you up to 500 dollars.

To enter to win please tell us how this summit will benefit you. Don't be shy. Best entry in my opinion wins.

As for Andy who won the first contest. I will offer you the same 500 dollars in spending money. It just seems fair.

You continue to impress me @Michael Quarles. That's a pretty amazing offer and I think there are a few people that will be taking you up on it.

Who wants to go. It's going to be an educational experience.

Keith please post here.

And this isn't about me or yellow letters. At ones time in life all we have left is appreciation and help. I certainly hope investors are not, not posting because they feel like their message won't be heard.

This is all about passing it forward.

BP Readers,

As you can tell from my posts, influence and awards, I am a newbie around the halls of BiggerPockets. In my short time here, I find myself looking forward to the Sunday night newsletter where I open just about every single link and read the blogs and forum posts (and download the free download). I have learned so much in such a short time frame.

A little about myself: I am a 9to5er, but have had my foot in the RE door part-time as an agent/broker in two states now (NY & NC), but my JOB has taken me to NJ, where I just went in-active with my RE license in NC and sold my website - LovingCharlotte.com. So I know some about RE, but recently had my eyes opened to REI and truly realize that is where I can (will) become financially independent. (no not looking to make millions). My ultimate goal would be to have enough passive income to cover my life expenses and have no debt. (now that should be the "American Dream"!). I am lucky enough to have three great kids, and an un-paid roof over our heads!

What I would love to get out of the conference is simple. I just want to network, and meet some like minded people that are like @Michael Quarles, and willing to pay it forward, so that some day, I can do the same! I have to tell you I am super-stoked to see @Michael Zuber teaching a class, because I know he has a full time job like myself. I would love to soak up a pinky full of knowledge that @Rich Weese, has to offer, and especially @Jeff Brown, who I have followed over at bloodhoundblog. There are just so many knowledgeable people I hope to meet!

It would not just be all smoozing and binge drinking either, because some of the agenda has me wanting to soak up knowledge like a sponge on a cactus (I totally made that up, and cut me some slack it is 2 AM, as I write this!). Seriously I saw these classes and I know I need them all!
-Real Estate Deal Analysis
-The 50% Rule - Using it to Find Great Deals
-Raising Capital for Your Investments Legally
-Mobile Home Investing
-Using Proper Entities for Your Real Estate Business

So, that's it in a nutshell about why I really want to go. Even if I do not win, I am making a 2012 goal to attend as long as I profit over $4,000 between now and March, as an investment in myself.

With that said, let me publicly, put forth my 2012 goals for the year. Since I am dead-broke, I plan on accomplishing 6 transactions consisting of either straight up wholesale deals or with a combination of wholesale leasing optioning. I plan to accomplish this by marketing with 100 (or more) bandit signs per month, along with hitting Probates in three counties surrounding me. Of course any a large percentage of profit will be reinvested back into the business, so that 100 bandits can become 1000 by the time the Mayan Calendar ends my reign of prosperity!

Happy Investing - Keith

I found BP in 2010 a few years after I began my rental business. At that point I had already acquired a few cash flowing properties, and was overwhelmed by the amount of support and guidance BP provided openly to promote success in the real estate investing arena. I immediately jumped in with both feet and began asking questions, and answering questions where I felt qualified. At first I did more asking then answering, but as I gained knowledge through experience and my new found mentors on BP, I began answering more questions and participating in BPs goal of building a framework of easily accessible information. But that wasn't the most intriguing feature of BP that hooked me, it was the open forum where idea sharing lead to brainstorming and novel solutions to old problems.

In every industry business balance sheets are in a constant state of flux. Simply relying on age old questions and answers is not enough. As professionals and entrepreneurs we must peer into the future and position ourselves for prosperity despite the unknown factors. When the history books are written on this era, we'll see how wealth preservation became challenging in a time of extreme market volatility and government interference. It will take industry leaders like Josh Dorkin and the mentors found abundantly in the BP forums to accurately map where we're going, and attempt to predict which ways we need to go to stay successful.

I believe that I am one of those leaders, and as my experience grows I will continue to encourage entrepreneurship, creativity, self discipline, and motivation through inspiration and leadership. The reason I would love to be selected for this awesome donation is simple. I'm involved in a business start-up! I'm closing the books on 2011, and to no surprise I'm in the red. However, it is the good kind of red that will eventually lead me back to black!

Sincerely,
Mark Updegraff

@Renae Bliss :
You should copy and paste your other post into this topic.

-Uwe

Ok I understand, thanks @Joshua Dorkin and my message again to @Renae Bliss: You should copy and paste your other post into this topic.

-Uwe :)

I've been an investor since 2003 and have rental properties in three states, Hawaii, Arizona, and Texas. I'm waiting to close on another rental property in my current state of Louisiana. Upon reading this you may say "Wow, he has rental properties in three soon to be four states".

After more insight, you'll find out that I travel a lot mainly due to my current profession, the US Army. This is more than a 9 to 5 job especially looking at the state of the world we live in. I'm literally on call, and go where the Army tells me to go. In the midst of moving from the states mentioned above, I also made visits to foreign countries that make the news daily, Afghanistan and Iraq. The juggle of managing my profession, the rental investments, and family makes things that much more complicated. Am I complaining - no. Just stating the facts.

Last year I made a significant change and stopped my IRA contributions. For years, I thought I could be financially free with my IRA, investing in gold and silver, investing in foreign currency, and living below my means. For some reason it took me too long to realize that these are just good investments and would take years for me to reap the benefits. The one investment that would allow me to be financially free, sooner rather than later, was looking directly at me. This investment that I held for the past nine years was real estate.

Real estate would allow me to help those who need a home, allow me to improve the property value of the neighborhood, retire comfortably from my profession, and give me the time to see some of my most precious assets grow up in this world, my kids.
Attendance at the Bigger Pockets Summit Giveaway would allow me to learn other ways to invest in real estate, meet some incredible people, give me more tools to live financially free, and make some new friends for life.

I'm a buy and hold investor focused on single family homes. One day I'll transition to commercial real estate. My five year plan is to have cashflow replace my current income and complete my transition from the Army profession to full time real estate investor. My current plan is on track and I'm seriously focused to make this plan happen.

This is an offer I couldn't pass up and want to personally thank Michael for his generosity.

A great way to learn more about our fellow BP members. I wish all of those writing a bio good luck. Thanks @Michael Quarles for your generous offer.