BiggerPockets

I went to a local real estate investor club tonight in my neighborhood. Very nice, enthusiastic people who came to learn and to share. What has been the experience of the group in spending time with these groups? What positive outcomes have people received? Is the investment of time been worthwhile? :idea:

I agree with Chris. We have been struggeling to get a good REI club off of the ground here in Little Rock for the past few years. The group is still small. But, I consider the contacts and education valuable. If you are just starting out, this is a good place to spend some time.
Don

AZREIA has one the best run clubs (that is what they tell me), but I do not attend anymore. They do have a good market data, but it is now available on their website so I just download it. Lots of new people looking for help and getting started and lots of vendors selling services. I have taken a lot of their beginning classes (fix and flip, short sales, etc), that provide good foundations. I do take advantage of their 2% rebates at Home Depot, and I have hired quite a few contractors off their website.

So in short, I'm a yearly member but do not attend the meetings.

If you choose the right clubs, then yes, they are well worth it. Some are just pitch fests for gurus, but others have real info shared and teh networking with other investors is what makes it more than worth your time. I also gain exposure by speaking and attending clubs which is also important in building a reputation and building your network which is also called your "Networth"

I have to agree with Will on this. Ihave attended a few clubs, but most of the time, someone is trying to sell you something. Every once in awhile, you have a valuable experience. I'm not currently attending any. Rich

Most of the events that I've attended included a sales pitch from an annoying RE Guru. With that said, I am a sponsor of one of our clubs and I attend as many meetings as possible to network with other RE Pro's. I typically leave once the sales pitch starts...

PS I've met people from Bigger Pockets offline as well. This is a pretty awesome online club.

I know this is going to sound irrational but I avoided going to these when I was brand new because I thought someone might try to take advantage of me either through an expensive course I didn't need or with a junk property they wanted to unload. Then later I had a scheduling conflict on the night the meetings are held in this area so I was unable to go. I've still never been to one of these live groups.

There is only one club in Austin worth attending. The others are a waste of time IMO.