Forums are getting weak

[Eliott Elias]

I post on here everyday, I see every question. Most have been asked 20 times and can be answered with 15 min of research. Would like to see some more thought out questions here and learning opportunities for investors who are experienced and newbies. 

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

I post on here everyday, I see every question. Most have been asked 20 times and can be answered with 15 min of research. Would like to see some more thought out questions here and learning opportunities for investors who are experienced and newbies. 

I've been the forum for almost 13 years and this is nothing new. At least 80% of the questions asked can be answered with a quick Google search. If there's anything I've learned in life, it's that people are lazy. Their inability to find the laws for their state is a strong indication that they will likely fumble through life and never really achieve success.

No biggie. It makes a guy like me look smarter than I really am. :)

[Patricia Steiner]

It's the difference between those who are successful and those who are not...those who are, KNOW the business. They manage it, grow it, live it.  

And, then there are those who are not.  It makes me question why I respond to their posts; why do I care more about their success than they do?  

Thanks for sharing your observation.  It's spot on.  

[Scott E.]

Lol. They aren't "getting weak." The forums have always been this way, and they always will.

Why? Because real estate investing is not rocket science. There are only a handful of strategies, and there are only a handful of ways to do deals. Plus when people join or have a question, it's nice to give them a personalized experience by answering their exact question about their exact situation, instead of having them dig up some response from a few months ago. 

That's what makes forums awesome. Sure they are often redundant, but they are a source of never ending real time human interaction. If you are here to help people, you will learn to enjoy the questions from new aspiring investors. If you are here with ulterior motives, you will find that over time, the forums are getting weak.

[Katie Miller]

@Eliott Elias - people want community and a network. If they're asking questions here its likely because nobody in their circle of friends is an investor. Why not help them out even if it's something simple to answer? Make a new friend? Grow your network? (which, it looks like you do considering the number of posts you have!)

The people we help today could be business partners in a few years, you never know!

[Jesse Kerr]

Most of the time it's because everyone here feels like everyone here is a competitor, hence the type of responses and/or suggestions they give. 

[Carlos Ptriawan]

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

I post on here everyday, I see every question. Most have been asked 20 times and can be answered with 15 min of research. Would like to see some more thought out questions here and learning opportunities for investors who are experienced and newbies. 

 back in 1993 to 1996 where people discussed in BB, Usenet groups, and majordomo mailing-list ; the forum is always like lke this, if you want higher quality forum you may want to move to a paid subscription one (like in seekingalpha or another private investors groups) or member being filtered.

[River Sava]

Interesting view...I can see where one thinks the questions/comments are repetitive but a lot of the time people are wanting to network and spark conversation, weak effort or not. 

[Joel Case]

I do agree. If your question could have been answered with a quick search of Google or this very forum, it's not adding a lot of value to ask that question again. The good news is that I am not seeing a ton of it, so that's great. 

[Bud Gaffney]

This is forums and all fields lol. That's why they're called forums ;)

[Clayton Boyle]

Worse than bad questions are the confidently incorrect answers. This is just a feature of internet boards that is older than I am. 

[Scott Trench]

@Eliott Elias - what are some examples of better questions that you'd like to see? We can probably devise ways of encouraging those types of questions, and maknig them more prominent in your feed over time, so that you can ignore and never see the questions that you aren't interested in answering. 

That said, we want to have empathy for folks. Everyone was new once, and it is overwhelming to learn the trade of real estate investing and landlording from scratch. A simple point in the right direction from folks like yourself with thousands of posts can make a huge difference and teach folks how to solve the next 10 similarly frequently asked questions. 

I remember being a total noob. And having friendly BP folks respond to my first post made a huge difference. And I'm sure I asked questions that made experienced investors roll their eyes. 

[Lexey Vezzoso]

Hey Elliot!

Just out of curiosity, if you were a newbie, what is a valuable question that you would ask experienced investors?

-Lexey 

[Jeremy H.]

It's funny though - If you go back and read some of your original forum posts, you'll likely find a lot of weak/dumb stuff. 
Compare those posts to the ones you make now. Big difference. 

[Chris Seveney]

I think part of it is because the search function for the forums is below average

I try and do searches and its inaccurate and if you try and sort by date or something else it does not work.

[Mike Dymski]

There are few transactions right now; so, the forums are mostly market opinion stuff and ads from the service providers.  That's why the repeat questions stand out more...there is so little content on real deals to drown them out.

[Joehn B.]

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

I think part of it is because the search function for the forums is below average

I try and do searches and its inaccurate and if you try and sort by date or something else it does not work.

A lot of people might not know this, but anytime you want to search a forum (say biggerpockets or dallas.craiglist.org etc) you can use GOOGLE and filter/narrow the search:

"how to get a HELOC on rental property site:biggerpockets.com"
                                                                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Eliott Elias]

Quote from @Katie Miller:

@Eliott Elias - people want community and a network. If they're asking questions here its likely because nobody in their circle of friends is an investor. Why not help them out even if it's something simple to answer? Make a new friend? Grow your network? (which, it looks like you do considering the number of posts you have!)

The people we help today could be business partners in a few years, you never know!

 The best thing anyone ever did for me was be honest. If I was asking questions and being lazy in my approach I was told so, sucks to hear but it has to be heard. Real estate is not for the faint of heart, those who buy one deal a year can probably manage. I am gearing towards those who want to find "financial freedom" and make the most out of this. It takes thick skin and a willingness to learn to pursue this full time. Everyone here who is encouraging newbies that are asking extremely surface level questions are hurting them more than they are helping. 

[Katie Miller]

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

Quote from @Katie Miller:

@Eliott Elias - people want community and a network. If they're asking questions here its likely because nobody in their circle of friends is an investor. Why not help them out even if it's something simple to answer? Make a new friend? Grow your network? (which, it looks like you do considering the number of posts you have!)

The people we help today could be business partners in a few years, you never know!

 The best thing anyone ever did for me was be honest. If I was asking questions and being lazy in my approach I was told so, sucks to hear but it has to be heard. Real estate is not for the faint of heart, those who buy one deal a year can probably manage. I am gearing towards those who want to find "financial freedom" and make the most out of this. It takes thick skin and a willingness to learn to pursue this full time. Everyone here who is encouraging newbies that are asking extremely surface level questions are hurting them more than they are helping. 

Where do you think the line is for encouragement vs. actually helping them with their questions vs. telling them they don't know enough, then? I feel like if you tell a stranger they're being lazy it may not go over well; but if you suggest they read 5 books and watch 1,000 hours of youtube videos, it's at least a place to start and gives them a (pretty high) bar to go after? What do you think? 

[Eliott Elias]

Quote from @Katie Miller:

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

Quote from @Katie Miller:

@Eliott Elias - people want community and a network. If they're asking questions here its likely because nobody in their circle of friends is an investor. Why not help them out even if it's something simple to answer? Make a new friend? Grow your network? (which, it looks like you do considering the number of posts you have!)

The people we help today could be business partners in a few years, you never know!

 The best thing anyone ever did for me was be honest. If I was asking questions and being lazy in my approach I was told so, sucks to hear but it has to be heard. Real estate is not for the faint of heart, those who buy one deal a year can probably manage. I am gearing towards those who want to find "financial freedom" and make the most out of this. It takes thick skin and a willingness to learn to pursue this full time. Everyone here who is encouraging newbies that are asking extremely surface level questions are hurting them more than they are helping. 

Where do you think the line is for encouragement vs. actually helping them with their questions vs. telling them they don't know enough, then? I feel like if you tell a stranger they're being lazy it may not go over well; but if you suggest they read 5 books and watch 1,000 hours of youtube videos, it's at least a place to start and gives them a (pretty high) bar to go after? What do you think? 

I encourage those who have put in the time to ask well thought out and intentional questions. It doesn't take a genius to think to watch youtube videos, call realtors, door knock, cold call, go to foreclosure auctions. 

[Mike Dymski]

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

Quote from @Katie Miller:

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

Quote from @Katie Miller:

@Eliott Elias - people want community and a network. If they're asking questions here its likely because nobody in their circle of friends is an investor. Why not help them out even if it's something simple to answer? Make a new friend? Grow your network? (which, it looks like you do considering the number of posts you have!)

The people we help today could be business partners in a few years, you never know!

 The best thing anyone ever did for me was be honest. If I was asking questions and being lazy in my approach I was told so, sucks to hear but it has to be heard. Real estate is not for the faint of heart, those who buy one deal a year can probably manage. I am gearing towards those who want to find "financial freedom" and make the most out of this. It takes thick skin and a willingness to learn to pursue this full time. Everyone here who is encouraging newbies that are asking extremely surface level questions are hurting them more than they are helping. 

Where do you think the line is for encouragement vs. actually helping them with their questions vs. telling them they don't know enough, then? I feel like if you tell a stranger they're being lazy it may not go over well; but if you suggest they read 5 books and watch 1,000 hours of youtube videos, it's at least a place to start and gives them a (pretty high) bar to go after? What do you think? 

I encourage those who have put in the time to ask well thought out and intentional questions. It doesn't take a genius to think to watch youtube videos, call realtors, door knock, cold call, go to foreclosure auctions. 

“The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you are asking.” ― Anthony Robbins

[Jason Kern]

Quote from @Katie Miller:

@Eliott Elias - people want community and a network. If they're asking questions here its likely because nobody in their circle of friends is an investor. Why not help them out even if it's something simple to answer? Make a new friend? Grow your network? (which, it looks like you do considering the number of posts you have!)

The people we help today could be business partners in a few years, you never know!

Katie, I think you nailed it here. The “weak” or “lazy” question may be just reaching out to connect. Give a pointer, connect, encourage, a little personal reassurance may help somebody make their first big step. 

[Henry Clark]

Disjointed thoughts

A.  I like BP forum because I find humor in about every 10th post I try to do.  Is actually boring making money.  So I enjoy downtimes making posts. I prefer the Hunt much more.

B.  EDGE- Boy Scout Training Method

Explain

Demonstrate

Guide

Enable- the true learning moment.  When a scout teaches another scout.  Then they have learned.  I like looking at issues and trying to develop an answer. Then I have been enabled.  You learn more by teaching.

C.  How to become Rich.   
- Idea

- Money, not always

- Ability to jump off a Cliff

D.  BP Bootcamp?????

In the last month, two posts I responded to and 1 I intentionally did not respond to. I normally try to look at peoples backgrounds and the posts they do before responding.

1. Help should I do cost Segregation on this ????? Humor- Lots of correct answers. Behind the scenes they are a 15 year old. Asking lots of technical questions. I don't answer his cost seg question. Give him a path to REI at his age.

2. Person is asking about a Tax outlook concern. Over 5xx posts. , they haven't made an REI investment yet. Didn't respond.

3.  Person seeking a mentor or mentorship.  Took them through the process steps up to Deal analysis.   Then they dropped off.  They had just returned to BP after 2 years and hadn’t made an investment during that time.  They were to busy during that time.  Still to busy.  

Summary:

A. I find most people don't have a path to learning REI. Deal analysis tools are great. But path templates or outlines would be beneficial. Maybe this is the Bootcamp.

B.  As is said.  People are more scared of failure than the prospect of success.  As part of every Deal Analysis, WE should have them do a failure analysis.  Most of the readers of this post probably have by chance or background been able to “jump off the cliff”.  But most BP newbies aren’t.  By having them calculate failure more of them will jump off the cliff.  8 to 5 is so secure.

Start small and Make Your Big Mistakes Early.  

Just got back from our Belize investment. Minus 1 tonight. High of 11 tomorrow. Thank goodness for REI investments. Bananas will be ready in a week.

Thought I would do a post. 

[Allan Smith]

I do agree that the questions are crazy redundant and it feels like laziness. As mentioned earlier I think it's because real estate takes work and most people don't want to. I'd venture a guess that 80% of those repeat askers that could have searched the forums will struggle to succeed.

when I first started out, I spent HOURS searching and reading the forums. I also figured out to use Google and type "site:buggerpockets.com" then my search terms. I knew no more than anybody else. But. I was ready to work.

[V.G Jason]

Ok, so go someplace else. 

You're not required to stay here.

[Caroline Gerardo]

 Everything in life is proportionate to what you GIVE.

The forums are not "weak."  There is great variety and information.

Not all the information is true or accurate. 

Post questions of interest to you and respond to every answer to get the deeper thoughts you seek.