How One of Brandon Turner's Worst Real Estate Experiences.. turned into one of our BEST!
I was writing this up when I received an email saying that @Ben Leybovich just put up a post. If Ben thinks it's a good time to post, then so do I ^^ Especially if this post is also gonna have @Brandon Turner 's name in the title!
So here's the latest success story that I wanted to share with the BiggerPockets community.. a community that continues to help me and the others out here in Korea..
On Saturday, January 3rd, the Seoul Real Estate Investing Meet Up had our third meeting.
In a few short months, we are proud to say our membership has grown to over 70 members (online) and over 100 FB likes. I'm sure other MeetUps have more impressive numbers but considering we originally thought it would just 4 or 5 of us meeting at Holly's Coffee in Itaewon, we've been very pleased to see it take off.
Of course, this MeetUp was a little different, a little more special, because in addition to featuring great fellow BP members as speakers, we had one of BP's Grand PooBahs (I wonder if Brandon's ever been describe that way before??)
None other than the man from the title himself - Brandon Eff'in Turner!
Needless to say we were fairly stoked that he agreed to speak with our little group.
Through the power of the internets, Skype and an overhead projector, we were able to beam his smiling countenance onto the screen for all to see, like Big(gerPockets) Brother watching over us from some Sci Fi flick... only a kind, gentle Big Brother with a beard, a mustache and cool microphone.
He then generously answered questions from our members for the next 30 mins.
It was incredible that even though Brandon was halfway around the world, it felt like he was in the room with us.
Of course, given this unique opportunity, we had to ask him:
What's one of HIS worst REI experiences?
(To view his answer, check out the link below. Warning: Do not view while eating..)
At our meetup we also had two other awesome speakers.
Fellow BP member @Jacob Michaels and his wife Victoria shared with us their strategies for getting great deals in the beautiful, scenic Sokcho area (located near Mt Sarak) by taking advantage of “Quick Sales” as they are called in Korea. They also explained how they are able to purchase apartments using everyone’s favorite - OPM (Other People’s Money)... but without "traditional" private equity loans and ... without any interest! Pretty interesting strategy that's Korea-specific and that has led to 15 transactions. Definitely would qualify for as "creative."
We also had newly minted BP member, @Josh McNicoll, (Yes, we encourage all our MeetUp members to join the BP Community) talking about his experiences in Kansas City, Missouri, and his strategy for vetting properties, getting them inspected, getting pictures taken of them, and working on deals, all from the comforts of his home, 6,500 miles away in Seoul.
Overall, we felt it was a great success. I want to thank the BP community for helping to connect all of us out here in Korea and make all of this possible. @Joshua Dorkin
& @Brandon Turner - thanks for all the hardwork on the site and podcast.
(And of course, thanks to the other members of the BP team! We know it takes a team to make BP successful..)
The world has truly gotten smaller thanks to BP. Even though BP HQ might be thousands of miles away in Colorado, it’s helped connect us expat out here in Korea and allowed us to create this space to help each other learn and also continue spreading the BP ethos to all reaches of the globe. (We’ve had visitors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Bali at different MeetUps, making us a truly international group.)
Our MeetUp features different ethnicities, different native languages, different countries we’re all living in, but we all share a common love of real estate.
(BP also helped Ben and me complete our first real estate transaction in Florida - from finding partners, to finding contracts... All done online from Korea without ever having visited Florida, let alone the house we bought. More on that in a future post!)
Thanks again BP community!
And now here’s that link of Brandon’s Worst Investing Experience. It's DEFINITELY the funniest story you'll hear today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqgZTwwu_2Q&feature...
And a shout out to @Sandra Roddy
(Fellow BP member and now part of our MeetUp)
The Seoul Real Estate MeetUp Organizers:
@John Van Uytven @Benjamin Hauser Dan Ryu
And now some Pics:
Group Shot!
That's me.. we did a combo of interviews and presentations.
Action shot!
@Jacob Michaels discussing he and his wife Victoria's investment strategies.
John getting ready to interview Brandon!
Josh McNicoll talking about Kansas City
We may not have the biggest membership, but we might have the youngest member! Victoria with her and Jacob's adorable, youngest daughter Claire. (I hope I spelled that right..)
Enjoying a drink after it's all over....
To be a true real estate investor, you need to drink Single Malt Scotch Whiskey, right?