Hello BiggerPockets World,

My name is Patrick O'Neill, I live in Philadelphia and I am just getting into REI. I am a general contractor/handyman and interior painter so I have the liberty to schedule my schedule as I please. I have a relatively low cost of living so I figured that I'm in an opportune position to get into real estate.

I am looking to upgrade my profile subscription but would like to have any input from the BiggerPockets community as to which may suit my needs best, being that I am new to the REI scene. I plan on dedicating a fair amount of time and effort this year to this cause, with the ultimate goal of getting out of contracting, unless it happens to be working on my own properties, or doing rehabs on my own investments.

Any thoughts, comments, advice or concerns would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and best of luck!

Patrick

I went right for the Pro years ago so I cant tell you what the difference is only that I have full access. 

First of all welcome to BP @Patrick O'Neill   

I would say 3 things:

1: The cost for a pro membership is very small considering the return offered by the community, files, podcasts etc.

2. This is a way to give back and support the BP community 

3. Who knows you may be able to get some good local clients. I know there are quite a few investors in the Philly area.

Welcome @Patrick O'Neill  , 

I've been curious lately, myself, about the benefits of a paid membership.  I'm interested to see the responses you get here.  

Best of luck, 

Hilary 

@Patrick O'Neill  I went with the Pro level and am happy with it.  I like that I don't have to think if I can do something, I have access to it all. Plus it helps support the site.  Doing the annual memberships save a bit.  A big hint is to sign up for the Webinar Wednesday which will probably more than pay for the hour of your time even if you aren't interested in the topic.  Do the webinar before Upgrading. Hint Hint.

Hey thanks for the advice @Curt Davis  and @Jon Lafferty  , I think that is the conclusion that I am coming to, that I'll just upgrade to PRO right away. @Hilary Karaman if you will be spending a significant amount of time dedicated to REI this year, I'll let you know if it was worth the investment to me and you can give it a try. Also, thanks @Paul Ewing , I couldn't agree more, we need to not only be beneficiaries of BiggerPockets but we need to help support them for all that they provide. To use REI terms, the ROI for the PRO membership is infinite!

Thanks again BiggerPockets community!

@Patrick O'Neill  

I joined as a free member in October then jumped to a Pro membership in December when there was a Christmas discount.  Seems really reasonable for the value obtained, but it depends on what you want to do.

@Larry Fried that is likely what I will end up doing. I think that having the additional resources at my fingertips will only push me harder to begin getting my hands dirty in REI. I wouldn't want those resources to go to waste, so I better use them! Thanks again for sharing your experience.

This thread has been helpful. I am considering an upgrade to Pro. :)

@Patrick O'Neill  & @Adrian Chu  have you found that the pro upgrade was worth it?  I'm pretty new to BP and trying to decide if I want to make the move.  Thanks in advance for any input!  

Hey @Chris Wienke,

For me it was most definitely worth it. Being able to have unlimited access to the investment calculators alone makes it worth the while. I was also able to get a decent discount on my membership by participating in one of the webinars, so that may be an option. Hope this helps. 

Best of luck!

@Patrick O'Neill

 I was thinking the same thing as far as calculator access goes.  Thanks for the info! 

No problem @Chris Wienke

I'm wondering if you can post properties for sale in both Plus and Pro?