What is Your Best Experience With Fellow BP Members Sharing?
Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
I have had BP members send me the following:
A copy of Spin Selling (thank you Jon Klaus) cassettes, contracts they use (thank you Ricky), advice on estate planning (thanks Vikram), attorney references (thank you Kevin Yeats), and vetting for advice on investing in our projects (thanks to all that have checked us out!).
I was wondering if others have had the same experience(s) and what the most valuable information, relationship, etc. was you received from members on the site. Feel free to thank those that have helped in your response as well.
Bryan,
I hope this turns out to be another wildly popular thread! I have only been active on BP for a little over a week now. I joined in April, about a month ahead of you, but I was just trying to scoop up knowledge, and there fore made no contacts.
I have yet to make the kind of connect you speak of above, but information? Man, I just wouldn't know where to start. But what I will say is this:
I remember when you first started posting and I thought "who is this guy?". Seemed like you were the only one posting for awhile, and I saw your face every where. Some of the things you wrote were so far over my head that it made my ears bleed! But it just inspired me to learn more.
Then you started the topic last week about getting more folks involved in discussions. So I made the leap, and surprise surprise, I started making contacts. And there's icing on that cake to; some of you that I've been looking up to for so long now have started voting up my posts. How encouraging.
Thank you Bryan. Thank you Rich Weese. Thanx Jon H, Steve B, Nick J, Greg, Todd, and thank you to Charles Perkins. Thanks for the info and all the encouragement. I always know you guys are there if I ever need you. Guru shmooroo, you guys (and Gals) are the best. :woohoo: :woohoo:
Bryan,
I hope this turns out to be another wildly popular thread! I have only been active on BP for a little over a week now. I joined in April, about a month ahead of you, but I was just trying to scoop up knowledge, and there fore made no contacts.
I have yet to make the kind of connect you speak of above, but information? Man, I just wouldn't know where to start. But what I will say is this:
I remember when you first started posting and I thought "who is this guy?". Seemed like you were the only one posting for awhile, and I saw your face every where. Some of the things you wrote were so far over my head that it made my ears bleed! But it just inspired me to learn more.
Then you started the topic last week about getting more folks involved in discussions. So I made the leap, and surprise surprise, I started making contacts. And there's icing on that cake to; some of you that I've been looking up to for so long now have started voting up my posts. How encouraging.
Thank you Bryan. Thank you Rich Weese. Thanx Jon H, Steve B, Nick J, Greg, Todd, and thank you to Charles Perkins. Thanks for the info and all the encouragement. I always know you guys are there if I ever need you. Guru shmooroo, you guys (and Gals) are the best. :woohoo: :woohoo:
I would have completely missed this thread if not for the BP newsletter, so the first shout out goes to Josh for this site!
Dozens of people have helped me fine tune my business, and educate myself of a lot of different aspects of real estate. The estate planning post with Rich and Vikram should be a sticky.
I posted in a poll of Rich's a while back that my number one problem holding me back was a lack of funding. Since then, I've made contact with three different members who have offered to work with me. I won't name names so they don't get spammed, but thank you guys! My biggest problem now is finding the right property that will make good money. It's very helpful to know I can make offers and have the funding I need behind me if the deal is good enough.
Big thanks also to Mike R, Nick, Bill, Charles, and all the other extremely helpful members who's names escape me.
There are so many I have learned from here in my short REI career. I'll just mention 3 now.
Early on in my <2 year BP tenure I learned more practical landlording tips and techniques from MikeOH than I learned in 12 years of owning a rental. Very timely as I was buying a rental a month last year.
Late last year Vikram and I partnered up to do due diligence on an apartment complex that Uwe made us aware of. It was up for auction and for several days Vikram did his comprehensive financial analysis while I did feet on the street analysis. We winded up not buying it, but it was a great learning experience that gives me real confidence in evaluating apartments in the future. Thanks Vikram.
And finally, the many things i've learned from Rich Weese, here, from his book, and in person. Oh yeah, he also saved my wife @$7000 in dental work done by his excellent Cancun dentist.
I could go on, but Bryan asked for the best, not the most.
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hm....what is my best experience of a BP member sharing with me? how about his money! :D :D ...through BP i've been in contact with several lenders (a few of which seem for real!!)..i just closed last week on a deal funded through a BP member as a matter of fact...this was my 3rd deal funded through this lender...i've also learned a ton of info that i never would've known elsewhere...post tax credit, i was having trouble selling a rehab, and i was thinking about lowering the price as the number of buyers had dwindled dramatically in a certain area...thanks to BP and some of the insights from its members, i learned how to sell it on a contract for deed for full price...since then, i've sold another property on a contract for deed...the note created on this 2nd deal is currently under contract and scheduled to be sold to a BP member (yet another BP member sharing their money with me!)....i also learned valuable info on evaluating deals, setting up my llc's and bank accounts, etc...this list could really go on and on...i've also just closed on 2 homes subject to a few weeks ago...how do you think i found those deals?? BP members shared their ideas with me on marketing...and where do you think I went when I had questions about my first subject-to deal??? you got that right.
It is hard to pick a best experience. I have had many interactions with BP members by PM, phone and email. I've been working with a BP member on my apartment deal. Joel Soforenko has been a great help in getting my financing done.
I appreciate the many exchanges I've had with various members here Vikram, Bill, Bryan, Mike and so many others.
I guess there is one that stands out. Josh is always there behind the scenes fixing problems it seems like at all times of the day. I appreciate that this site is available to share experiences and connect with so many other investors.
I've only been a member for serval weeks but so far I've had several awesome experiences with members on here.
Because I am new to the business I don't have as much to offer from the investment side but I really wanted to connect with members on here and give my advice where I could.
One thing I did do was just search members in my area and email them. I have gotten several positive response.
Also I have been able to become colleagues with some very successful investors such as charles and rich.
I know there are going to be many more positive experiences to come.
I did not know anything about RE before I joined BP so everything I know about it is directly or indirectly related to you guys. In no particular order, a few things stand out in my mind:
1. Josh called me soon after I joined BP and we chatted for a while. Since I had joined BP from another country, that call was a big part of my feeling welcome in the BP community and I felt encouraged to participate more.
2. Jon Holdman, through his posts and also PMs, was instrumental in giving me my basic education in RE during a period when I did not know that SF = single family. He was my unofficial guide to real estate.
3. Jim Johnson educated me on the opportunities in Mobile Home Parks. MHPs are something that I still find attractive although I am not investing in it at this time.
4. Rich Weese, through his transaction funding offers, enlightened me about the profit potential of lending. I was sufficiently interested in that idea to move from India to Phoenix in order to lend.
5. Ted Harris gave me some valuable information about investing in Vegas. I haven't pulled the trigger on it yet but will do so at some point.
6. I really enjoyed my interaction with Jon Klaus while we were evaluating an apartment complex in Dallas - as described in his post. He made me realize that there are some very nice and very capable members on this site and it would be profitable for me to explore doing business with them.
7. When I decided to enter the rehab-and-flip business, my go-to guy became J Scott. He is still my guide to that business. He is an incredibly smart guy from whom we can all learn a lot.
8. I have had numerous PMs with lots of BP members and I am sure I cannot remember all of them. Charles, Loc, Chris, Ted, Jon H, Jon K, Josh, Brian, Bryan, Rich, . . . (I am sure I have missed 90% of them and my apologies.)
9. And then there are the numerous BP members whom I do not know who have been so helpful by posting their questions and answers on the site in the forums.
10. Finally, there are some BP members with whom I do business. They are the most valuable part of this entire experience.
Thanks to Josh for making all this possible.
Wow, great thread. There have been so many contributions from BP members that it will be hard to recount all of them.
1. The first property I bought in years was from Sam K (a wholesaler), who turned me on to BP.
2. I have read and studied REI for years, but I more than doubled my knowledge in a few short months here on BP.
3. People like Jon H, J Scott, Rich Weiss, Tim, MikeOH, Vikram, Brian H, FinanceE, and others have served as virtual mentors, answering questions and helping me as I do more deals.
4. In short, BP has shortened my learning curve by at least 1/2.
Thanks Josh!
The regular posters are invaluable to me. I have kinda been sitting on my haunches for a while in REI. Reading the different exit stratagies has inspired me to get after it again. I was even educated enough to sound like I knew what I was talking about to convince my wife "it is time".
There have been so many contributors that have became important to me that I am afraid I will leave someone off. But, since my interest are in rehabbing to resell, I will mention J Scott. Now if Rich could just get him off of the fence.... :roll:
Don
I shared again with BP this morning. After a NSIC meeting in Dallas last night I connected with Edward Puckett via phone and we scheduled breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Ft Worth this morning prior to me heading back to Austin.
This is really a poor attempt to bump this thread to see if others have been reaching out to their fellow community members. If you aren't you are missing out!
Yes yes, and a good time was had by all. :D I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I came to BP for knowledge and I gained a network. I shot out the casual "if you're ever in Dallas" and got back "funny you should say that" Learned a lot more in twenty minutes of talking than I could in days of scouring the forums. Bryan is one sharp dude. Don't let the dapper suit and power tie fool you...he's down to earth as can be.
Point being that this on line community doesn't have to be stuck on line. Reach out sometime. Have a look at the men and women behind the curtain. :wink:
I shared an Austin-based hard money lender with a new poster on BP yesterday. He called me after PMing me.
If you are lurking please get more involved in the site. We all benefit from sharing resources and experience.
The amount of education that is shared on this site is incredibly helpful. I appreciated Vikram writing in a thread about getting more involved on BP how when he first joined he didn't know what certain abbreviations meant. I think he wrote that he thought SF meant San Francisco. That stood out for me because it made me comfortable in the fact that we all start somewhere.
I truly thank everyone who contributes to making this site what it is, amazing.
Just when I thought I knew a lot, in comes BP!
Thanks to all who have responded to my questions and to those who have provided much needed answers through research.
Well I learned about co-insurance clauses and how to protect my bum from insurance folks today from Tim. My agent is working on making sure I am covered properly now.
I also shared our local mortgage broker for small regional banks with some folks recently. The "investment friendly lenders" post is a great one too...learned a lot from that.
For those that aren't engaged you should get engaged...This is a great resource!
From a personal perspective I always like to read J Scott's postings - as a fellow rehabber I really like to get his perspective on the business.
I also enjoy the interaction in general. I work from home most of the time and feel that the time I spend on BP is working "on" my business, not necessarily "in" my business. That's a refreshing and invigorating change; especially when I have been dealing with awol GC's etc all day! I feel as if I am sharpening my sword as I read the threads.
It is also great to see things from other people's perspective - in a question about a rehab estimate three of us came up with a $10k estimate (+/- $350) but we came to it from slightly different angles. I really examined everyone else’s methods to see if I was missing something in my estimating process. The poster got his answer - but I got a little wiser too.
One of my favorite threads was “Advice Wanted...Good Deal or Not?†J Scott, Steve Babiak, Bill Patterson, Charles Perkins “et al†all pitched in and the advice was succinct, intelligent, and pertinent. Certainly with that group of advisors a newbie investor can’t go wrong.
Anyway, it is a pleasure to have new friends/colleagues all across the US. I like associating with people smarter than myself! Hat's off to BP.
TTFN,
Greg
I'm still new with REI and don't have much yet to offer, so I've been mostly a lurker. So far I've learned a ton from all of the blog & forum posts. It's discouraging at times to realize how much I do NOT know though :roll: :wink: .
I've followed J Scott for a while from his web site and benefited a lot from his shared experiences. I got inspired by his wife's staging work and ended up doing similar things to our rehabbed house. I love all of the deal analysis posts (especially Jon's posts with lightning fast number crunching responses!!!). And then my favorite Landlording forum with tenant stories & the 50%, 2% rules etc.
I think even though I haven't made any personal connections or "deals" with anyone, the knowledge I learned has saved me a lot of potentially bad deals. That in itself is a pretty good deal...
Well I hope someday I can feel confident enough about my own experiences to pay this forward.
Thanks y'all!
I think what's great about BP is that there's a whole range of folks with different experiences and different areas of expertise in REI. I've learned a bit just by going into the "Do It Yourself" forum as well as reading the BP Blog (always great tips to be learned!) and other members' blogs. This site is definitely about community, sharing stories, and resources! :)
I wanted to dig this thread up on the day Josh made the new mods to the site to get some more feedback about people benefiting from the site.
I've posted and blogged about it, but I'll say it again. I got a deal done simply by reviewing my colleagues and offering a home run to one of them. Rather than going "public" with the contract, I found a buyer right here on BP for the classic win/win/win situation. Another big thank you Harry M.
Also got to meet and have lunch with Jon Klaus a couple of weeks ago. He's allowing me to help with the second DFW meet up. (which WAY more of you should be signing up for considering the number of members in DFW!)
And I will be making the acquaintance of a home town gal tomorrow, Ms. Angie Menegay. She was kind enough to pull some comps for me when I was temporarily without MLS access during the transition to my own business.
I want to nominate JScott as the member with the most information and best overall posts this year.
I would also like to nominate Vikram as the most intelligent investor and poster on the site.
Perhaps this should be a separate thread, but it seemed to fit well here.
Any new success stories between BP members?
I have had great experiences with BP members & BP the site.
1. Marc Faulkner. I have purchased 5 notes from him, created 2 notes with him, partnered up with 6 homes and 15 mobile homes to date. In addition he & I have bounced a million ideas off each other during our many conversations.
2. Will Barnard. We did 2 deals together back in 2009, when I couldn't find a better place to park my money. We still keep in touch quite a bit, and I'm sure we'll do business again. Just waiting for the right opportunity.
3. The Texans: Jon Klaus, Lee Warren, & Daniel Yoo. Thanks for spending the time to let me pick your brains about areas you guys are familiar with. I haven't pulled the trigger yet, still waiting to see how many more local deals I can find.
4. My BP colleagues: Vikram, J Scott, Charles Perkins, Darryl Dahlen, Steve L, Mitch K., Jake Kuchek, Bryan Alenky. I am grateful for your collective wisdom, experience & insight with regards to what you each of you do. I'm always able to take something away from your posts, even though it may not be my particular investing strategy.
5. BP itself. I haven't done any deals with members outside of Marc, Will, and Dennis Guerrero (wholesaled a few Fort Worth homes to him & bought some notes, he's a member on BP but not super active) but I've been close. Those of you that follow my blog know that I bought a really small but nice note that a non-member posted in the Properties for Sale section. In addition I have had a few private money parties approach me about deals, but I haven't been able to find deals that matched their investment strategy & their preferred timeline.
6. Josh - We will get that little project off the ground in 2011!!!
I'd like to thank Brian Levredge for helping me evaluate candidates when I got about 600 resumes last year. His insight was invaluable because many of the candidates came from a construction and contractor background and I know very little about such people.
Nice list Loc!