How Can We Make the BiggerPockets Real Estate Marketplace Better?
BiggerPockets! I would like to hear from you about what we can do to make the Real Estate Marketplace better for investors.
If you want to share your feedback, you can do so here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r... or send me a PM or post a reply below.
Thank you in advance!
It would be great if we members could get some feedback on actions that BP is planning to take on improving Marketplace.
Create a basic and pro version. Of course the pro version for paid BP pro members. For the pro version go all out and compete with the big boys like Redfin and Zillow. Create the same filters that them guys give us allowing us to not only narrow down location, amenities, and types of properties but also give us the same filters that allow us to look at sold properties versus properties for sale etc... Give us the opportunity to do comps and get our ARVs without leaving BP. Give us away to Port those numbers directly into the calculators and work our numbers. If you give people the smallest opportunity to leave the website to figure things out the greater chance that they will find something else out there to suit their needs. Keep everything in house for people and there will be less of a chance of them finding something else.
I can tell you just doing changes to my site and my weekly meetings with my marketing team many do not know the sheer volume of work that goes into these types of changes discussed. It is not click a button and then bam all new stuff is up and running perfectly with no future issues.
You basically have code written at different points in time using different pieces of a system. Change one thing and no guarantee how it reacts with what is already in place. A website is almost a living and breathing program that needs constant updating, fixing, etc. You fix one thing and then something you never thought of having an issue it creates from the changes.
I am glad BP is still improving. Some of the new items they have rolled out I have been looking at need a lot of work. It's just like having a baby. So much work just to create it.. lol then it takes some time before crawling, walking, standing, running, and talking. Anything typically worth doing in life you have to put a lot of time, effort, and energy into.
I used to look at a website just as one page but now realize it's like a car. Seems simple on the outside but open that hood and look underneath and whoa there is a lot of stuff going on there. The marketplace has kind of been a catch all. It would seem to take an audit of that part and see what is being used and what is not is key. Is what is not being used because it should be removed all together or are people not using it because it works so bad but there is demand for the product?
That way what is really not needed or wanted can be removed to make time and room for what the majority of users want better functionality and use with.
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
- 4,138
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- 7,606
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@Lauren Hogan I think a lot of Marketplace could be cleaned up if:
- Listings had an expiration of 30 days and then archived
- Listings were editable, so that if something changed, it could be reflected in the ad, or if someone renews the listing it could read differently.
- I had several suggestions earlier not sure if you read them. (as Marketplace has always been an issue)
- Marketplace is so underutilized. People would be coming to BP just for Marketplace if it's set up in a more organzied, clean, format. The number one thing investors want information on is LENDERS yet BP has no listings that are searchable for various types of lenders (SFR, MFR, Commercial, New Construction, Rehab, Flip, Partnerships, etc.) such as Scotsmanguide. If it did, membership would probably increase.
oftentimes when I vote for a post, it sends a colleague request to the person. It seems like a glitch. Can this be fixed?
@Jeffrey Grieshop I'll pass this along to our product team & see if other members are getting that glitch too.
@Karen Margrave I absolutely read both your posts!
Everyone else - I appreciate the thoughtful feedback & advice. We are always trying to improve and make meaningful updates to the site across all out pages AND there's not even 50 employees at BP (at least not yet!)
If you are looking for a sneak peek into updates for the Marketplace, here are a few things you can expect to see in 2020:
- Saved search for the Marketplace a.k.a. Keyword Alerts for property types
- Major updates to the filter & map in the Marketplace SO they work as you would expect them to ;)
- A new scannable layout to make it easier to find properties at a glance
Keep the feedback coming and please always feel free to PM me directly.
Add $/sf to all calculator results for comparison purposes.
Update for this thread: Saved search in the Marketplace is now available. You can read about the functionality here.
We'll make updates to over the next couple of months, it's our version 1 of adding back in this functionality.
It would be nice if we could message our followers or colleagues As a group with their approval
Not to sound cheap...but more access not non pro members :)
Sending out a weekly email with all new properties or units for sale or rent could help out
It would be cool if you could form groups with investors of common interest. Like be in the state of Oklahoma investing group. It could allow for an advanced learning curve enabling investors to learn from others in their own market.
Make it more flexible in describing properties available. I had a non-conforming 7-unit and it was literally impossible to describe the property in the available format. Since we pay for the benefit, that was pretty disappointing.
And to those who say "you don't understand," I do understand but if the product isn't market-ready, don't roll it out.
Provide links to each property on Zillow, Redfin, and Google Maps.
I have 16 hrs a day dedicated to my current job, so if the audio and video playback speeds could be adjusted in order to compress the time I dedicate to my education, it would be very helpful. In my experience with podcast and audio books, you can slowly increase the playback speed up to 3x's faster depending on the presenter.
Thank you for looking for improvement opportunities.