Tell us how to improve BiggerPockets content!
Denver, CO · Member since 2014 · 47 posts · 93 votes
Tell us how to improve BiggerPockets content!
Most Popular Reply
Real Estate Agent · Arlington, TX · Member since 2019 · 47 posts · 64 votes
6y@Allison Leung making the app overall mobile device friendly. Include tools and BP Insights to the mobile app version.
152 Replies
- 5yColleen F.Pro MemberInvestor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
Just some ideas:
A way to vote for a thread in the forums, There are some valuable exchanges that provide key info that just get lostA dictionary of acronyms for beginners or even a dictionary of simple terms
Limit the ability of people to quote posts, sometimes it is so long...
A way to delete your own post if someone posts wrong.
Have a set of recommended beginner podcasts based on the oft repeated forum questions, Could be current content or could be selected speakers. You could even have a start here section for beginners. Could do a set for more experienced people for example on syndication etc.
Can you delete unanswered posts at some point. I do feel bad for people who don't get their posts answered but the reality is no one is going to go back months to answer a post.
I am not sure how to do this but if people are asking for relators, plumber etc in a specific location can that just be a local forums resource. sort of an I need a xyz section. give them stars or something to work with.
Can you fix the scrolling on the forums. The webinar listing at the bottoms stops you from going to previous posts unless you scroll past it and up again.
I have to say just implementing a few of the suggestions in this thread would be significant. Thanks for opening the door! and keeping things going.
- Evergreen Park, IL · Member since 2016 · 138 posts · 59 votes5y
@Allison Leung the app has got to get better. It's constantly crashing or buggy on S9+
- Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 1 vote5y
hi -
It would be nice to be able to tell the difference between an original post and a reply to that post. Right now as we view forum threads, it takes some work to decipher which one was the original post and which one was a reply from another user. For example:
Thread: This is a test...
Content in the body resides here...
Reply from user to the thread will then look like this:
Thread: This is a test
Content in the body resides here...
I am replying to a thread.
-- There is no line or separator in between the "Content in the body" and the "I am replying to this thread...
It's very frustrated...
- Real Estate Broker · Tampa, FL · Member since 2020 · 4 posts · 2 votes5y
Improve the BP App to be able to perform more functions !
- Member since 2020 · 3 posts · 1 vote5y
Also, option to click Top or Bottom of thread page. There are countless scrolls to see the new posts.
- 5yHenry ClarkPro MemberDeveloper · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
a. Time to collate and prioritize. Take all of the above comments and categorize into about 8 categories. Grab a bunch of yellow stickys or do it on an electronic platform. Show the results to this group. Then categorize into 8 categories. Then Sub categories as A/B/C. Note the number of comments. Communicate out to this group, since they took the time to answer you. Just because one comment was noted a 1,000 times doesn't mean it gets prioritized at the top. There will be A/B/C projects. A's- big impact but also big resource drain. C's- quick impact, takes little resources. Example: Newby help center- this is easy. Put in a Big Sister/Big Brother tab; with sub tabs for the major investment types. Example: Sub type- Self Storage- I will be glad to walk people through from start to finish. Though I will cut them off quickly when I realize they are just day dreaming and not committed. Sub types- SFH/MFH/Trailer parks/Retail/Commercial/Financing/Tax/etc. This will clean up the forum quite a bit. B's- usually don't get done. Others get done, then these move up to A's or down to C's. Local section- State/city/type- example best plumber in Potosi, Missouri. I don't want to see that personally. I actually love Potosi.
By doing this A/B/C approach you are explaining without explaining why something (B's) didn't get done. They will understand, their subject was beat out by other subjects. They might disagree, but will know why.
Circle back to this group who responded to you. Let them have a first pass at your collation and prioritization. Then take forward to your internal group. Then come back to the BP population.
b. Assign resources and responsibilities.
c. Tell us Bigger Pockets direction.
If your team has done before great. Otherwise I can do for you, but is better to be done by the person who asked the question and is tied into the resources.
Have seen this same request several times. Stop asking unless there is a path forward. No need for Four more pages of comments.
Don't close this subject. Move it forward.
- 5yHenry ClarkPro MemberDeveloper · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
Another sub category. Get rid of the World is coming to an end posts or is it a good time to buy. Its always a good time to buy and who cares if the world is coming to an end. I/We won't know it happened. Most of these stock market crash posts are being put up as irritants.
If you want to stop the world from coming to an end, go plant a tree and stop eating grapes and bananas in the middle of the winter. Carbon footprint to get them here and the Carbon retention loss to plant them.
We own 80 acres of trees and grass. We just bought 50 acres of pasture and are planting 10,000 Teak trees. Go do something, stop using my oxygen up and telling people what to do with their lives. And no, I'm not a greenie, I love steak and to deer hunt.
My point is to come up with subcategories to get these negative energy posts off to the side. If someone is truly worried about the stock or housing market crashing, I will be glad to give them positive actions they can take based on their risk analysis.
If someone truly thinks its a bad time to buy, then I will be glad to help them to learn to do more business deal analysis, they haven't learned their risk/reward level yet is all. Put that into a different subcategory under Big Sister/Big Brother or mentor section. Any experienced investor won't ask that question unless there is a nuance to the situation or they are just being an irritant.
- Rental Property Investor · Reading, PA · Member since 2020 · 17 posts · 8 votes5y
Allow to save a property analysis mid way for completion later.
- Investor · Alpharetta, GA · Member since 2015 · 241 posts · 185 votes5y
I have two suggestions to make the experience better...
1. Shorten your podcast to 30 minutes. Most are over an hour- I will not listen. Mostly listen while driving or exercising. Rarely an hour long. Most podcasts are 30 minutes or less for a reason...general listener interest wanes after 30 minutes.
2. I understand your emphasis with podcasts, webinars and books is toward the newbee - but why is the majority of this information devoted to them? How about the 100,000 + members that have been here for years? How about for the "Pro" level? Not newbees, and not here to mainly give out advise to those that are. We also look for higher level content to keep our axes sharp! Would be nice to see higher level information that full timers can look forward to...legal, financial, reviews of newer apps, interviews with "expert" members and/or retired members, and their path to retirement, etc. Not just B-R-R-R-R investing, and the path to apartment owning. How about podcast interviews with lenders, maybe someone associated with HGTV/DIY that work with the show talent - and how some of the stars got to where they are now? That would be interesting! There are a number of areas of interest to bring this content to your members. BP should have a lot of weight for finding talent in the industry based on your membership and years of providing all this content!
- Member since 2019 · 1 post · 1 vote5y
I was recently using the BP rental property calculator to analyze deals and when I went to download the PDF report of a recent deal I notice a discrepancy in the monthly cash flow amount. When I subtracted monthly expenses from monthly income the cash flow amount was different from what was stated on the report. I thought I had made a mistake when entering in the information/numbers on the property, but the same issue appeared on other reports of deal analysis.
When I watched recent webinars, I noticed the same issue when they displayed the PDF report of the deal they were analyzing. Does anyone else have this same issue with the rental property calculator? Thanks
- 5yBonnie LowPro MemberLender · Asheville, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votesI'm noticing a trend in the BP forums lately. The number of snarky comments is really increasing. I guess that shouldn't be surprising since you see this on every other kind of social media. But when I joined BP I really appreciated the genuine demeanor and positivity of most members. Members helping each other is what makes BP great. When someone asks a question, if you think it's a dumb question just keep scrolling. Don't be a jerk. It could be a very legitimate question for the person asking. If you're a jerk, you add zero value here and only make yourself look bad. And worse, you might be intimidating newer members. It might be too much for the moderators to monitor, but it would be nice to see what ideas people have for mitigating this problem. Maybe instead of just a 'vote' button there could be a thumbs up or a thumbs down button? I don't know the answer, that's for sure. I just really hate seeing this. And I really, really appreciate the people who helpfully reply to posts.
- 5yBonnie LowPro MemberLender · Asheville, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
@Richard Balsam I love your ideas for different content! I would really like to hear more of the HOW stories. It's interesting to hear that someone did 50 deals this year or just closed on an 80 unit apartment complex, but more experienced investors really want to talk about the HOW. I really appreciated the recent podcast with the DIY guy who shared lots of tips that contractors know and the average house flipper doesn't. That was invaluable and a great change of pace. I remember thinking at the time that it was so much more practical than just learning about someone's story. Those are great, especially for motivation, but it would be nice to mix it up.
- Property Manager · Hayward, CA · Member since 2018 · 41 posts · 24 votes5y
@Jonathan Steigeri totally agree. I don't use the calculators yet because I'm not actively investing yet but having those available in the app will definitely contribute positively to my decision to pay for the premium account.
- Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes5y
Originally posted by @Bonnie Low:
I'm noticing a trend in the BP forums lately. The number of snarky comments is really increasing. I guess that shouldn't be surprising since you see this on every other kind of social media. But when I joined BP I really appreciated the genuine demeanor and positivity of most members. Members helping each other is what makes BP great. When someone asks a question, if you think it's a dumb question just keep scrolling. Don't be a jerk. It could be a very legitimate question for the person asking. If you're a jerk, you add zero value here and only make yourself look bad. And worse, you might be intimidating newer members. It might be too much for the moderators to monitor, but it would be nice to see what ideas people have for mitigating this problem. Maybe instead of just a 'vote' button there could be a thumbs up or a thumbs down button? I don't know the answer, that's for sure. I just really hate seeing this. And I really, really appreciate the people who helpfully reply to posts.If you see something that you think crosses a line, feel free to hit the "Report Abuse" button on the post - it's in the little dots at the top right hand corner of the post. I promise a moderator/staff member will see it and can review. Not to be used just because someone disagrees with you, but you are correct in that there's too many posts that moderators can catch anything and so there's some level of depending on the community!
Skyline Properties - Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes5y
Originally posted by @Bonnie Low:
I'm noticing a trend in the BP forums lately. The number of snarky comments is really increasing. I guess that shouldn't be surprising since you see this on every other kind of social media. But when I joined BP I really appreciated the genuine demeanor and positivity of most members. Members helping each other is what makes BP great. When someone asks a question, if you think it's a dumb question just keep scrolling. Don't be a jerk. It could be a very legitimate question for the person asking. If you're a jerk, you add zero value here and only make yourself look bad. And worse, you might be intimidating newer members. It might be too much for the moderators to monitor, but it would be nice to see what ideas people have for mitigating this problem. Maybe instead of just a 'vote' button there could be a thumbs up or a thumbs down button? I don't know the answer, that's for sure. I just really hate seeing this. And I really, really appreciate the people who helpfully reply to posts.Hey....do us moderators a solid, and flag the snarky posts so we can review them. Theres simply too many posts for us to read them all. We rely on members flagging posts to review.
District Invest Group545 Reviews - 5yBonnie LowPro MemberLender · Asheville, NC · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
@JD Martin and @Russell Brazil will do. I don't want to be "that guy" but I also hate to see people treated poorly. Thanks!
- Rental Property Investor · RVA · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 4k+ votes5y
Originally posted by @Bonnie Low:
@JD Martin and @Russell Brazil will do. I don't want to be "that guy" but I also hate to see people treated poorly. Thanks!
The moderators need our help! Only you can prevent BP turning into another toxic online forum. Reporting abusive or rulebreaking posts is one of the few things that will help BP stay great and keep it from devolving like so many other forums have. Reporting abusive posts is doing the rest of us a favor :)
- Member since 2020 · 69 posts · 15 votes5y
I find nothing more frustrating than to click a link prompting me for a credit card. How about labeling content that is all about revenue generation vs information purposes only.
- Property Manager · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2018 · 280 posts · 221 votes5y
@Allison Leung I’d like more examples exploring issues investors have while scaling, while figuring out payroll, and doing all the work. How to navigate through it all in more detail would be beneficial.
- Boring, OR · Member since 2018 · 18 posts · 10 votes5y
Okay I’m give it away. Mr. Dorkin be prepared to make Jeff Bezos bank acct look like chump change.
For beginners it’s tough to know where to start right?
My suggestion is to create a quiz/ personality trait assessment that takes into accountRisk level ,Goals ,Time frame, Etc etc
kind of like a DISC eval if you will.
But will help place investors in areas where they will Have the highest chance of success. We all know there are more than one ways the skin the cat in this game. A bump in the right direction would be awesome for people.
I love what y all are doing. Keep it up. - Investor · Member since 2020 · 401 posts · 86 votes5y
Originally posted by @Bryan Danger:
I love most of what BP is all about, and have found it generally more positive, inclusive and welcoming than most of the FIRE'd or early retirement forums out there. Good Work!
That being said, I also feel like the content is skewed largely to the mega-deals and multi-millionaires rather than the first time or small investors, which is still by far the norm. I assume if someone already made their way to BP they probably don't need the inspirational stories of those who "made it big" so much as they seek details on how to get started or when to call it quits.
I also feel like the overall "attitude" based on content/podcasts found here is focused on the mega-millions as where our experience from those that reach out to us for support, ideas, coaching, etc has been that most people don't actually have that as a realistic goal.
In our experience, most people don't have a desire to have 100s or 1000s of properties to manage or need to make millions of dollars. Most people would be stoked to simply make "enough". To have their portfolio allow them to find live/work balance. To make enough passive income to live the lifestyle they want rather than investing in dozens more properties every year and taking on the additional workload that comes with it.
Where is the basic truth that for most people, if they live simply and invest wisely in just a handful of investments... that they can hire someone to manage the portfolio, walk away from both the 9-5 and the investing, retire early and live the life they've always wanted? Isn't that actually the more common goal and aspiration of the average BP visitor/listener? Where are those stories? Where are the stories like ours that show that enough is actually enough??
Thanks for asking and for working to make BP a better place!Excellent comment, right on
- Investor · Toronto, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 50 posts · 15 votes5y
@Damilola Ade @Stephanie Blouin Agreed. Need some more content for the canucks! :)
- Real Estate Agent · Oklahoma City, OK · Member since 2020 · 471 posts · 462 votes5y
Hi, it would be great to offer the tools in a way that didn't require a membership, I don't like to sign up for things that I am utilizing to its full extent. Perhaps offer the tools as one-time purchase or just a subscription for those..
- Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2017 · 2 posts · 0 votes5y
In the MarketPlace, I'd like to see recommendations that are current and posted within the past two years. Install either a filter or have the posts archived after 24-months.
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