Is Bigger Pockets Creating Unrealistic Expectations For Investors

Buying & Selling Real Estate
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Is Bigger Pockets Creating Unrealistic Expectations For Investors

Russell BrazilBusiness Member
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Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes

One of the more complex parts of being a real estate agent is setting realistic expectations for what your client can expect from the market. There are always going to be people who have unrealistic expectations, but I seem to be getting more and more of these type of potential clients contacting me from Bigger Pockets lately. They think they should be able to buy a $500k property for $350k, or think they can make $100k on their first flip. They are so convinced they are right that no one is going to buy property X at price $Y, and if they do they will lose money...when in fact they are 110% wrong...someone will buy X at $Y and make good money.  Or they want the cash flow of a C Class neighborhood in a Class A neighborhood.

So what do you think, does BP help to foster unrealistic expectations amongst investors?

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Priyanshu AdathakkarPro Member
Realtor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 313 posts · 245 votes
9y

The biggest flaw I have seen here is inexperienced people giving advice when they themselves have no clue of what they are talking about!

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  • Account Closed
    Investor · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 885 votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Frank C.:

    @Account Closed, Just curious to know what motivates you.  Why not do the deal yourself?  If finding deals that turn $11k into $52K in 90 days is that easy, why don't you do that all day long and skip the teaching?  What does that come out to, $5000 per hour for his time?  Not a bad wage.  It is substantially better than what I make and probably better than you teaching wage too.

     @Frank C Good question. When you do a lot of deals annually, like I do, if you can show a livable income that isn't just real estate, you can more easily avoid being called a "dealer" by the IRS. Very significant tax differences. 

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 885 votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @Michaela G.:

    @Matthew Olszak , I simply don't think that it's the same house.

     ;-) It is the same house. I mixed up the before and after. The one without the shutters is what the seller provided to us from when he first moved in. My mistake. The seller did a bunch of upgrades about three years ago. The current listing is pictured below:   If you want a link to the listing or Youtube video, email me. This really isn't the place to post a bunch of photos on one property.       I am just showing that it can be done.

    0Reply
  • Craig Jackson
    Investor · Franklinton, LA · Member since 2017 · 43 posts · 35 votes
    9y

    I will be the first to tell you it's not a get rich quick method. There is a lot of work and time involved. Timining/Market Conditions/etc. play an important part on getting a good deal. I believe peoples sense of reality is clouded because the dont realize the hard work/sacrifice/failures/mistakes/loss/etc. that may have occurred along the route to becoming a successful investor.

    1Reply
  • Chris Purcell
    Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2010 · 739 posts · 372 votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @David Grabiner:

    @David Dachtera I was wondering why so many of your posts referenced the benefit of paid education and then I looked at your profile and saw my answer. 

    Wow good find.  I prefer the school of hard knocks, I will never forget some of the things I've learned (although costly)

    0Reply
  • David Dachtera
    Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Chris Purcell,

    Congratulations on being independently wealthy! Most newbies are not.

    Hard Knocks U. will help you figure out what to do after you've gone belly up, landed in jail, been fined heavily, etc. 

    It can't teach you how to avoid any of that because it doesn't know how.

    0Reply
  • Chris Purcell
    Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2010 · 739 posts · 372 votes
    9y

    @David Dachtera if you say so 

    0Reply
  • David Grabiner
    Investor · Chattanooga, TN · Member since 2016 · 146 posts · 108 votes
    9y
    Originally posted by @David Dachtera:

    @Chris Purcell,

    Congratulations on being independently wealthy! Most newbies are not.

    Hard Knocks U. will help you figure out what to do after you've gone belly up, landed in jail, been fined heavily, etc. 

    It can't teach you how to avoid any of that because it doesn't know how.

     I'm a little confused by this assertion. Can someone not learn from their small mistakes before it leads to disasters like you stated above? Couldn't someone bring what they have learned in life from other fields and apply it to RE investing without having those disasters? Couldn't someone read books, blogs,  and listen to podcasts and at the same time invest to get hands on experience to learn from? 

    2Reply
  • Chris Purcell
    Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2010 · 739 posts · 372 votes
    9y

    @David Grabiner @David Dachtera Not when you have a product to sell...  his post was asinine anyways, not even worth the time

    0Reply
  • David Dachtera
    Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Chris Purcell,

    The clue is in the name: "Hard Knocks".

    If it DID know, the name wouldn't apply.

    0Reply
  • Parker Cox
    Independent Insurance Agent · San Diego, CA · Member since 2015 · 138 posts · 56 votes
    9y

    My feeling is that realism is for those of us who have been around this business awhile.  Fantasy is part of the allure.  It is the unreal expectations that get a lot of people over the hump of fear and trepidation and into their first deal.  

    Maturity comes with experience.  Temperance, is key to any long term investment strategy.  But, I think that in some ways, BP is really a 2 fold site.

    1--it is a place to help newbies turn dreams into reality

    2--it is a place for the experienced (or all levels) to have valuable interchange that offers a competitive and cooperative advantage.  

    The romance of the business is key to enter into the marriage and stick it out later on.  

    Does BP influence that, probably, but I don't think it is ever without the caveat of its not all honeymoon.  

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