I’ve Been Away for a While (Five Years). Now I’m Back.

It has been a while since I have been active here on BiggerPockets.

Some of you may remember me from years ago. I wrote somewhere around 27 or 28 blogs here over a long stretch of time. BiggerPockets was one of the places I enjoyed sharing thoughts, lessons, deal stories, mistakes, wins, strategies, and the real-world side of investing that does not always show up in the clean, polished version people like to talk about after the fact.

Then, like a lot of investors, I slowed down.

From roughly 2016 through 2018, I was heavily involved in the residential investment business. During that period, I was responsible for wholesaling, flipping, buying, renovating, or selling 66 residential properties. We purchased more than $10 million in real estate and ultimately generated more than $16 million in sales.

I was not just watching from the sidelines.

I bought direct from sellers.
I wholesaled deals.
I worked with real estate agents.
I had agents act in dual-agency situations on both the buy and sell side.
I ran renovation crews.
I owned renovation crews.
I dealt with contractors, sellers, buyers, title companies, lenders, inspectors, appraisers, surprises, mistakes, delays, change orders, problem houses, great houses, and everything in between.

In other words, I got a full real estate investing education the hard way: by doing the deals.

After 2018, I started slowing down. The market had changed. Margins were thinner. Competition had increased. Everybody and their cousin suddenly wanted to wholesale, flip, or become a real estate investor. A lot of the low-hanging fruit was gone. Then the pandemic hit, and I more or less stepped back from active flipping.

I still did a few deals here and there, maybe two or three a year, just to keep my hand in it. But I was not operating at the same pace or intensity. I was focused on other business interests, sales systems, marketing systems, AI, automation, and revenue strategy.

Now I’m back.

And the reason is simple: the market is interesting again.

Not easy. Not simple. Not guaranteed. But interesting.

Interest rates are different. Affordability is different. Inventory is different. Buyer psychology is different. Seller motivation is different. Foreclosure activity has been increasing in many markets. Homeowners who bought or refinanced during different market conditions are now facing very different realities. Some are behind on payments. Some are sitting on equity but do not know how to access it. Some need speed. Some need options. Some need education. Some need a buyer who can actually solve a problem, not just make a lowball offer.

That is where the opportunity is.

I am not coming back to BiggerPockets to pretend the old market is still here. It is not.

The easy-money days are gone. The “anything you buy will go up” mindset is dangerous. The investor who survives the next cycle will need to know how to underwrite, negotiate, communicate, solve problems, structure deals, and move with discipline.

That is what excites me.

I have always believed real estate investing is not really about houses. It is about solving problems around houses.

A seller does not usually call you because everything is perfect. They call because something is happening. A property is too much to maintain. A mortgage is behind. A tenant is a problem. Repairs are overwhelming. An estate needs to be settled. A divorce is creating pressure. A job transfer forces a move. A foreclosure notice has arrived. The house needs work. The owner wants out.

The investor’s job is to understand the situation and figure out whether there is a clean, ethical, profitable way to create a solution.

That is the part of the business I have always enjoyed most.

So why BiggerPockets again?

Because this community still attracts people who are trying to learn, trying to grow, trying to do real deals, and trying to figure out what actually works. I know there are beginners here who need direction. I know there are experienced investors looking for better deal flow. I know there are agents who want to work with serious buyers. I know there are capital partners looking for operators. I know there are people who want to JV, learn, invest, or bring opportunities to the table.

That is why I am coming back.

My goals are pretty straightforward.

First, I want to do more deals.

I am interested in single-family opportunities, distressed properties, equity situations, seller-direct opportunities, agent referrals, creative structures, wholesale opportunities, fix-and-flip candidates, and deals where experience matters.

Second, I want to reconnect with agents and investors who understand that speed and certainty have value.

A good investor-friendly agent is worth their weight in gold. The right agent knows when a property is not a retail listing. They know when a seller needs options. They know when an investor buyer can solve a problem faster than a traditional listing process. I have worked well with agents in the past, and I expect that to be a major part of the next phase.

Third, I want to educate and help people who are newer to the business.

I have made money in real estate, but I have also made mistakes. Plenty of them. I have learned lessons from contractors, title issues, bad assumptions, repair budgets, unrealistic timelines, partnerships, seller conversations, resale mistakes, and market changes. If sharing some of those lessons helps another investor avoid a painful mistake, that is worth doing.

Fourth, I am open to JV partners.

Not every person needs to start by doing everything alone. Some people have capital. Some have deal flow. Some have time. Some have local knowledge. Some have construction relationships. Some have marketing skill. Some have hunger but need structure. The right joint venture can be powerful when the roles, risk, money, and expectations are clear from the beginning.

Fifth, I want to explore how technology and AI can improve the real estate investing business.

This is a major difference between my earlier investing years and now. Today, I spend a lot of time building sales systems, AI voice systems, follow-up systems, lead routing, scripting, and marketing automation. Real estate investors are still losing deals because they do not answer the phone, do not follow up fast enough, do not know how to talk to sellers, or do not have a process for sorting opportunities.

That is fixable.

The investor who combines old-school deal judgment with modern follow-up systems is going to have an advantage.

The fundamentals still matter: buy right, know your numbers, control your risk, understand the seller’s motivation, and have multiple exit strategies.

But the tools are better now.

You can build better lists. You can automate follow-up. You can track conversations. You can use AI to prequalify leads. You can move faster. You can stay in touch longer. You can build systems that help you compete without needing to be a giant operation.

That is where I see a lot of opportunity.

So, to the BiggerPockets community: I am back, and I am looking forward to reconnecting.

If you are an agent with investor-friendly opportunities, I would like to talk.

If you are an investor looking for someone who has been through multiple sides of the business, I would like to connect.

If you are newer and trying to understand how deals really work, I am happy to share what I have learned.

If you are interested in JV opportunities, mentoring, or bringing deals to the table, let’s have a conversation.

I have been away for a while, but I never really left the business. I just stepped back, watched the market change, and waited until things started to get interesting again.

Well, things are interesting again.

And I am ready to get back in the game.