All Forum Posts by: Daniel Ryu

No.. it wasn't BiggerPockets.. (yet ^^)

A little more than a year ago, I made the decision to start investing in real estate. Only I had one small problem. I'm living in Korea and I wanted to buy in the US. I had to find a way to overcome 6,000 miles of ocean.

Enter.. BiggerPockets..

Thanks to the BP community here, not only was I able to meet two AWESOME and KNOWLEDGEABLE joint venture partners: @Maxwell Lee and @Kelly L. and make that first investment, I was also able to meet @John Van Uytven who had the great idea to start a meetup out here in Korea - The Seoul Real Estate Investing Meetup which I've posted about in the past:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/223/topics/185...

A Korean market-focused podcast - Marketing In Korea - asked me to come on the show to talk about my 17 years of experience doing business in Korea as well as talk about the meetup I help co-organize and how I was able to invest in the US while living in Korea. I, of course, mentioned BiggerPockets several times!

I know I'm not a seasoned enough real estate investor for the listeners of the BP Podcast yet @Joshua Dorkin @Brandon Turner but I'm working on it ^^

The great thing that this journey into real estate investing has taught me is the power of networking with others. I'm not sure I meet Tony, the show's host, had I not been co-organizing our meetup. And I owe the shift in my thinking, in realizing how important it is, to the community here at BP. 

So thanks guys!

And if anyone wants to learn more about how 16 BP Colleague Requests led to my first real estate investment, here's a link (It's all in English ^^):

http://www.marketinginkorea.com/006/

Also on iTunes, Marketing In Korea, Episode #6

Also a big shout out to the other members of the Seoul Real Estate Investing Meetup who are on BP: @Jacob Michaels, @Dustin Karns, @Josh McNicoll, @Sandra Roddy, @Robert E. Medlock II, @Account Closed

The app seems very unreliable so I stopped using it. I was going to look at it again but I realized that I deleted it from my phone.

What I'd want from the app:

- Ability to post comments to thread / posts (I like to do this on the go while I'm commuting)

- Ability to access my inbox and message people 

Hope it improves and when it does, please let us know as I'll try it out again. 

@Jonathan Kim

Welcome Jonathan! Living rent-free or house hacking as @Brandon Turner calls it. Sounds like a great way to get started. 

I'm out here in Korea right now. I help organize a meetup - The Seoul Real Estate Investing Meetup. I've posted a few times about our meetups and we've had a lot of support from BP members joining us virtually to speak and answer questions. 

Anyways, just wanted to say welcome and if you ever find yourself back in Korea for a visit and want to meet with other investors, let me know!

I'm Dan Ryu. I'm currently one of the organizers of the Seoul Real Estate Investing meetup.

(+167 members strong)

I've posted about our group several times on BP:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/posts/user/dwryu72

I'm interested in gaining experience in the field of Commercial Mortgage Brokering.

I've been President of Operations for the past 15 years in Korea (www.espirit.co.kr) and I plan to one day return to the US where one of my goals is to work as a Commercial Mortgage Broker.

I enjoy underwriting properties and I'm an investor myself. Although I don't have a formal legal background, I graduated from UCLA with honors and was accepted to USC law school (which I turned down to stay in Korea), so I feel I have the necessary ability to read about compliance requirements of different financial institutions. 

I'm willing to work virtually 'birddogging' loans (as another BP poster termed it), helping to organize paperwork and correspondence for others. I wouldn't expect any pay or commission for this type of work.

I'd also be willing to exchange services in return for learning. Some of the skills I have are:

* Writing / Blogging / Emails

* Creating Basic Cartoon Videos (sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhQpdJDUC5o)

* Creating systems/workflows and automation - I am familiar with Smartsheet, Asana, Podio, Wunderlist, Evernote, etc.

* I have been a mentor and informal coach to several associates over the past 10 years.

I'd also love to be able to talk with others who are interested in discussing the topic of: being a Commercial Mortgage Broker, Mortgage Loan Origination, etc. We can Skype, chat, Google hangout, email, etc., depending on your convenience. 

@Stephen Seaberry

Sounds great Stephen! Keep us posted on how it goes. And feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions.

@Jay Hinrichs

Thank you for re-emphasizing that. I may just end up getting the RMLO.

@Bill Gulley

Good info.. It's great to be able to hear from investors with so much experience!

It definitely is a confidence boost.

Thanks again BP!

@Ali Boone

The pleasure was all ours! 

You deserve to brag - INTERNATIONAL superstar that you are ^^

On behalf of the whole group, thanks again. And I hope to see you next time I'm out in California. 

@Bill Gulley

Thanks so much for the insight. I hope you don't mind but I'm going to PM you to ask a few more questions. I really appreciate it. 

@Lynne M.

Great question and suggestion! Thanks for the feedback. 

I tried a virtual meetup once. It was through Go To Meeting. The host didn't show up though so I'm not sure what it's like. 

Face to face definitely has it advantages. I think online is great for learning, but I'm not sure how the networking and casual conversations translate. 

Maybe you can try hosting something online in your area? If you do, let us know how it goes ^^