All Forum Posts by: Scott Trench

Welcome, Ale! We are here for you as you get up to speed and meet more of the great people here on BiggerPockets! 

 Honestly, I'll probably do more forums and social stuff - the CEO gig takes a lot out of a guy. I was posting here before I ever worked here, so I suppose that's what I'll do now..

Hi Friends,

After a decade leading this incredible organization, I’ve made the both tough and exciting decision to step down as CEO, and to focus full-time on BiggerPockets Money and the broader work of personal finance in pursuit of early retirement. 

My announcement comes after a decade of being a part of this incredible organization, and over 7 and a half years leading it. My last day as CEO will be just over 11 years after my first forum post (before I started working here), where I was first welcomed with open arms into this community, and by some of the folks still contributing to these forums now.

I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the countless individuals who have poured their hearts into making BiggerPockets the transformative force it is today.

In particular, from this community, I want to thank @Jay Hinrichs, @Nathan Gesner, @James Wise, @Joe Villanueva, and @Russell Brazil for the the truly incredible amount of value they’ve added to these forums, changing countless lives. This group alone has posted nearly 100,000 combined times!

Also, I’d like to shout out @Joshua Dorkin, @Brandon Turner, @David Greene, @Dave Meyer, @J Scott, @Brian Burke, @Jon Holdman, @Darren Sager, @Natalie Kolodij, @Bruce Woodruff, @JD Martin, @Dawn Brenengen@Dawn Brenengen@Dmitriy Fomichenko@Dmitriy Fomichenko@Dmitriy Fomichenko
Each of you have brought value to countless people via the hundreds of thousands of individual posts made by just this group of tagged contributors + the content in other forms that reached tens or hundreds of millions. And many of you have done it with spunk, style, and a fiercely protective stance in terms of what we believe is the “right” way to invest in real estate and the right values for this community. 

One of you even managed to post tens of thousands of times, adding the most value of anyone in this community ever, without ever using spellcheck!

I’m proud of this platform and community. We set out with an audacious goal: to help, at least in some small way, to create 1 million millionaires through real estate, financial education, and community. I am extremely proud to share that, by our estimation, we have achieved and far surpassed this $1 trillion objective.

Among the 3.15 million members who have cumulatively joined BiggerPockets, our survey data indicates that 29% (913K) have reached millionaire status. Add in any reasonable approximation for the millionaires (~29%) who listen to BiggerPockets Money (5M unique listeners) and we are well past that goal, not including listeners to our other podcasts, YouTube viewers, book readers, guests (not logged into BiggerPockets.com accounts, etc.) These numbers are not just statistics—they represent lives changed, dreams realized, and legacies built. Let's be a small part of the journey for another 10 million in the years to come.

Thank you for trusting me to lead this journey. It has been the honor of my career.

And, again, I won’t be going far. I look forward to continuing to work with many of you, and be alongside you on your commutes, in the gym, or wherever you listen to or watch podcasts, as I transition to focusing full-time on BiggerPockets Money and the pursuit of early retirement beyond real estate investing.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Scott Trench

Real Estate Investor

PS: Tomorrow we will announce our awesome incoming CEO on the BP Money Podcast!

Hi Team - I am aware of these posts. I am flagging our new Head of Growth, who will be joinign the discussion. 

I have not reviewed the original discussion, and do not have all the context, so I am not making any calls on the situation here. I'd like to lock the thread, until we have had a chance to discuss, as this is now politically charged, getting heated, and starting to escalate. 

Happy Monday.

We are clearly moving away from debate of policy and its impact on real estate to personal attacks. 

This discussion about tariffs and broader policy impact on investment returns is important, but if the behavior of attacking one another does not cease, instantly, I will ban the next attack post, or posters, and lock the discussion.

Please, take the political attacks to a competitor. 

Weird - I'm not sure how the thread got locked. It's unlocked.

Let us know how this works out! 

I bet Cali real estate is among the best performers in the country in 2025, with a combination of lower new supply, and the "boomerang" effect of California people who moved to Texas, Florida, and other sunbelt and southern states packing up and moving back, back to Cali, Cali. 

The call of the business friendly Texas market sounds incredible... right up until you realize that with that comes insects the size of rodents, snakes, heat and humidity that have you perspire in mere moments, and property taxes that in many cases are even higher than what they left behind in California. 

No knock on Texas and Florida - just a statement of reality that California is an incredible place to live, and many who experience it, can't stay away. 

Let's circle back in 12 months and see how it goes! I am often wrong. 

I once spoke at a San Diego Meetup. 

In attendance were a bunch of folks from San Francisco, because, of course, the cash flow in San Diego was excellent. 

The San Diego folks wanted to invest in Denver and were curious about the better cash flow here. 

And, here in Denver, the locals want to invest somewhere to the East in the mid-west, because there is no cash flow to be found here. 

But, the folks who invest for the long-term in San Diego, San Francisco, and Denver all seem to be rich within a reasonable band, offering them an excellent quality of life. 

I know few folks who have invested 1,000s of miles from where they live (they do exist - I do know them, but they are rare), who built substantial wealth through real estate.

Backyard is best, unless you make the out of state location you invest a meaningful part of your portfolio and life. 

I have no trouble believing that those who invest in San Diego, specifically, and hold for the next 15 years will be rewarded beautifully. A different reward, but potentially better, than their peers in other places around the country, and certainly better than most of their peers who live near them in San Diego, who pick locations thousands of miles away that they otherwise have little ties to.

We are obviously not going to take this down. 

I'm sorry to hear this terrible news, Nathan. Very best to you and your wife. Aside from this link, please let us know how we can help.