All Forum Posts by: Scott Trench
Scott Trench has started 160 posts and replied 2596 times.
Post: Looking for ways to repair credit

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
I've personally never had bad credit, but the advice that one of the non-profits I work with gives to many people with ruined credit is several-fold. One of the big things here is motivation. People with bad credit sometimes don't understand that the credit score has a huge impact on their lives RIGHT NOW, and is an EMERGENCY. It is directly negating their ability to do things like a) get a job, b) find housing, and c) protect themselves and their families from further financial misfortune.
It's then important to explain that credit repair is a long process - it can be very time consuming to go from terrible to great and takes a number of years. This is by design - it wouldn't be a good barometer of your likelihood to fulfill your financial obligations if it could be fixed quickly and easily with tricks and gimmicks!
That said, it IS possible and common for folks to see substantial improvement - perhaps enough even to the point of qualifying for acceptable jobs and housing, in a matter of 6 months to one year by taking systematic steps:
1) Begin making small payments on at least a few of your outstanding debts. Credit scores are incremental and every baby step counts, even if it's just
2) Negotiate! Lenders would rather get something back than nothing back, and the folks with terribly damaged credit often have a lot more negotiating power than they think. All it takes is some time on the phone and the determination to work out something that works for both debtor and creditor. It's relatively common, for example, to see folks get large reductions on outstanding medical debt (often a big one for the poor and homeless) with a simple phone call. Then, of course, they will need to pay off the reduced, more manageable debt. Successfully paying down these large debts can be a great boost to credit, AND to personal outlook.
3) If you have little outstanding debt, or are starting fresh, a secured credit card can be a great, low-risk way to begin building credit history without getting yourself into trouble.
4) If you've completed the steps above, start planning ahead by building an emergency fund. If you've been in trouble before, it can happen again, AND you have less access to credit in an emergency situation because of a bad score. Building a financial buffer is especially important for those looking to repair their credit score.
Post: New Investor from Kansas City, Missouri

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
Umm Arun, Are you the same person as me? I also graduated from Vanderbilt University in the class of 2013. I also majored in Economics. I also minored in Finance and Corporate Strategy.
I also moved out West, though a little farther than you, and work for BiggerPockets, and buy small properties (currently own a duplex).
;)
Welcome to BiggerPockets! I bet it that BP provides exactly (see what I did there?) the same amount of value for you as it has for me!
Post: Profile Picture Upload not working

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
I just set up a new user account and tested this on chrome and firefox. In every instance (in the signup process, under profile settings, and in the dashboard box feed), I was unable to find any issues. Could you please provide more information?
What browser and operating system are you using?
Have you tried uploading it here:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/profile/photo
Post: New Member-California

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
Hi @Tanisha Bowden Welcome! We're excited to have you on board! Best of luck as you get started on your REI journey.
-Scott
Post: Should hdden profile be banned from posting

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
Please PM me links to these user's profiles that you'd like to report.
Post: Why is there no BP app yet?

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
We actually do have an app (I'm responding to your post with it right now!). Currently it is only available for iOS.
To respond to your general statement, we definitely are interested in improving our mobile experience. I'd encourage you or anyone else with some time on their hands to direct folks with relevant experience to apply for our Mobile App Developer position here:
www.biggerpockets.com/jobs
Post: house flipping calculator

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
If you go to the Flipping Calculator, you can view your previous reports at any time:
Post: Resorces Section - Can't Access all Sections as a PRO

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
Foreclosure listings are provided by foreclosure.com, and serviced entirely through them. The Pro Account does not grant access to these listings.
Post: Should hdden profile be banned from posting

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
@Tim FitzGerald Could you please be more specific? could you link to a post or provide screenshots?
Post: Can I get my "who recently viewed your page" back?

- Rental Property Investor
- Denver, CO
- Posts 2,740
- Votes 6,167
The concise thumbnail block has been eliminated. We are removing redundancies in certain parts of the site and attempting to systematically simplify our user experience. In this case, there are so many ways to get to the "who's viewed your profile" section from the dashboard, that we've just removed that block entirely.
The good news is that there are still a wide variety of ways to navigate very quickly to the page.
My preferred method is simply by clicking on the "profile views" piece of my stats in the top right of my dashboard. It takes you right to the stats page to view all of those people.