Why I will no longer answer questions from the unknowledgeable

[Don Konipol]

For the last 15 years I have been answering questions from unknowledgeable wanna be investors who watched a guru on YouTube and now wants to know where to get the earnest money to tie up multi million dollar properties before he can flip them for $200,000 profits.  After I provide a true, unbiased reasonable response more likely than not I’m “attacked” for (1) being a “hater”. (2) having “it in” for wholesalers or subject to buyers or lease option advocates or land flippers, or….. (3) not “understanding” the strategy or tactic in question (4) being out of touch with the way real estate works today.  So, to separate the rare newbie who is willing to do the real work at educating himself on what really is necessary for success from the people who want to take what they perceive is the guru/mentor shortcut (or the “cheap” version in which instead of buying the program you hang around the edges seeking “free” information from those who have paid for those program) I will not answer specifically as to why the program they’re suggesting won’t work or is too risky or borders on illegal.  Instead I will offer a simple suggestion.  Read and study 

Principles of Real Estate Practice: 6th Edition

by Stephen Mettling (Author), David Cusic (Author

Or a similar text.  IF you do I will be happy to answer any or all questions you may have.  But if the newbie won’t put the effort in to learn (1) the principles of real estate (2) real estate law and basic real estate finance I won’t make the effort to share the benefit of my knowledge and experience. 

[Steve Vaughan]

Thank you @JD Martin.  I agree with all you said, especially keeping legacy contributors with no angle like yourself and Jay engaged.

Like @Don Konipol , I also grew fatigued at answering the same form of questions over and over. But that's a normal forum arc.

My engagement fell off when I no longer saw on my dashboard what my '5 Js' were up to.  They all are what you mention- solid contributors just here to share knowledge and have interesting and informative debates: @JD Martin @Jay Hinrichs @Jim K. @Joe Splitrock and @Jerry W..    I see @Jack Seiden above making a strong case to be a 6th J😎

No finer 5 have I had the privilege to get to know on here. Bring back to our dashboards what our colleagues are posting. 

[Bruce Woodruff]

I could be wrong ( I was once :-) but I don't see this as such a hard fix. This is a great forum and helps more people for free than get taken advantage of by the hucksters....

What do we always say when giving advice to new landlords? 'What does your lease say?' Ok, so what do our rules say?

Tighten thigs back up, re-state the rules and keep an eye on transgressors, then deal with them.

Note - some of the other successful Forums that I participate in have their rules listed as Stickys at the beginning of every Sub-topic. It doesn't detract from the function or appearance at all.

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

I could be wrong ( I was once :-) but I don't see this as such a hard fix. This is a great forum and helps more people for free than get taken advantage of by the hucksters....

What do we always say when giving advice to new landlords? 'What does your lease say?' Ok, so what do our rules say?

Tighten thigs back up, re-state the rules and keep an eye on transgressors, then deal with them.

Note - some of the other successful Forums that I participate in have their rules listed as Stickys at the beginning of every Sub-topic. It doesn't detract from the function or appearance at all.

 I forgot to mention you in my list of all stars. That's what happens when you post late at night!

[Bruce Woodruff]

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

I could be wrong ( I was once :-) but I don't see this as such a hard fix. This is a great forum and helps more people for free than get taken advantage of by the hucksters....

What do we always say when giving advice to new landlords? 'What does your lease say?' Ok, so what do our rules say?

Tighten thigs back up, re-state the rules and keep an eye on transgressors, then deal with them.

Note - some of the other successful Forums that I participate in have their rules listed as Stickys at the beginning of every Sub-topic. It doesn't detract from the function or appearance at all.

 I forgot to mention you in my list of all stars. That's what happens when you post late at night!

 Lol, I bet you were having some Tennessee Champagne as Blackberry Smoke calls it... :-)

[Becca F.]

I think BP is great despite the sometimes sales convention tone of some of the posts. I networked with some very smart people. I learned more about construction and investing strategies and there are lots of things I won't do again. If I had listened to the cash flow crowd, I would have sold my Bay Area SFH (with lots of equity and low property taxes) and bought multiple OOS properties - the thought of all those cap ex down the line, PM fees and tenants...I'll pass. I'm keeping that house.

Also wanted to give a shoutout to @Jay Hinrichs. I sent him some documents that someone (messaging me on BP) sent me to do transactional lending. Jay spotted this scammer instantly. 

[Dave Foster]

Quote from @Jack Seiden:

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Jack Seiden:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

@Jack Seiden - It's tough to hear this feedback.

I, by not paying enough attention to our content engine, allowed us to veer off course, and lost some control over what we published as we scaled to so much content production. I am working hard with a new content team to get this back on track.

Question - do you think that since the beginning of the year (2024), we have largely moved back on the right side of the line in your view? Or are there recent examples of published content by us that you think are inappropriate?

So 1st of all, I should say the reason I bother to point all of this out is I think biggerpockets is a great value, I’ve met multiple people I consider good friends from this site & hate to see it ruined, to be frank I think since around the pandemic bigger pockets has increasingly been on of the bigger although certainly not the only purveyor of what I would basically consider real estate grift, the no money down buy 10 rental properties, just the other day you guys had Dave Meyer who is truly one of favorite real estate commentators on instagram promoting some program to invest in real estate with no money down and no assets, I know Dave likley doesn’t believe any of that and the social team justprobably made him do that, I think the push of  sub-2 is a scam that takes advantage of old people and very possibly constitutes mortgage fraud, without naming names I think I number of proment bp personalities can be more or less considered grifters promoting their own stuff, while obsetobly working for bigger pockets, I think a key part of any website is basic editorial control and that bp has failed at thet, sorry if that is harsh but I say it because I care lol. 

I think you make some really good points. 

It is not an easy task by any means to find & keep good content creators that also have "nothing to sell", so to speak, but in my opinion getting those people and keeping them engaged is a huge part of keeping the site both relevant and trusted. For example, and I know he wouldn't be interested of course :) , but my buddy is a prime example of a great contributor that's not interested in selling anyone anything but just giving away good advice he's compiled over his many years of investing. @Jay Hinrichs; a guy who is still actively doing things but never mentions trying to sell or push anything and has been very giving of his own time (including being a guest at a mastermind group I was part of). @Dave Foster, who is the guy I think of instantly when it comes to 1031 exchange but isn't found anywhere hawking guru courses. Just a couple of names of the dozens - maybe hundreds - that I trust on here whenever I read their posts. I fall into their camp (not the smart guy camp, the guy who has nothing to sell!) - I just enjoy talking and learning about RE. I've never done a 1031 but if I wanted to I've read enough of what Dave's said to feel not only confident that I could get it done but also understand what kind of pitfalls I might be against. Several of our resident CPAs enabled me to learn enough to do a successful cost segregation study on one of our properties. I have no idea where I could have learned that as well as I did on here, for practically free. What's funny is that the main honcho in charge - Scott Trench - I'd trust buying something from him in a second as I think he's genuine & sincere and it's obvious what Josh saw here when he was looking for a successor. Of course, he's not selling anything other than the idea of BP as a trusted RE site, but that depends on a lot of other people. 

So I get it when I hear someone say that they cringe when they hear BP podcast hosts or big personalities hawking their programs, books, learning programs and other items in either a back-door or blatant way. I know Brandon's not really associated with BP any more but reading the threads on Open Door creates either a bad taste or bad impression on a lot of people and that is really unfortunate, just as one example. Perhaps we (BP, the community) need a better firewall between the visible personalities - podcast hosts, webinar leaders, etc - and those with something to sell. It's not at all unusual for companies to have conflict of interest and ethical contracts or stipulations for its employees or associated vendors. 

Totally agree, and I should add I don’t envy Scott’s job, he’s doing the best he can in a frankly really tough both media space & the rates hikes I can’t imagine have been good for traffic, I think the other thing I should add is I don’t mind people on bp profiting off their work or appearances on bp so as long as they are able to also bring good advice add value, if Dave wants to give great 1031 advice and than charge people for his time great! I think the issue comes frankly when the advice is bad and/or harmful to the audience which is obviously subjective, but someone going on a podcast and telling you how to do a 1031 well to me is a lot different than telling people how to invest in real estate using “other people’s money” or sub-2, I also think the site needs to consider the broader effect on the public with some of thier strategies, for instance I’m not opposed to people buying “off market” if it’s done ethically and with everyone being on the same page, but you tell a broke 22 year old to buy “off market”  and they are going to take advantage of old people, I’m not totally confident biggerpockets even understands its own audience, I used to host a real estate meetup, I had to stop because it was literally meeting after meeting if me taking some 22 year old kid out of doing something either stupid or often borderline illegal, it wasn’t fun after a while, but like that’s the core bp audience at this point more so than people like me & you.

Thanks for those kind words all.  Can I correct one thing though just so there's no mistake, @Jack Seiden, I do give a lot of free advice here on BP.  But I also don't charge for my time consulting.  It's free also.  As a matter of fact I've consulted for free with people who are paying a different QI to do their exchange.  If someone wants to use me as their QI for a 1031 exchange that is awesome.  But my goal is to provide the best help available so they can succeed.  But @Don Konipol, you are right.  It can get depressing sometimes.  Just remember in the middle of all of those just looking for free, are some you are really helping!!!

Ever gone to buy cereal in the grocery store lately?  The boxes are the same size but if you read the fine print you'll see that there is less cereal in the box.   This is frequently how marketing today is perceived.  The goal is to maximize the income while minimizing the outflow.  Very sound words from a pure business economics standpoint.  But it also creates a scarcity mentality and politicizes the process.  And that's how the bad (yes there are good ones) gurus work to succeed - offer the least, charge the most, and tease to keep the tap open.  Not how I want to be.  And not how Bigger Pockets has operated either (although they do need to make a profit - right?).  

I say givers keep giving and don't be discouraged.  Receivers, know who you're receiving from.  And reward those who help you.  And everyone.  Let's just try to help anyone in our path succeed.  The world of real estate is plenty big for everyone.  

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

I could be wrong ( I was once :-) but I don't see this as such a hard fix. This is a great forum and helps more people for free than get taken advantage of by the hucksters....

What do we always say when giving advice to new landlords? 'What does your lease say?' Ok, so what do our rules say?

Tighten thigs back up, re-state the rules and keep an eye on transgressors, then deal with them.

Note - some of the other successful Forums that I participate in have their rules listed as Stickys at the beginning of every Sub-topic. It doesn't detract from the function or appearance at all.

 I forgot to mention you in my list of all stars. That's what happens when you post late at night!

 Lol, I bet you were having some Tennessee Champagne as Blackberry Smoke calls it... :-)

 Hahaha, I'm actually much more of a wine guy than whiskey or spirits. Though I won't turn away a nice, high quality bourbon on the rocka either :)

[V.G Jason]

Quote from @JD Martin:

Quote from @Jack Seiden:

Quote from @Scott Trench:

@Jack Seiden - It's tough to hear this feedback.

I, by not paying enough attention to our content engine, allowed us to veer off course, and lost some control over what we published as we scaled to so much content production. I am working hard with a new content team to get this back on track.

Question - do you think that since the beginning of the year (2024), we have largely moved back on the right side of the line in your view? Or are there recent examples of published content by us that you think are inappropriate?

So 1st of all, I should say the reason I bother to point all of this out is I think biggerpockets is a great value, I’ve met multiple people I consider good friends from this site & hate to see it ruined, to be frank I think since around the pandemic bigger pockets has increasingly been on of the bigger although certainly not the only purveyor of what I would basically consider real estate grift, the no money down buy 10 rental properties, just the other day you guys had Dave Meyer who is truly one of favorite real estate commentators on instagram promoting some program to invest in real estate with no money down and no assets, I know Dave likley doesn’t believe any of that and the social team justprobably made him do that, I think the push of  sub-2 is a scam that takes advantage of old people and very possibly constitutes mortgage fraud, without naming names I think I number of proment bp personalities can be more or less considered grifters promoting their own stuff, while obsetobly working for bigger pockets, I think a key part of any website is basic editorial control and that bp has failed at thet, sorry if that is harsh but I say it because I care lol. 

I think you make some really good points. 

It is not an easy task by any means to find & keep good content creators that also have "nothing to sell", so to speak, but in my opinion getting those people and keeping them engaged is a huge part of keeping the site both relevant and trusted. For example, and I know he wouldn't be interested of course :) , but my buddy @Steve Vaughan is a prime example of a great contributor that's not interested in selling anyone anything but just giving away good advice he's compiled over his many years of investing. @Jay Hinrichs; a guy who is still actively doing things but never mentions trying to sell or push anything and has been very giving of his own time (including being a guest at a mastermind group I was part of). @Dave Foster, who is the guy I think of instantly when it comes to 1031 exchange but isn't found anywhere hawking guru courses. Just a couple of names of the dozens - maybe hundreds - that I trust on here whenever I read their posts. I fall into their camp (not the smart guy camp, the guy who has nothing to sell!) - I just enjoy talking and learning about RE. I've never done a 1031 but if I wanted to I've read enough of what Dave's said to feel not only confident that I could get it done but also understand what kind of pitfalls I might be against. Several of our resident CPAs enabled me to learn enough to do a successful cost segregation study on one of our properties. I have no idea where I could have learned that as well as I did on here, for practically free. What's funny is that the main honcho in charge - Scott Trench - I'd trust buying something from him in a second as I think he's genuine & sincere and it's obvious what Josh saw here when he was looking for a successor. Of course, he's not selling anything other than the idea of BP as a trusted RE site, but that depends on a lot of other people. 

So I get it when I hear someone say that they cringe when they hear BP podcast hosts or big personalities hawking their programs, books, learning programs and other items in either a back-door or blatant way. I know Brandon's not really associated with BP any more but reading the threads on Open Door creates either a bad taste or bad impression on a lot of people and that is really unfortunate, just as one example. Perhaps we (BP, the community) need a better firewall between the visible personalities - podcast hosts, webinar leaders, etc - and those with something to sell. It's not at all unusual for companies to have conflict of interest and ethical contracts or stipulations for its employees or associated vendors. 

It's unrelatable to a lot of the folks that want to enter. There's the rookie podcast, and some of their problems/hurdles they faced were essentially mocking what some people would have to deal with today, if they entered the REI space. Then there's the STR bootcamp nonsense, never forget-- STRs are recession proof. Lots more I hear when I go on my plane and don't post on forum but watch the thumb-looking guy.

I think BP needs to really promote this investing & financial literacy, not fly by night gains. I get the instant gratification for this era, but sustainability is delayed gratification and physical asset investing is just that. Nothing to be ashamed, be prideful of that venture.

With inflation, affordability, and everything in between becoming a crunch. I think BP should really try to get folks set up on how to manage money before REI, to get into REI. A whole focus on that would change people's view of money, trading, investing, and all the expectations that come with it. Not this 5% down, or 0 money down, or lowest barrier of entry. The barrier entry is high, it's hard. There's a reason for that, because it is not easy. I get easy sells, but what will sustain is the truth.