How To Use Bigger Pockets As Your Greatest Resources

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I first heard of Bigger Pockets through a friend’s financial podcast. This was before real estate was ever on my radar of being a feasible investment vehicle. My friend repeatedly promoted real estate investing as having the highest potential for asset growth, passive income, and ultimate financial freedom. And BP was often lauded as the best platform to help aspiring investors get started.

So I looked up the BP podcast, listened to an episode while driving in my truck, and was quickly hooked. I enjoyed the hosts’ (Brandon and David) dynamic, how they’d make fun of each other and themselves, all while exuding passion and knowledge about real estate investing. I appreciated the variety of topics they discussed, including mindset (knowing your Why), strategies, choosing your investment team, etc. But the most inspiring aspect about the show for me was the everyday guests they’d interview who were crushing it in their investing careers. Hearing stories of normal people overcoming their fears and obstacles, and persevering to achieve great success gave me hope and excitement that I could do the same, and who knew - maybe even be a BP guest myself some day.

I didn’t anticipate the can of worms I was opening when I started listening to the podcast. Soon I was exploring the BP website, and had signed up for a membership. There I discovered an treasure trove of education and resources to give an aspiring investor like myself the knowledge and tools I needed to get a plan in place and start my investing journey. But I was quickly overwhelmed on where to start and how best to utilize the site. It took time for me to navigate out of the weeds and start digesting this newfound knowledge in an organized and productive way. That’s what I want to provide in this article: a guide to using the BP website and its resources to your greatest benefit. I will break down most of the resources and provide my own tips on how to best take advantage of them.

  1. The Bigger Pockets Podcast - This is how I initially got sucked into the real estate investing world. As I drive a lot for my job, I’m always looking for a solid podcast to listen to. BP has a fantastic library of episodes dating back to 2013. You will be inspired and motivated by everyday people who shook off their analysis paralysis and are forging a life of success and freedom through real estate investing. Episodes typically range from 1-1.5 hours, with about 80% meat and some banter sprinkled throughout to keep it light. Listen to one episode every day and you will develop sound foundational knowledge in no time.

    • Quick tip: Through the show sponsor ads, you’ll learn of many different companies that help real estate investors with the various aspects of their business (property management, contracting, lending, marketing, lead generating, etc.). So don’t skip them, but rather compile a list of these companies as references when you’re starting your own business.

  2. Education

    • Guides:

      • The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate: this was the first place I started once I began exploring the website. This gave me a solid starting point in my investing knowledge, as I earned about different types of rental properties, investing strategies, developing a real estate team, finding and analyzing properties, and more. This guide isn’t all-encompassing, nor is it a full-proof blueprint on how to have a successful, mistake-free investing career. But it does provide a broad-stroke explanation on how you can get started.

        • Quick tip: this guide features links to relative articles, so you can really do a deep dive in educating yourself on this topic

      • The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Home Loans: explains what a mortgage is; distinguishes between types of home loans; and defines key terms of the financing process (down payment, credit score, PMI, closing costs, etc.)

      • The Ultimate Step by Step Guide to Becoming a Millionaire: explores the ONLY three ways anyone becomes a millionaire - who wouldn’t want to know this?

      • The Ultimate Guide to Tenant Screening: They say a rental property is only as good as the tenants you fill it with. This guide walks you through the precise steps to take to find the best tenants for your properties.

      • The Ultimate Step by Step Guide to Buying a Duplex: will teach you how to find great small multifamily (SMF) properties and manage them into cash flow machines.

      • The Ultimate Guide to Flipping Houses: learn how to find great deals, run the numbers, and avoid common pitfalls for wannabe flippers.

    • Weekly webinars (and library):

      • Webinars are a great tool because they’re educational and entertaining. Brandon typically moderates them, but you can also watch webinars hosted by David Greene and other BP leaders.

      • If you sign up for a live webinar, you’ll be learning along with other investors from all over the country. At the end of most webinars Brandon will walk you through analyzing a deal, which is very helpful to see.

      • One great perk of being a BP member is access to their entire library of webinars.

        • Quick tip: Watch at least one webinar each week, and complete the corresponding fillable worksheet

    • Free course(s):

      • The Financial independence blueprint is a 4 part video course hosted by Brandon, where he provides you with a real estate road map and simple strategies to achieve your investing goals.

    • Glossary: use as a reference throughout your ongoing education and property-buying process

    • Member blog

      • You can learn from the writings of other experienced investors

      • When you feel like you’ve gained some good knowledge, you can write contribute with your own blog posts

  3. Network

    • In a nutshell, the BP network enables you to explore a list of partner companies that will assist you in various aspects of your investing endeavors, including: construction & building, hard money, real estate agents, wholesaling, etc.

      • Quick tip: Use the company directory to find vendors in your area. You can also create a profile for your own investing company to drive leads to your business.

  4. Forums: this space is crucial to your REI education because it allows you to ask and answer any and all questions about real estate investing. Many of the users on the forums have years of experience with real estate deals and are more than willing to network provide useful answers and advice. It’s important to note that advertisements, solicitations, and self promotional posts are only allowed in the Marketplace Forum.

    • You can follow trending topics, or simply browse different forum groups like investor basics, landlord & tenant, foreclosures, etc. New investors are encouraged to post their questions in order to learn from more seasoned investors.

      • Quick tip: set keyword alerts by clicking the bell icon in the top right toolbar. Say you’re interested in 1031 exchange deals in Des Moines, Iowa; you can set keyword alerts for both so that you’re notified every time one or both of these are mentioned by other users.

    • The Marketplace provides real estate listings, including off market properties. You can also promote or advertise your real estate business, deals and opportunities, etc. Find buyers for your residential or commercial properties. You can also solicit partners, financing, deals, leads or referrals.

    • Lastly, use the forums to look up local REI meetups to attend in your area. Attending meetups is the best way to grow your network quickly and develop your REI team.

  5. Tools

    • Familiarize yourself with the calculators to learn how to analyze deals

      • There are calculators to help you analyze potential rental properties, wholesale deals, mortgage payments, rehab, BRRRR, Air B&B, fix and flip, etc. For each calculator there is a short tutorial video to show you how to use it. But you can also find more detailed videos on using the calculators by watching some of the specific webinars

      • Utilize the landlord resources to manage your properties and tenants in the most efficient way possible.

  6. Bookstore: while there are numerous books for sale on the site, I’m only going to highlight the two I’ve read so far:

    • The Book on Rental Property Investing, by Brandon Turner. With more than 270,000 copies sold, this book will teach you how to build an achievable plan, find incredible deals, finance and manage your properties, and much more!

    • Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat (BRRRR), by David Greene. This investment strategy has supercharged countless real estate investors’ incomes. This book details the exact steps needed to implement it in your own REI career.

      • Quick tip: Under the bookstore tab you can also browse your member perks (if you have a paid subscription). They also have lease agreement packages for each state, which will be of great benefit when you find your first tenants to move into your rental property

So there you have it! A great map to navigate the BP website and take advantage of all its tools. Whether you are just starting out, or have been investing for years, utilizing this one-of-a-kind platform and its invaluable tools and materials will more than equip you for success. Now it’s up to you to dig in, soak it all up, and apply it - good luck!