BiggerPockets Pro is an upgrade to the already great free content accessible within their website.
If you aren’t familiar with the BiggerPockets podcast, books, or forum I recommend you check them out here
I began investing in real estate in 2015 and as I began looking for answers on Google I noticed a recurring trend. It seemed that no matter what question(s) I was asking BiggerPockets had an article, forum, or podcast that ranked in the top few search engine results…sometimes all of them! The more I searched the more I was directed to their website. Eventually, I stopped using Google and began going straight to the BiggerPockets website and using their search bar.
At this time I was using the free membership and was overwhelmed by the amount of value I was receiving from listening to the podcast and reading the member blogs and forums. I read The Book on Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner which guided me to buy my first duplex (which I still own). Since then I have read seven or eight other books published by BiggerPockets and each has provided amazing value!
Don’t believe me? check out the review I wrote about Chad Carson’s book Retire Early With Real Estate last month!
Every few months there are more BiggerPockets books being published! My favorite of the new BiggerPockets books is Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat by David Greene. The BRRRR strategy is great, and I loved reading this book!
More BiggerPockets books (and other resources)
After about 9 months as a free member, I watched one of their many webinars and upgraded to BiggerPockets Pro.
If you want to see more of the BiggerPockets books I recommend checking out my complete reading list here.
How to Network with BiggerPockets Pro
Want to be taken seriously? Being a BiggerPockets Pro member will open tons of new networking opportunities to you! The BiggerPockets Community is full of opportunities to connect with local investors and attend local events. My favorite benefit (and the reason I will always renew this membership) is the “Pro” mark on your profile picture. This signals to other investors that you are serious. I immediately noticed more responses to my forum questions and colleague requests once I had this Pro-stamp. This simple mark on your profile will go a long way in building credibility!
Brandon Turner himself has even become one of my Colleagues since earning my BiggerPockets Pro stamp!
BiggerPockets Pro Perks
There are four pages of perks that you receive from being a BiggerPockets Pro member, and they are still adding more! These perks are all great, but here are a few of my favorites!
-Better Mortgage: As a BiggerPockets Pro membership you receive a $1000 discount off your closing costs through this lender. That will pay for two years of your membership with the purchase of one property…which is something you want to buy anyway!
-yellowLetters: As a BiggerPockets Pro member you receive a 15% discount off any order. YellowLetters is a leader in the direct mail industry and my personal go-to for mass direct mail campaigns!
–Rentometer in order to verify what market rents are for every property I purchase. You can use it to access a lot of useful market information, and is a great tool! If you want more information on this tool, check out the full review I made!
-RentPrep: As a BiggerPockets Pro member you receive a 10% discount for every tenant screening. RentPrep offers tenant screening and background checks as well as live FCRA Certified Screeners available to answer your questions!
-When you sign up you will have immediate access to legally-binding landlord forms for all 50 states! This package (normally sold for $99) will save you the legal fees and hassle associated with self-managing your rental(s).
-The amount of perks offered is growing rapidly, in fact, I got an e-mail about a new perk this morning!
Calculators
Competitors
I did some searching through Google and stumbled across a lot of real estate investment calculators. Some of these programs require monthly subscriptions of $15-$30 on average (for only the calculator). I also found some software that sold for $99.95-$129.95 depending on which calculator you wanted to use…but that was just for ONE calculator! In my opinion, this could be the best calculator in the world (unlikely) and it still wouldn’t bring you as much value as a BiggerPockets Pro membership does.
BiggerPockets Calculators
There are currently seven calculators available for analyzing potential real estate investments. I have used all of these calculators, and I still use the rental property calculator to evaluate all of my purchases.
The BiggerPockets Rental Property Calculator
I have used this BiggerPockets calculator on every property that I have ever purchased. I particularly like the ability to download the report in PDF format (pictured below) and email that to my partner or lender to show them projected financials. Another benefit to this PDF is that I can send it to the seller when I submit my offer in order to support my offered price.
Each calculator is available to use five times with a free membership. In order to use this calculator an unlimited number of times, and access the PDF download feature you must become a BiggerPockets Pro member.
BRRRR Calculator
This calculator is more elaborate because the Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, and Repeat strategy is more complex. The PDF download becomes an even more important benefit when capturing rehab and refinance information. I wouldn’t want to attempt these calculations without using this BiggerPockets calculator.
Heard Enough? Become a BiggerPockets Pro member!
Education
I pulled the below numbers from a simple Google search. A quick search for each of these programs reveals a lot of results with people wondering if they are scams, or worth the expensive price-tags.
“X” Guru: $20,000-$50,000+ (I have attended the sales pitch seminar for this one, but did not buy the course).
“Y” Guru: $40,000
“Z” Guru: $35,000
With BiggerPockets Pro you’re not paying for a course, but unlimited access to millions of investors and real estate professionals. They don’t promise a “get rich quick” solution. Instead, they provide incredible amounts of value and knowledge designed to guide you toward financial freedom!
BiggerPockets Pro membership cost – $390 (annually)
That means you could pay for 128 YEARS of BiggerPockets Pro for the same price as the “X” Guru program! I purchased my first 11 rental properties for less than $15,000 out of pocket. I point this out to show that if you have $35k laying around you probably don’t need to buy an expensive crash course (buy a property and learn first hand). If you don’t have $35k laying around then you definitely don’t need to purchase one of these courses.
For less than one month’s rent, you could purchase an entire year of education from experienced investors located all around the world!
Skin in the Game
Honestly, if there wasn’t a membership feature for BiggerPockets I don’t know if it would have become the giant it is today. Paying for BiggerPockets Pro creates a strong buy-in to the community and motivates you to learn more, faster.
A Harvard Gazette study found that “Across 12 courses, participants who paid for “ID-verified” certificates (with costs ranging from $50 to $250) earned certifications at a higher rate than other participants: 59 percent, on average, compared to 5 percent.” If 54% more people complete online courses simply because they paid a small amount for the course, imagine how much more you’ll get out of your real estate investing education with a little skin in the game!
Conclusion
There is no platform that I can attribute more of my success in real estate investing than BiggerPockets. I was even a guest on the BiggerPockets Podcast!
Through this community, I have attended many events and met investors and professionals that opened new doors to me. I was able to partner on my first fix/flip property in Hawaii because of a BiggerPockets meetup!
Without BiggerPockets Pro I might not have ever taken action and bought my first property. This first house hack has made me thousands of dollars, and set me on an extremely valuable journey!
Even if I had, I am certain that my rental business wouldn’t have achieved as much success.
For me, it is a no-brainer to invest in yourself by purchasing a BiggerPockets Pro membership. I look forward to connecting with you on the forums!
Now, go join the community, and send me a colleague request with your awesome new Pro stamp!
*Update* A year later, I am not only STILL a huge believer in everything BiggerPockets has to offer, but I even write for their official blog now! There are some other exciting things coming for me through the BiggerPockets community as well, but I’ll update this when they happen!
If you aren’t going to become a pro member that is perfectly fine, but at least check out some of the BiggerPockets books I recommend, they just might change your life!
9 Responses
I agree with you, David. A PRO membership with BiggerPockets is incredibly worth it. Just prior to purchasing my PRO membership, I had attended a weekend real estate seminar where there was a strong emphasis on making an investment into one of the systems, to implement for a person’s real estate business.
As I looked around the room of about 350 people, where many of them, myself included, didn’t look like they had the money to make the “investment”, however, a few people did and good for them if they had the funds and the experience already behind them to make that kind of commitment. I understand that having a system in place helps tremendously, but for new people, which I believe that many of these people were at that seminar, having a system in place just wasn’t what was needed at that time. Gaining knowledge was and learning along the way helps too, because then I could see what is needed to implement and make the business run more efficiently.
I couldn’t add much more than what you’ve already said here in this post. A BiggerPockets PRO membership is definitely worth it, for anyone who is getting started with investing in real estate.
Kurt, I really appreciate the response!
I have also sat in some of those seminars and had similar realizations. Thank you for your feedback brother, look forward to connecting with you more in the future!
Thanks Kurt! I have contemplated for the past few months about signing-up for BP Pro membership. I spent all my savings on a real estate seminar, training, etc….after losing my job to COVID-19. I knew I had to do something to financially set myself up for the future, sink or swim time. And, although I have a master’s degree in accounting, I just wasn’t happy with the 60+ hours/wk working in corporate. So, at his point in the game, I’m simply trying to “trim the fat” so to speak to rid myself of unnecessary costs, but at the same time sink money into things that will be greatly beneficial. So, just want to thank you for your post on here, in addition David’s blog, as this has really helped me to make my mind up about whether to upgrade to pro status.
Glad that we have been able to help April!
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