Answers To
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some common questions users have while using REI. After reviewing if you still have a question please do not hesitate to contact us on the bottom of the page.
GETTING STARTED
- How much does it cost to be a member?
- Who is eligible to become a member?
- What is an Investor Screen Name?
- What is an Investor Web Address?
- What is My Home all about?
- How do I invite other Investors to join (and why should I do it)?
- What do I do if I cannot login?
- How do I change my Screen Name, Email or Password?
- How do I Verify My Email Address?
- What are the goals of Real Estate Investor?
- How did REI start? Who are the people behind the company?
- What are the Rules of the REI Community?
- Why should I advertise on Real Estate Investor?
- Who do I contact about a Media inquiry?
- What is a Profile and how do I get one?
- What can I use my Profile for?
- What is a Profile picture and how do I change it?
- How do I add my profile picture?
- How do I change the content of my Profile?
- How do I set my Profile as private?
- How do I add additional information boxes to my profile?
- Can I move the position of the content boxes in my profile?
- What are the Emblems on my profile and how do I get more?
- How do I upload Photos?
- My Photo is too large, what do I do?
- Why am I getting an error message when uploading a Photo?
- How many Photos am I allowed to upload?
- How many Investor Points do I get for my Photos?
- How do I edit or delete my Photos?
- Why should I register?
- What are Ambassadors?
- How can I change the information in my profile?
- How do I get a picture under my username?
- What is messaging?
- What ar email notifications and subscriptions?
- I have other forum questions, where can I find answers?
- Is my personal information safe?
- What do I do about inappropriate content?
- Another user is bothering me, what should I do?
- How do I restrict who can view my Profile?
- I cannot Login to my account, what do I do?
- How do I report SPAM through a Message/Bulletin?
- What do I get with my Professional Membership?
- How much is a Professional Membership?
- Why isn't a Professional Membership free?
- Why should I upgrade to a Professional Membership?
- What if I want to downgrade my membership?
- What if I don't cancel my membership before my free trial expires?
- I don't recall signing up for a Professional Membership...what happened?
- What is the Power Team?
- Who is on the Power Team?
- What kind of info is in the Power Team calls?
- How do I ask the Power Team a question?
- How do I upgrade my membership to access the Power Team?
How much does it cost to be a member?
Absolutely nothing! While we will have a premium version at a later date, if you are one of the first 10,000 members you will always have a free account at Real Estate Investor. Sign up is easy and takes only a minute.
Who is eligible to become a member?
RealEstateInvestor.com is designed for both residential and commercial real estate investors and the professionals that support them. These professionals include financing specialists and Realtors(R) who aid in creating successful real estate transactions. This site does require individuals to be over 18 years of age.
What is an Investor Screen Name?
A Screen Name is the name that others will know you by on the site and within the REI Community. Your Screen Name can be anything that you choose, even if someone else already has the name. You can change your Screen Name at any time by going to Edit My Account.
What is an Investor Web Address?
Each registered R.E.I. Member recieves a free customizable Profile, which is simply a website to post information you want to share with other Investors. Each Profile Web Address is unique, so there can only be one RealEstateInvestor.com/AnyName. The web address of your Profile may NOT have spaces and once you choose the name of your Profile you can NEVER change it.
We created My Home to put all of your personal content and controls in one place. When you log in you are instantly sent to your personal My Home page where you can check Messages, manage your Contacts, update Blogs, upload Photos, edit account information, etc. You are only able to view My Home when you are logged in and no other users can view this information.
How do I invite other Investors to join (and why should I do it)?
Our website is only as good as the community of Investors that use it. The more active members we have in the REI Community the more value we will all get in form of more knowledge, more sharing and more deals. Every time you invite a friend with our Easy Invite System you earn 3 Investor Points (click to learn about points). Each time one of the Investors you invite signs up you earn 10 points.
What do I do if I cannot login?
If you are unable to login to REI then it is caused by one of two things: you are either using a different email than the one on your account or you are entering the wrong password. If you have forgotten your password click on [Forgot Password] link in the Sign In box on the homepage. We will send you a link that you must click, then we will send you a new password. You may change your new password once you log in.
How do I change my Screen Name, Email or Password?
You can edit all of these items from Edit Account, which is in the My Home section. You can also control your privacy settings and your email settings from Edit Account.
How do I verify my email address?
Verifying your email address is simply a matter of going to the inbox of the email address you used to sign up with, and clicking the link in the "Verify/Welcome" email. It normally arrives within a few minutes, but if it takes more than 2 hours, send us an email.
What are the goals of Real Estate Investor?
The goals of the REI Community are to Educate one another, Assist in doing deals and creating profit, Inspire one another to higher levels of achievement, and to Entertain by providing fresh content. RealEstateInvestor.com is a user-driven Community that depends on our members to achieve these objectives.
How did REI start, who are the people behind the company?
RealEstateInvestor.com was started by Investors, for Investors. We are a small team from Columbus, Ohio with big ideas on how to unite the Real Estate Investment community and improve how our industry does business. Colin Andrews (CEO) and Matthew Leitz came up with the vision and have built a powerful team around the idea of becoming the 'unquestionable online authority for real estate investors.
What are the Rules of the REI Community?
1) No Solicitation- Your first contact with an REI Member should never be a copy-and-pasted promotion. If you send other users unwanted sales pitches then your profile will be deleted. SPAM is not acceptable.
2) Be Respectful- We will NOT tolerate any hatred, profanity, nudity, or stalking. Please help out by reporting any inappropriate postings by other members. Our community is 18 and over on purpose.
3) Contribute Honestly- This website was intended to allow users to share experiences and learn from one another. While members’ contributions add value to the community, dishonest content does the opposite.
If you use this site you agree to complete Terms and Conditions (link on the bottom of every page)
Why should I advertise on Real Estate Investor?
RealEstateInvestor.com has a very clear target audience. Generally speaking, Real Estate Investors have money, spend money and want to make more money. Our audience is more male than female and ranges widely in age from 18 and above. Click here to inquire about advertising.
Who do I contact about a Media inquiry?
If you would like to be one of the first to feature RealEstateInvestor.com in your newscast, article or blog we would love to talk to you! If you send us a message we will get back with you promptly.
Messages are private notes that you send to another REI member, much like an email message. You are allowed to send unlimited Messages to members in your Contact list, but you can only send up to 5 Message a day to other members you are not connected to.
Your Contacts are members who have agreed to be linked to you. You are able to have unlimited communication with your Contacts, including Instant Messaging (soon), Bulletins and Messages. To make a request for someone to be your Contact click on “Add to Contacts” in the contact panel on their Profile page.
A Bulletin is an announcement that is sent to everyone in your Contact list at once. When you post a Bulletin it goes only to your Contacts, and you only receive Bulletins posted by your Contacts. Users are only permitted to send 3 Bulletins a day to cut down on unneeded posting.
A Comment is a statement left by another member that can be viewed by all users of the website. You are able to write and receive Comments on Profiles, Blogs, in Group Forums and Photos. You are able to edit the Comments you have received by going to your Comments from the Message Center.
The Message Center is where you can easily access all forms of communication on REI including Messages, Bulletins and Comments. The Message Center is accessed by selecting it from the My Home submenu. Your My Home page shows your Message Updates to save you time.
Groups are clusters of REI members who participate in Group forums, post organization events and share photos. They can be used as a tool for existing clubs or may operate strictly online. Groups are usually based on a certain topic, type of Real Estate Investing or geographic location, but users are encouraged to create Groups of all sorts. Groups may be set as private or made public so all can join.
What is Instant Messenger (coming soon)?
Instant Messenger allows you to instantly chat with other members who are in your Contacts. You may either select Instant Message from the Profile of one of your Contacts or you may select IM in the very top right of each page. This will show a list of all of your Contacts that are currently online. The design of the REI Instant Messenger is intended to be self explanatory.
PROFILES
What is a Profile and how do I get one?Your Profile is your own website on REI that allows you to easily update your own content to share with others. As a member of RealEstateInvestor.com you receive a free Profile as well as all the tools to make your Profile unique. Your Profile includes a page for Photos, Blogs and your Contacts in the REI community. Members view each others Profile and may choose to leave Comments, send Messages or request to become Contacts. We will be adding Deal Listings to REI Profiles within the next few months.
What can I use my Profile for?
While your Profile allows you to share with other REI members, you also have the option to use it as your business website as well. Each Profile has a unique web address with the format RealEstateInvestor.com/WhateverYouChoose. You may use this easy-to-remember web address to promote your business, whether or not you have another website. In fact, sending a link from your REI profile will help send more traffic as well as improve the ranking of your website in search engines.
What is a Profile picture and how do I change it?
Your profile picture will be seen throughout the website wherever you have content or a link to your Profile. You will not show up in any results until you have selected a Profile picture. Profile pictures can be changed at any time from your My Home page directly underneath your picture. Please expect that your profile picture may take up to 24 hours to be updated in our system.
How do I add my Profile picture?
Go to Dashboards/Edit Profile/Profile Picture. Click the “Browse” button and select the picture from your machine. You can enter an image title, a description and select a category if you’d like but it is not required. Once you are done, click the “Upload Image” button.
How do I change the content of my Profile?
Your Profile allows you to share any information about you and your business that you would like, within community rules. Updating your content is very easy to do by clicking on Update My Profile tab from your Dashboard. You may add and edit content easily using the content editors provided within each box. You may also change the titles that appear on each area by editing the text in the boxes labeled Headline. Make sure to complete changes by clicking on the Update Profile Content when complete. While you may share personal contact details if you wish, please be advised that our community suggests only doing so with people you know and trust.
How do I set my Profile as private?
If you prefer to only allow your Contacts within the community to view your profile you are able to do so by clicking Edit My Account from the My Home page. Simply check the box labeled “Only Contacts can view my profile”. If you select to have a private Profile users may still request to be your Contact, but until you approve their request they are unable to view your profile. By default your Profile is able to be viewed by all members.
How do I add additional information boxes to my profile?
If you would like to add extra content boxes on your profile you may do so from within the Update My Profile page. To access this click Dashboard then the tab Update My Profile. At the bottom of the page click “add widget” either on the left side or right side and select “Text Block” from the dropdown. You can also add pre-selected information from the dropdown like “My Blogs” and “My Groups”. You can use any headline you would like such as “People I’d like To Meet” or “Latest News” for example.
Can I move the position of the content boxes in my profile?
Yes. If you click the arrows at the top of each section, it will allow you to move the entire box up or down. You cannot, however, move your content from left to right and vice versa. You can also get rid of content boxes by clicking the x in the top right of each box, but you can never retrieve the info once it is closed.
What are the Emblems on my profile and how do I get more?
The emblems are a way for you and others to see your status in the RealEstateInvestor.com community. The various emblems are for things like participating in REI programs like becoming an Ambassador
, for ranking in the top 10 in points
, or being in the top 10 in a category such as writing blogs
, or pictures
. Other Emblems include; Educator
, Admin
, Full-Time Investor
, or to indicate what level of investor you are within the REI community
.
Simply put, a Blog is an online journal entry. Blogs are an excellent way to share with others and exercise your creativity. Although you are encouraged to write about whatever you would like, we have created categories for our Blogs that include all types of Real Estate Investing. Whether it is a story of real estate investment success or of mistakes you made along the way, sharing your experiences with other members is one of the best contributions you can make to the REI Community. Your Blog entries are able to be edited or removed at any time.
Why should I write Blog entries on Real Estate Investor?
RealEstateInvestor.com provides readers for your Blog who understand and can relate to your experiences in the Real Estate Investing industry. REI members can leave comments which can result in quality feedback for your thoughts. Writing a good Blog entry on Real Estate Investor also gives you the chance to earn up to 50 Investor Points which will help you earn rewards at a later date.
Why should I allow my Blog to be graded by REI Members?
In order to promote well written Blog entries REI gives you the option of allowing others to grade your Blog. When your Blog recieves grades from other members it will appear in search results and potenially in the Blog Leaderboard on the homepage. In addition you earn Investor Points when other users grade your entry. To learn how many points you earn for receiving a grade click here.
How many Investor Points can I earn from my Blog?
Every time you post a new Blog we give you 1 point for your effort. Because a good Blog adds so much value to the REI Community we allow each Blog entry to earn up to 50 points. Every time a user gives your Blog a grade it will affect your Overall Blog Score, but you can never earn more than 50 points on a single Blog.
How do I edit/delete my Blog entries?
You may edit or delete any of your Blog entries at any time. To do so click on My Blogs from your My Home menu, then click on Edit My Blogs. Once viewing your list of entries click on the title of the Blog to edit or click on the X to delete. Once you delete a Blog it cannot be retrieved.
You may add photos to your Profile by selecting Upload Photos from My Photos (within your My Home). Simply click Browse, find the Photo on your computer/drive and double click on the file. Once the file name of the photo appears in the text box you click Upload and it will be added.
My Photo is too large, what do I do?
The largest photo size you are able to upload onto REI is 600 megabytes. You have several free options to reduce the size of your photos. The easiest option is to click here to adjust the size of your photo online. If you prefer to download a photo editing software to your computer then click here . We suggest uploading photos at 200 d.p.i in a JPG or GIF format.
Why am I getting an error message when uploading a photo?
Most likely your photo is either too large (details above) or it may be that your photo is not in an acceptable format. Acceptable photo formats are GIF or JPG. The programs that allow you to alter the image size also allow you to change the format of the picture. Click here for the online version or click here to download photo editing software.
How many photos am I allowed to upload?
While we do not have a limit to the actual number of photos, we do limit the amount of space that each REI Member has available for photos. A standard account offers 10 MB for uploading photos, whether it be 4 photos or 20. At a later date we will offer premium accounts with additional space for your pictures.
How many Investor Points do I get for my Photos?
Every time you upload a photo you automatically earn 1 point. Most points are rewarded when other REI Members grade your photo with anything higher than an F. You can earn a maximum of 25 Investor Points for each photo that you upload.
How do I edit or delete my Photos?
If you go to My Photos and select Edit Photos you can change the title, description, category, ability to be graded, or even delete the photo.