One might think that a guy with his own web hosting business would own a top-of-the-line cell hone. One would be wrong. I have no cell phone to test this web site on, so I am at the mercy of the program which is creating the mobile version of DFWREIN.
If you have a mobile phone with a browser, please check the dfwrein.info web site and let me know how it looks. Just leave a reply to this message.
Thank you.
In a previous article I said that we probably should have lots of clubs to fill the void left by the latest spate of real estate investment clubs going out of business. After choosing a direction for dfwrein.info I decided I needed to find out just what area of Texas DFWREIN would be covering. I was shocked at the size of the market.
A few months after I got to Texas I read a book about The Metroplex. I don’t have it handy, but I was a bit stunned by how much The Metroplex has grown since then. I am in the habit of calling it the DFW Metroplex. Apparently it’s now the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area or just The Metroplex.
I distinctly remember there being only 13 cities in the area. It turns out there are many, many more cities, towns and Census designated areas. Heck, there are that many counties in The Metroplex. So, here’s a little run down of the cities and areas and towns and counties in the area.
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- Arlington
- Carrollton
- Denton
- Frisco
- Garland
- Grand Prairie
- Irving
- McKinney
- Mesquite
- Plano
- Richardson
I guess those are the cities the book mentioned. Somehow I completely missed Arlington. I’ll contribute my lapse to being a new Texan. I have friends in McKinney which I thought was above the Metroplex. There I go thinking a gain.
- Addison
- Allen
- Azle
- Balch Springs
- Bedford
- Benbrook
- Burleson
- Cedar Hill
- Cleburne
- Colleyville
- Coppell
- Corinth
- Crowley
- Decatur
- DeSoto
- Duncanville
- Ennis
- Euless
- Farmers Branch
- Flower Mound
- Forest Hill
- Forney
- Glenn Heights
- Grapevine
- Greenville
- Haltom City
- Highland Village
- Hurst
- Keller
- Lancaster
- Lewisville
- Little Elm
- Mansfield
- Midlothian
- Mineral Wells (partial)
- Murphy
- North Richland Hills
- Rockwall
- Rowlett
- Sachse
- Saginaw
- Seagoville
- Southlake
- Terrell
- The Colony
- University Park
- Watauga
- Waxahachie
- Weatherford
- White Settlement
- Wylie
That’s 51 more. Many of those are bigger (in population) than the city I live near, Stephenville, TX which is outside the Metroplex. It seems I am often on the outside looking in. There are 12 counties:
- Collin
- Dallas
- Delta
- Denton
- Ellis
- Hunt
- Johnson
- Kaufman
- Parker
- Rockwall
- Tarrant
- Wise
Altogeter those areas and hundreds more tiny areas comprise The Metroplax. There are more than 6.2 million people represented here and this web site is dedicated to bringing you news about just one little niche item in The Metroplex.
As some may know I have been kind of all over the road since I hi-jacked this web site from Cliff. One day it’s not a club. The next day it is a club. You may feel like a Yo-Yo. After brainstorming proved fruitless I did the next best thing. I ignored the web site for a few days. I find that is a great way of solving problems.
It allows me to focus on other important tasks and it helps me come up with many out-of-the-box solutions which I don’t think I would come up with if I just stared at the problem all day.
So, the new direction is this web site will be a directory of resources for real estate investors. It will cater to those investors living in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, but it will contain many resources for all real estate investors. This helps me to focus on subjects that are important to the niche and it helps you figure out what we have assemble here and what we have not.
Look for some changes in the site layout to make it easier to get to the stuff that interests you most and for additional content of interest to real estate investors.
A few people have written to me off line about filling the hole left by DFWREIN closing. I am not convinced that DFWREIN left a single hole. I believe it left several holes and I would like to see several solutions fill the gap.
If you want to start a club in your area I would recommend that you locate and speak with past and present owners of real estate clubs in Texas. Buy them some lunch and pick their brains.
You will probably find that REI club members want education and networking. Everyone wants to network with the most successful investor who will speak with them or with others who are at their same level of experience.
Education has two main groups of customers. Active investors want to know the newest information and want to skip all the basics. Inactive investors need to learn the basics and hope to find that one idea that will make real estate investing a get rich quick scheme.
That second group is huge. There are a lot of people that are too afraid to do their first deal. Those people will buy the ever-living heck out of guru programs to avoid going out and doing a deal.
I think you will find there are many holes left by DFWREIN. Fill the one’s that need filling and leave the others alone. Your club does not have to be the one-stop shopping place for all real estate investing.
Apparently there is a federal warrant out for the arrest of Cliff Robertson. I have not seen the warrant, nor have I confirmed it with the FBI.
Edit: My source for the FBI warrant information was wrong. Cliff Robertson, the owner of DFWREIN, is being investigated by the FBI in connection with complaints raised by people who believe they were ripped off. There is no warrant for his arrest. An investigation by the FBI does not mean Cliff is guilty of anything. I will keep you informed of any news.
Hi, I am the web master for DFWREIN.com. If you are being billed for a membership in DFWREIN please contact your bank or credit card company to stop the charges.
The web site may remain up for some time. The domain name is still in the possession of the previous DFWREIN owner. I’m sure she is working on plans to do something with the domain name, but, for now, those plans remain unspecified. If you would like to discuss Cliff, the club or any other subject related to real estate investing, feel free to post a comment.
