Newbie from Los Angeles, CA

[Shannon Bae]

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to introduce myself and say that I'm so excited to join such an awesome community! I'm a freelance videographer/editor and while I do love what I do most of the time, I've had some time off for the last several years having my two babies (who are now 2 years old and 4 months old), and that has allowed me to breathe and re-evaluate what I want to give my children and what we want our lives to look like as a family. This is what matters to us; our family and the quality of life we get to spend together. My husband and I aren't looking to get rich quick, we just want to invest in our future and most importantly the future of our children and not break our spirit in the process.

At the moment we have our nest egg funds in the stock market, but have really focused on the idea that REI is a much more sound and satisfying investment. We bought our first house in 2012 as a short sale and had a pretty good experience and feel an incredible sense of security with such a tangible investment. We hope to continue making the right choices by educating ourselves, with the help of BiggerPockets and hopefully all of you! The podcasts have already been an empowering resource and I'm sure connecting with the community will fuel that even more. I'll probably be asking some pretty newbie/lame questions so bear with me and know that I'm giving big love and much appreciation ahead of time for everyone's patience and understanding.

[Account Closed]

welcome to bp! I'm just west of you. As for investing I'm no expert but have had great returns investing in my backyard, Southern California.  I'm sure Portland has great opportunities also.  Be aware that quite a few people that tout the greatness of out of state investing are marketers for turn key companies and make a referral fee if you invest with them.  Nothing wrong with that however thier "advice" is biased.  

Good luck!