Newbie from Los Angeles

[Marvin Barrera]

I've roamed around the site and the forums a couple weeks now, even commented here and there, but have not formally introduced myself. Hi! My name is Marvin Barrera and I'm in full-time ministry in Pico-Union L.A. close to downtown. I love my job but working in a nonprofit means I need to find other ways to make money. My only experience in real estate investing came when my mom kept pushing me to buy a house around 2010. Real Estate wasn't even on my radar. With house prices going up so much just a few years earlier, I just assumed I'd probably never own a house. But with the crash I was able to pick up a small house in Norwalk for 150K with an FHA loan. I lived in it and decided to sell it a few years later and was able to make a profit. It wasn't a whole lot but It's the most money I'd ever seen! And because of that I was able to get out debt, finally open a retirement account, an emergency fund, and save a small portion for when I eventually buy a house again... Had I known what I know now (which admittedly isn't much), I would've kept the house and have rented it out, and refinanced it to get some money out, and I would've had a Cali property right now! Or ... if I did sell, I would've started investing the majority of my leftover profit, instead of having it sit for the last 4 years, and dipping into it every now and then.... Lesson learned. But now with the amount I do have left over from that sale (about 20K), and no debt, I figured I should start off with a single family home or a duplex out-of-state. (Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Texas? I don’t know where!) Not only do I not know where to start, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything involved. I am reading John Schaub’s “Building Wealth One House at a Time” and David Greene’s book on our-of-state investing. I’m also listening to a ton of podcasts. I figured the best thing I could do is just learn as much as possible and little by little save some more money, which is kinda hard on my salary, but I can save some by being frugal... So that’s where I’m at! I’m loving this website and the forums. Just looking to learn as much as I can before making the jump!