Newbie from Los Angeles, CA

[Luis Cruz]

Hi BP Community!

My name is Luis Cruz and I'm a budding RE investor based out of sunny southern California (Los Angeles to be exact). My "day" job is working in Talent Acquisition for one of the fastest-growing start-ups (FinTech) in the area - link to my LinkedIn profile is in my bio!

2020 has been a transformative year for me, it all started off by reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad - cliche, I know - and inevitably found my way to Real Estate & BiggerPockets podcasts, forums, and books.

So far this year I've completely paid off my debt/mistakes of my 20's ($25k+), built my credit score back up, and I'm now focussed on increasing my buying power through my own savings and OPM (other peoples money, commercial/private).

As far as markets go, my immediate strategy is to eliminate my biggest expense (rent), by house hacking an SFH in either West Adams or Long Beach using a rent by the room strategy on a property where I can add value through renovations.

My long-term strategy is geared around building a portfolio of cash-flowing rentals - and with that being the biggest challenge in my local market - I'll be looking to invest out of state. St. Louis, Ohio (Cleveland, Colombus, Cincinnati), Memphis, and Oklahoma City are all on my initial shortlist after running some initial analysis through BP Insights.

The thought of Section 8 housing is something that also interests me, as giving back to the community & making a difference on others is my why, I've been following Dr Joe Asamoah closely as a template for doing that.

What I can offer: As mentioned earlier I work in talent acquisition in the tech space here in LA, so I have a good finger on the pulse of rounds of funding, growing companies, and who's moving where. If any of this would be helpful info for you, then please reach out. 

Additionally, I consider myself to be physically fit & good with my hands, if you have any RE projects based in the area where you could do with an extra set of hands-on the weekends then I'd love to help.

Looking forward to connecting with you all!

Luis