I am interested in your idea, and I am someone who would be willing to devote a lot of time and energy into making the renovations, documentation, and narrative building experience flow as smoothly as possible for you and for the site.

BP is full of resources.

My main purpose on BiggerPockets is to invest in my first property in the surrounding LA area with the help/resources from experienced investors and agents.

Does anyone have tips/resources on navigating this scenario; finding a good broker, questions to ask, key analysis to run to compare properties and gauging local economic health?

I owe so much of my growth in real estate to BP and the countless resources provided here for free!

BP is full of resources.

Personally I just re-balanced some of my properties and moved some equity into a cash flow property so that I had more monthly cash flow cushion.I know Karen Margrave is in the 949 and has more experience and would be a great resource regarding property in the area.As Jeff mentioned, taxes.  

Be sure to check out “Learn” for all kinds of useful resources and free how to guides.

There are a lot of resources that talk about the basics of Real Estate and investing.

There is a ton of flipping resources there.Oh - and if you haven't yet- be sure to setup some "Keyword Alerts."