Breaking Boundaries in Real Estate Ventures with Carlos Diaz| Part 1 #872

Carlos is a seasoned real estate investor and proud owner of Ridgewood Property Investments.  A company that buys, fixes and flips properties in southern California with an emphasis in the Inland Empire.  A licensed Real Estate agent, he will on occasion represent buyers and sellers in a traditional manner as well.   

 Growing up in the inner-city taught him many life lessons and credits his parents for his work ethic and navigating the neighborhood gang violence of the 90’s. 

After years of obsessing over the real estate industry, Carlos bought his first rental property in 2011.  Always dreaming of quitting the traditional 9 to 5 job, he decided to dedicate more time to investing.  Working 2 jobs to save enough to launch his flipping business which he funded 100% for 2 years.  In an effort to grow his business he would discover advantages of leverage and in 2022 became a full-time real estate professional.  Finally quitting that 9 to 5 job.

In this episode:

• Life growing up in in Hawthorne, California
• People who had a great impact in his life
• The vision for real estate investing
• Buying his first investment property

The Norris Group originates and services loans in California and Florida under California DRE License 01219911, Florida Mortgage Lender License 1577, and NMLS License 1623669.  For more information on hard money lending, go www.thenorrisgroup.com and click the Hard Money tab.


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Narrator: 0:01

Welcome to The Norris Group real estate podcast, a show committed to bringing you insights from thought leaders shaping the real estate industry. In each episode, we'll dive into conversations with industry experts and local insiders, all aimed at helping you thrive in an ever-changing real estate market. continuing the legacy that Bruce Norris created, sharing valuable knowledge, and empowering you on your real estate journey. Whether you're a seasoned pro or a newcomer, this is your go-to source for insider tips, market trends and success strategies. Here's your host, Craig Evans.

Craig Evans: 0:45

Hey, I want to thank everyone for stopping by today and checking out our new podcast. We are super excited. We've got a great guest with us today. We've got Carlos Diaz from Ridgewood Property Investments. Listen, Carlos is a seasoned real estate investor, and proud owner of Ridgewood Property Investments. A company that buys, fixes, and flips properties in Southern California with an emphasis in the Inland Empire. He's a licensed real estate agent, and he will on occasion represent buyers and sellers in a traditional manner as well. Carlos is originally from Hawthorne, California, son of a hard working immigrant parents from Mexico. Growing up in the inner city taught him many life lessons and credits his parents for his work ethic and navigating the neighborhood gang violence of the 90s. After graduating high school, Carlos worked many odd jobs but finally landed a career in logistics. And when his company announced they would move operations to Ontario. Carlos saw this as a way out and a chance for a fresh start in 2008. After years of obsessing over the real estate industry, Carlos bought his first rental property in 2011. always dreaming of quitting the traditional nine to five job, he decided to get dedicate more time to investing, working two jobs to save enough to launch his flipping business, which he funded 100% for two years. In an effort to grow his business, he would discover advantages of leverage. And in 2022 became a full time real estate professional. Finally quitting that nine to five job. Carlos is married and has two kids. Carlos, my friend, it is great to have you on today, I am grateful that you took time out of your schedule to be with us. And listen, our show, we want to bring a variety of content and guests from the real estate world. And so because part of what we want is, we want people to know that we all come from different backgrounds and stations in life. And I want them to hear your success story, right. So if it's good with you, let's jump in and get started, okay?

Carlos Diaz: 2:43

Let's get started. First of all, thank you so much for having me. I truly appreciate it.

Craig Evans: 2:48

Absolutely.Absolutely. So Carlos listed from your bio, we know that you came from humble and sometimes dangerous beginnings. Tell us a little about a bit about growing up in Hawthorne. How tough was it having you know your formative years and that environment? You know, and for? For those of us that aren't from Southern California, you know, I'm from South Georgia, right? So tell me about that environment and all of our listeners all over the country. Tell us about what that environment looks like and how you came there.

Carlos Diaz: 3:15

Right. So we moved a lot in the beginning, um, and anywhere from West LA to Venice. And then when we landed in Lenox, and then finally in Hawthorne, right? It was pretty much a step in the right direction. But in the 90s being low income, you can only afford certain areas, right. And these areas were typically gang infested. And that happened up until my early 20s, right. In the sense to where it was difficult to navigate. Because it really didn't matter where you went, if you saw left, if you saw right. It was in front of you, it was in your face, right? And join our speaking about it to where it was now looking back on it, it was stressful time for any child, any teenager, it becomes stressful. And I want to say it got to the point where you become immune to it. And it's just the norm. It's just the norm. And it was suffocating without me even knowing it up until the point to where it literally felt like I wasn't able to breathe.

Craig Evans: 4:25

Wow.

Carlos Diaz: 4:26

And those stresses, I'm now looking back on it. I don't think anybody should ultimately have to go through i, right? Um, that still exists today, unfortunately, but it's just a way for you to see the reality of what truly goes on in these communities, right at the end of the day. They're these communities and from what I've been able to see it doesn't matter what inner city community it is. They go through the same struggle. It's very similar.

Craig Evans: 5:01

Well, what do you think is the number one thing as a kid growing up? You know, I mean, I know, the choices, we all make choices, right? It's right. It's our choice individually as far as how we live and what we do. But what do you think was the one thing that kept you kind of on that straight and narrow, so to speak?

Carlos Diaz: 5:21

100% my family. So I read a passage in one of John Maxwell's books, where it says your family gives you stability. And I truly feel that that did help me to be able to navigate right? It got to a point where obviously, there was a lot going on in that environment, and you do get caught up. But you're, it's faster for you to come to that realization that what you're doing isn't right, and it's gonna lead you nowhere. And I felt that family backing or my family as my backbone really did help.

Craig Evans: 5:56

So was it mom and dad? Was it aunts, uncles, cousins, what what do you think was the biggest group that kind of helped pull you and keep your head on right, so to speak?

Carlos Diaz: 6:08

Oh, yeah. 100% It was mom and dad.

Craig Evans: 6:10

Yeah.

Carlos Diaz: 6:10

Mom and dad, because there were some family members. And unfortunately, they were in the same environment, right, and caught up in certain things to where, you know, they're closer to your age range. And they're more like your peers, right. But with mom and dad really having a stronghold on my upbringing, I felt that that really did help me.

Craig Evans: 6:34

So what do you think is the biggest lesson that you took from mom and dad?

Carlos Diaz: 6:42

You said it earlier choice, right? Where you have the choice. But it got to the point to where I felt that they raised me, they felt that I feel they gave me enough tools and raised me correctly, to when I came across her sage situations, they trusted that I will know how to handle it, right? So like you said, we all have choices. And once you have that choice, if you take that step back and really think about what you're going to do and what's going to happen, which I feel a lot of people don't they just react, right? I feel that helped me a lot.

Craig Evans: 7:23

And I've never really gotten into a lot of my, my background from growing up things like that. It was, we all got choices. And you know, I didn't always make the greatest choices growing up, right. My family lived and guided me one way. But I chose to do things that were quite frankly, pretty dumb a lot of times, you know, that got me into a lot of trouble. So I think that's interesting that looking back, you're crediting that process to your mom and dad and the kind of the vision and the guide that they pushed you through in that, you know, so. So as you were growing in that environment, what was college really an option for you?

Carlos Diaz: 8:03

So, I want to say it was a thought, it was a thought that was never really taken serious. Once again, that was a choice, right?

Craig Evans: 8:14

Sure.

Carlos Diaz: 8:15

I did start you know, with the whole junior college thing. I want to say I went to El Camino College for I want to say, a year studying on fire and emergency technology. So I wanted to be a firefighter. But that's as far as it went past that year, it didn't go past that year, I should say, a lot of things happen to where I had to make another choice. And I had actually got accepted into that fire academy. But at the time, that's when the company made the switch over to Ontario. So that's where the fork in the road was at that time, I want to say LA County and LA City have put all EMS on a hiring freeze. So I didn't really know where that was gonna go, once I finished the academy was like going to have a job. chances were very high that I was but it was going to be somewhere like in the mountains, right? Doing forest fires. So that's something I didn't see myself doing. So that choice was made. And I just came over to the Inland Empire.

Craig Evans: 9:17

So you were really kind of forced into like, I gotta pick or choose something you're pretty quick then so.

Carlos Diaz: 9:22

Right at that time. Yes.

Craig Evans: 9:24

Yeah. Well, so let me ask you this growing up in the environment that you were growing up in? And, you know, I here's part of you know, Carlos, why don't want to dive into this summer's you know, we've talked a lot about with some unbelievably extremely successful people on my show, in the last several months and very honored that they take time with us and stuff, right. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter where we've come from we all started somewhere. Right? And that's where I think when we're talking about somebody that started with the background and the humble beginnings that you started that's where I really wanted to get your story out there, right. So, so as you were growing up and the environment that you're living in, and so, again, if I if I can walk back, I mean, Hawthorne how, how bad of an environment is that? I mean, is it a?

Carlos Diaz: 10:16

So Hawthorne the city isn't too bad? Um, it's how you want to see it. It's either the beginning or the end of the South Bay, right?

Unknown: 10:24

Okay.

Carlos Diaz: 10:25

Um, the neighboring city would be Lenox. And that's where I was at for eight years. So that's pretty much what I knew it was literally across a major street.

Craig Evans: 10:33

Okay.

Carlos Diaz: 10:34

And you're in Lenox, right? So all that bled over. And it was difficult man, our neighbors in drive bys, we lived in a back house, which is what I wanted to touch on, you know, a lot of choices. My aunt own the front house, right, and she was a single mom, my cousin was older, and he was hanging out with a bad crowd. So you would see all these guys crowd open or in their front yard, right? So it was it was a constant thing every weekend, multiple times during the day. It was stressful. At the end day was stressful. You become immune to it. But that's all you saw. And it got to the point to where that's all I thought there was right? It wasn't until my later teenage years that I actually started to leave the city, drive to other cities, drive to other neighborhoods and be able to see hey, you know what, not everybody has bars on their windows. Not everybody has. Yeah, I'm serious, channeling fences. Streets are narrow over here. People don't park on their grass. And all these things were eye openers for me as a teenager, like, wow, okay, there's another city beyond this.

Craig Evans: 11:47

Sure.

Carlos Diaz: 11:47

Right. And then moving up from Hartshorne. I want to say that city was Torrance and then from Torrance, you go to another city called Palos Verdes this right? And you go up there, and you see mansions, multimillion dollar homes. And all that was just a huge eye opene, right? Like, okay, there's people that actually live like this. So, um, I don't want to do something wrong, right? Because if I do, I know where I'm gonna end up. Because this is all I know, right? So at that early stage of my life, it's pretty much when I when that seed was planted, like, hey, you know what, there's something else out there, you just have to figure out how to get there.

Craig Evans: 12:28

Well, so that was, I'm glad you went there, right? Because that's actually where I was trying to go. Growing up in that environment? When did you realize or what did you think you wanted to do for a living? Growing up in a scenario like that? I mean, it was it? Was it, seven, hey, I'm gonna be a game or being a gang. And by 12, No way, man, I see some kind of walk us through that mindset is because not everybody grows up seeing that, right.

Carlos Diaz: 12:54

Right. So in the beginning, because that's what was around you, you thought automatically that you were going to join a gang, right? That's kind of, I want to say a given. But that's where my parents stepped in like, 'Okay, well, that's the first thing you're not going to do, you're not going to hang around these type of people', because they also they were naive, they knew where that could lead, right? So all that they will pull me away. If I started to hang around certain people, I will get pulled away, right. So that was in the early stages where you kind of it was the norm, it was a normal thing to do. You were going to be from a certain area, or you were living in a certain area, you really belong to that area, right? And it's until I got older, right? Well, number one, my parents would pull me back, pull me back, pull me back. And I would see other kids that their parents were doing something similar. So I'm like, okay, well, it's not that weird. It's a little weird, right? When you're young, and you want to go outside and play something as easy as going outside and playing right at certain times. I wasn't allowed to. Why? Because that's when everybody came out.

Craig Evans: 14:05

Sure.

Carlos Diaz: 14:06

It was difficult, and now putting my parents shoes on. It's something that I wouldn't let my kids go outside either, right? Because I wouldn't want them if I had no choice. And I was in that environment, I would try to protect them and show them as much as I can.

Craig Evans: 14:21

Right.

Carlos Diaz: 14:22

So that that helped. In my earlier years. The older I got, obviously, all these people that I saw, you know, I wouldn't see them around. So I'd asked my cousin afterwards song so, Oh, they went to prison, or this happened to so and so. Like, okay, well, doing that looked cool. And I'll be 100% transparent as a little kid, you're naive. So you think certain things look cool, right? It's until you get to a certain age that you start seeing the reality. Hey, you know what, that's not cool. This guy taking care of business. You know, going to school has a vision and swallowing. Wait, that's cool, right? But you don't see that or you don't come into that realization until you're older in life.

Craig Evans: 15:08

So let's jump back again. And you know, you're now in, you're in logistics and work with a company, they're looking at going to Canada, you're studying for firefighter all of a sudden, okay, now you've got to make a decision, right? So, you're kind of forced in between the aspect of am I gonna stay in logistics? Yep. Ah, I missed that one. All right, let me go back and get my brain my train of thought there. Okay. Alright, so let's go back a bit. Because you know, you were in logistics, companies looking at making a move to Ontario, you were already studying for firefighter that you're kind of forced into making that decision of which route to go, correct.

Carlos Diaz: 16:12

Right.

Craig Evans: 16:13

Okay. So so, in that, because it wasn't, I mean, this is a cool story. And I want to make sure that I'm getting this right and following the timeline here. So I guess in that process of, you're kind of at a crossroads, because you're now an adult, you're working. You want to go one direction, you're seeing that kind of posting out. Did you see yourself staying in logistics for long term? Or were you already seeing real estate? When did you start kind of developing this dream and this vision for real estate, to build wealth and to not have to say, 'Hey, I'm not gonna punch a clock every day.'

Carlos Diaz: 16:49

Right? So that actually happened later during that time. Um, it was during 2006. I want to say 2006. I had a buddy, right? It's gotten since 2007, that assisted a real estate agent. So just, you know, talking to him, I asked him,'Hey, man, what, what's it going to take to buy a house today?' , right. And the numbers he threw at me were insane, right? We're talking about 2007-ish. And I couldn't believe it. I literally said to myself, You know what, I'm never gonna own the home. Like, it was real sad. It was a true moment to where like, Okay, what I'm doing today, I'm never gonna be able to own a home. So what do I need to do? So, obviously, at the age I was at, I had to find something that was steady, something where I would earn decent. And like, most thinking, or most people's thinking, you just work really hard. You save as much as you can you give a downpayment, you buy a house, right? So it's something that was already a pattern, you know, that I saw. Okay, well, then that's what I had to do. And I want to say when that happened in 2000 Oh, and to answer your other question, no, I didn't see myself doing logistics, you know, for past a certain age, because I knew that there was no way that that was sustainable for the long term, in order for me to build any kind of wealth, right? You can do it for so long. And this is what another buddy at the time told me which I remember right now that it was just a stepping stone, use it as a stepping stone. So with that mindset, I just went into that job, did the best I could and just pretty much waited out right? Up until the point where I was able to save enough money and then buy that property. I didn't get that aha moment in real estate up until I bought that first property in fontana, right. So that property was it was foreclosed. I had gotten an FHA loan. And at that time, if you guys remember, a lot of kitchen cabinets were missing. A lot of cabinets in the house themselves were missing, there was a lot of things that were missing in homes. This particular one would not qualify because it was missing some of the pee traps the cabinets, the bathroom, there was a lot of things going wrong with it. The agent at the time told me 'Hey, man, I don't think this property is gonna pass FHA' or number one, the bank, I guess, wasn't willing to do any of those repairs, they just threw it on the market and whatever they got, they were gonna get. So they had accepted our offer. And it was a coin toss. So I, me and my buddy went and we put in cabinets. So when the appraisal would go in inspection would go in they wouldn't notice it. So I pretty much asked them amen. If I do all this, is this gonna close? Are we gonna go through this whole deal? I didn't know the verbiage at the time. He said, 'Yeah,' you know, they're just going to take pictures. They're going to make sure everything works and they're not going to hit us on it. So it'll finance. Great. So one weekend, it was a Saturday and Sunday we went out there we just installed everything. And lo and behold Oh, yeah, they approve the loan. Yeah. So it was one of those things where that's where I saw the possibility, hey, you know what? elbow grease, and it could happen, I'm thinking a little bit more thinking outside of the box, and it could happen, you can make it happen, right. So that's just when I got obsessed with real estate, right, and this was back in 2009, when we closed on it. And ever since, and it was just in my sight, it was like a target that I was looking at. And I was gonna figure out a way to keep on getting more and then to start flipping eventually, I never really wanted to be a landlord, per se. I always wanted to be a flipping investor, right? Somebody that just buys and flips so that that property could be enjoyed by another family. At the end of the day, that's pretty much ultimately what I wanted.

Craig Evans: 20:50

Well, and that's what I mean, what I'm listening to is interesting, because you've got, you've never owned a home. And at that time, I mean, understand this, you didn't personally own a home correct?

Carlos Diaz: 21:05

Not me personally, no.

Craig Evans: 21:06

Yeah. So you were renting, and the first home that you want to buy, you were so aggressive to go buy this home, that you put cabinets and stuff in it before you owned it.

Carlos Diaz: 21:19

Right, just and the reason...

Craig Evans: 21:20

...we deal to go through and that's, that's what I want people to see is so often, you know, we watch so many people today, in our culture that talks about, here's the 12 steps that you're going to do this, or here's the four steps that you do this, and, and it's just this easy. And that's part of what I'm loving about the stories that we're sharing with people, you know, that our investors and the people that do stuff with us have lived through because you weren't promised this house? You know? No, yeah, I feel pretty.

Carlos Diaz: 21:51

So now knowing about it. Yeah, it was a huge risk, it was a huge risk...

Craig Evans: 21:56

Would you still to that today?

Carlos Diaz: 22:01

Now knowing what I know, yes, as a seasoned investor, but at the time, it was just looking at as much as I could. And as much as I knew, and just asking the people that were pretty much dealing with this right situation. If I do this, you know, what is truly going to be the outcome? And they didn't answer me right away, which is something that I appreciate. They took their time thought about it, and then answered because they ran through the scenario in their mind that anything could have happened, obviously, you know, anything could have happened to where that that...

Craig Evans: 22:37

For you to be that aggressive to say I'm willing to go put cabinets and sinks and pee traps, you know, something I don't even own for the chance to buy it when I don't even own a personal property yet. What was there a trigger or something that says, 'I got to do this?' What was there was a moment or something that happened that says, I guess that's not something you just think I'll just gonna put cabinets, you know, I mean.

Carlos Diaz: 23:02

Right.

Craig Evans: 23:03

Was there something that drove you to that or?

Carlos Diaz: 23:06

Absolutely. So it was since that property was already pretty much locked in? Well, I don't want to use that verbiage. But when the contract had been accepted, right, I felt I was there. So I had to try everything, everything within my ability to actually obtain that property that house, why? Because this was going to be my ultimate escape from the old environment. And I was going to try everything I possibly good good to actually make it happen. So you're right. I did see the two, I guess angles. One I just leave it alone, see what happens. Chances are very high that I'm gonna go back to that environment.

Craig Evans: 23:50

Sure.

Carlos Diaz: 23:50

Or I try as much as I can, and get out of it and try something new. Something that actually wanted what was truly on the other side. I didn't know. I just knew we couldn't get worse. So that's pretty much that moment.

Narrator: 24:08

For more information on hard money loans, trust deed investing, and upcoming events with The Norris group. Check out thenorrisgroup.com. For more information on passive investing through the DBL Capital Real Estate Investment Fund, please visit dblapital.com.

Joey Romero: 24:27

The Norris group originates and services loans in California and Florida under California DRE license 01219911. Florida mortgage lender license 1577 and NMLS license 1623669. For more information on hard money lending go to thenorrisgroup.com and click the hard money tab.