About us
Hey my name is Christian, I grew up in Southern New Jersey before moving to Philadelphia for college where I received my Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University. I was a project engineer and production supervisor for a few national manufacturing companies before joining a startup biotech company in 2019, where I have been able to grow just as quickly as the company and am now an Associate Director of Operations. I am sure you are wondering, “why are you telling me all this?”, well let me get to the point; I had zero experience with real estate until 2018 when our journey started.
By then I had been an engineer and project manager for over a decade with proven skills in project planning and execution; When a well known investing book (and beautiful California girl) sparked a complete mindset change to that of an investor, I knew that I could use these abilities to our advantage and use real estate to achieve the spontaneous and adventurous life we dreamed of. We quickly found that we could not afford to buy a rental property in California, let alone in the area where we lived, so we had to look long distance. Through countless hours of podcasts, a ton of books, and hours of calls, I poured everything I had into building our portfolio on the other side of the country. I have truly contributed to our team leading up to closing using my ability to analyze numbers, spot opportunity, and project manage; skills I hope to teach you to help in your own journey.
Hello my name is Danielle, I was born and raised in Orange County California and went to California State University Long Beach where I received my Bachelors degree in Communication studies. Having earned my real estate license in 2013, I sold residential real estate for a few years before switching to the commercial real estate realm in 2015. Since then I have worn many hats and worked in the operations, property management, project management, and tenant coordination teams before moving to my current role in Leasing and Acquisitions for a growing portfolio of lifestyle and grocery anchored shopping centers.
My love of real estate started at a very young age. I was with my parents at the bank and overheard a couple talking about their real estate portfolio. When the couple left, I walked up to the person they were talking to and asked how I could own as many buildings as the couple did. In that moment, my love for real estate was born. A few years later, my mother left her commercial architectural design job and started designing and building custom homes for wealthy clients; as you can imagine, being around such beautiful homes only solidified my passion. When other kids were dreaming of being an astronaut or the president, I was dreaming of being a landlord in the real estate industry.
With my background, I support our team by nurturing relationships and managing our legal and management teams after closing, skills I hope to teach you to help in your own journey.
Our Story
Christian is a mechanical engineer at a startup biotech company and Danielle is a leasing manager at a commercial real estate company. While Danielle was born and Raised in Huntington Beach, CA, Christian is from New Jersey and took a job transfer to Huntington Beach. This is where they meet in 2017, playing adult sports and got married in 2020. Yes it was a COVID wedding and yes was an amazing day!
Danielle will tell you that she has always been interested in real estate since she was child, always wanting to be a landlord. She got her license in 2013 and became a residential agent before switching to commercial real estate in 2015, working in all areas of the industry. Christian on the other hand never had an interest in real estate, thinking it was only for rich people or those who lucked into it.
In 2018, on a trip visiting friends and family in Philadelphia, they caught up with one of Christian’s life long friends and college roomates, learning that he had recently purchased an investment property. Christian was amazed; here was his friend who had the same upbringing, same degree, and same experience as him, investing in real estate with his own money. He recommended they read the quintessential new investor book Rich Dad Poor Dad and join the Bigger Pockets online community. Christian and Danielle went home with a sparked interest and talked for hours about investing and their futures. After making some compromises, setting boundaries, and agreeing on how to split the work, they decided to jump into real estate. From that moment on, they were all in. Though they loved California, property in their home state was WAY too expensive. They decided that to afford a home and the lifestyle they wanted to live in California, they had to start investing out of state first where positive cash flow was possible.
Christian and Danielle began to spend all of their time in the car, on the couch, going on walks, and laying on the beach listening to podcasts and reading books about real estate investing. Once they felt comfortable enough to take the first step, they started creating a team and making offers.
Fast forward to 2022 and they now have a modest portfolio of 8 properties with a total of 22 residential units and one commercial unit, sharing asset management duties equally while continuing to work full time in their respective fields.
Christian and Danielle know that investing can be scary and getting your significant other on board can be a major hurdle. Building the right team can be hard and finding the right opportunity can feel impossible, but they have enjoyed successes and learned from failures along the way and want to help you get started on your journey as well. Are you ready to jump in and changer your life?
Our Mission
Investing as a couple can be challenging, so we aim to help our clients get started in real estate investing by providing an easy to follow, step by step process of building a strong team in their target market and an even stronger team in their own home.
Our Values
Relationships make all the difference in real estate, so building and maintaining relationships is our top priority. We have experienced the power of passive income, and we strive to go above and beyond for our clients no matter the challenge to help them achieve the same.
“Real Rookies is what inspired me to take the dive into owning investment properties. I was inspired by their actions to build passive income through real estate, and this is something I wanted for my husband and myself. They have real life experience with finding and analyzing deals, rehabbing properties, and managing tenants. They showed us how to analyze numbers to maximize profits and minimize costs. We will be using Real Rookies to continue our own mission of building passive income!"
Past Client