Luis D Ortiz

Early life

Ortiz was born in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He grew up in Guaynabo with his mother, father, and twin brother Daniel. He and his twin brother left Puerto Rico when they were 16 years old. Ortiz said they were too young to understand why they wanted to leave but they were feeling uncomfortable and suffocated by something. Ortiz and his brother headed to Florida and left a note to his parents saying, "If I don’t do this, how do I know if it’s going to work or not?" Ortiz said he didn't speak to his mother for the first six or seven months he and his twin were in the U.S. and his mother wanted to "kill" them.

Film

In 2006, Ortiz moved to New York City to study film direction at the New York Film Academy where he completed the Director’s Program. Upon moving to New York, Ortiz lived in a Jewish community. At the age of 19, he directed and produced Amália, his first film, which won Best Direction in the Puerto Rico Film Festival in 2007. He came back to New York in 2008 to make a second film. Ortiz sought $15,000 from New York restaurants to fund another film and in one night, raised $9,000. The movie was titled The Theater of the Absurd, but he did not like it so he decided not to show it.

Real estate career

Ortiz started began his career in real estate selling rentals. Ortiz spoke of "bait and switch" practices, saying, "we had the bait and switch. Everyone had it but I was always very honest with people when they called me. I needed to feed myself. Had [the listings] been legitimate, I would probably never have gotten any calls."

Ortiz has worked at some of New York’s most successful boutique brokerages, such as Synergy and Prodigy Network, where he had the opportunity to represent some aspiring developments downtown, such as Cipriani Residences, The Setai, and The District.

Ortiz was let go by his real estate firm Keller Williams Realty which stated, "at no fault of Luis", because they said reality TV (Million Dollar Listing New York) was not in line with the Keller Williams’ NYC brand. Before joining New York’s largest residential real estate brokerage firm, Douglas Elliman, Ortiz was a vice president of Keller Williams NYC.

On August 7, 2013, Douglas Elliman announced that Ortiz joined the firm which also employs his Million Dollar Listing New York reality television co-star, Fredrik Eklund. At Douglas Elliman, he started his own real estate group - Ortiz & Co.

To date, Ortiz has sold several hundred million dollars’ worth of residential real estate.

In the season finale of Season 5 of Million Dollar Listing New York, Ortiz announced he is stepping away from real estate to pursue something else entirely.

Million Dollar Listing New York

Ortiz was one of three New York City brokers starring in Bravo's Million Dollar Listing New York seasons two through five.

New York Department of State investigation

The second season of Million Dollar Listing New York showed Ortiz presented photoshopped pictures of hardwood floors and new marble counter-tops, and stainless-steel appliances into promotional pictures of 27 Downing Street, New York, New York. He reasoned, "If I put the real photos out there, not a single person will ever come inside.". He did not actually use the photos for the listing but "he sent the fake photos in an email blast to top brokers."

The New York State Department of State, which regulates the real estate brokerage industry, investigated his listing.

In his blog on the Million Dollar Listing New York website, Ortiz said he learned what not to do and learned never to fall short of his beliefs. Ortiz said he got overexcited and he wrote, "I tried my best to get people through the door as fast as possible that I didn't give myself a chance to slow down and evaluate the situation. I have learned that sometimes slowing down is the best way to move faster."

Personal life

In 2013, Ortiz was listed as number 19 on Us Weekly's Most Stylish New Yorker list.

Ortiz formerly resided in Battery Park City near Goldman Sachs, where he had views of the Statue of Liberty and the Hudson River. In 2014, he moved to Abington House in the northwestern corner of Chelsea, and currently resides in a new development in midtown Manhattan.

In July 2016, Ortiz announced he was retiring from real estate, citing it no longer made him happy. After vacationing in Europe for several weeks, Ortiz announced on his 30th birthday on his Facebook page he is returning to real estate as a principal in property development.

Ortiz returns to Puerto Rico three times every year.