Mike: Welcome back guys, this is the Discount Property Investor podcast, your host Mike Slane joined by my co-host David Dodge.

David: Hey guys.

Mike: And a special guest today, we have Megan Carew.

Megan: Hey, how are you?

Mike: Megan, welcome to the show.

David: Welcome Megan.

Mike: If you guys are first time listeners, please we encourage you to check out the freewholesalecourse.com. Something that the Discount Property Investors have put together for you to get started in real estate with basically no money down. So go check out freewholesalecourse.com. Or go back and listen to our first ten episodes, we really cover a lot of the basics right there to help you get started right away in real estate investing.

So Megan, thanks for joining us and I guess we are kind of here to hear your story. I don't know, Dave? Do you want to lead with some questions?

David: Yeah sure. So Megan was kind of one of our initial students.

Megan: You guys taught me before you started teaching.

David: That's right.

Mike: Before we launched the course.

David: Yeah so we -- you got in good because we didn't have a coaching program at that point in time. You were one of our junior buyers, so essentially you were -- you were out in the field helping us buy properties and -- we were able to train you along the way and you have had an awesome success story, and that is why we wanted to invite you on the show today.

Megan: Right.

David: So thanks for coming on. How long have you been in real estate? Do you mind giving us a little bit of background on how you got started on real estate and maybe share you struggles -- in the beginning -- tried to go the agent route, then switched over to the investing route?

Megan: Yeah so literally I guess it was last year, right -- I had twins in December then I was just like -- I don't want to go back working at a bar. I don't want to go back to -- the service industry but I really like people. Nobody approached me about becoming an agent, I was thinking and I was like -- oh, I can just invest a little bit of money and make good money out of it.

So I got my license and went through the whole --

Mike: So did you know anyone in real estate then?

Megan: No.

Mike: No? Just -- out of the blue?

Megan: Yeah.

Mike: Awesome.

Megan: I thought, I am going to invest in myself this year with my tax return; because I got a lot of money back from having so many kids.

David: Right.

Megan: So I thought, I will put this back into myself and -- went to school and learned it all. I signed on with a big name here and a big name everywhere I guess.

David: Who was the big name?

Megan: [00:02:42.20 - inaudible]

David: Okay.

Megan: I literally went into the office every single day; I did everything my broker told me to do. I was answering the phones, I was there -- going on appointments and doing -- following people and shadowing people -- I kind of found that some of the people higher up in there weren’t as nice as --

David: They would like you to believe?

Megan: Yeah, you would like them to be, or as helpful as you would like them to be, but -- I still showed up every day and did my phone duty -- like twice as much as any other person who started at the same time I did.

David: Right.

Megan: Got nowhere literally -- made no money in the first four months there.

David: Let's pause just for a second, I want to slow down. So you got your license with your tax return money?

Megan: Uh huh.

David: Then -- why [00:03:29.26 - inaudible]? Did you shop around different brokers?

Megan: I did -

David: Or just the one that was right up the street on the corner from you? Why did you choose them?

Megan: Literally because I didn't know anyone in real estate and my mom was like -- I would go with [00:03:43.24 - inaudible]. If I thought about selling a house, I would sell a house with [00:03:47.02 - inaudible].

David: Big name.

Megan: Yeah, it's a big name and --

David: Everyone’s heard of them.

Megan: I get more --

David: More recognition because you work for a big company?

Megan: -- because I work for a big company and I wasn't with a smaller company so ---. That really got me nowhere, and then one day I was on Facebook, imagine that, because I spend most of my time there. I saw Amy posted something about, hey my dad is starting this new company and they need JV buyers. And I thought, oh well I guess -- I mean I could always use an extra income; I am going to go see what this is about.

David: Sure.

Megan: So I am meeting with Ray, and he is like, hey sure, you're on. Come -- I had literally never done a closing, I had never actually sold a house. I had only -- learned about it so --

David: Sure.

Megan: So I knew nothing.

Mike: So let's back up one more time then. So for anyone who is just tuning in for your first episode. Ray is one of the partners here at Discount Property Investor. And Amy is also -- one of the employees or partners here as well. So Amy was a friend of Megan’s on Facebook and just -- you saw one of her posts, reached out to her.

Megan: I reached out to her, well actually I reached out to her and she was like, well reach out to my dad. I have known Amy for a while, but never really knew Ray.

David: Sure.

Megan: So I reached out to him, made an appointment, came into the office and he was like, yeah sure. So I went to my first couple of meetings with you guys, I didn't know anything. Most of these terms like, MAL, ARV, all that stuff, I have no idea what any of those meant. You guys were all pretty seasoned it seemed. There were a couple of others guys that were here and they seemed to have already been invested in this business way more than myself. So I was like, okay well I don't really know what I am doing, but I am just going to keep doing it, I am going to just keep showing up. Eventually I will learn and catch on, right?

Mike: That's huge, and I think that is one of the things that has really helped you get to where you are at and be successful. Because a lot of people don’t just keep going.

Megan: Right.

Mike: And that is huge. You even said when you were at -- working as real estate agent, you just kept showing up.

Megan: Nothing happens.

Mike: Unfortunately that didn’t work out as well.

David: How long were you there?

Megan: Four of five months -- wasn't till -- August -- I switched over to Wood brothers. I just switched over then because they were like -- they are a smaller company and I thought I would do something with my license. But I really wasn't that invested at that point in time. I knew I was going to put more of my energy into wholesaling

David: Right.

Megan: So --

David: Just being on the investment side of the business.

Megan: Yeah.

David: So whenever you were working there -- you said you did four to five months?

Megan: Yeah.

David: And you were just going in there, in the office --

Megan: Every single day.

David: Going in -

Megan: Yeah.

David: Making calls, answering phones, just waiting --

Megan: Doing everything they told me to do.

David: Right. Waiting for someone to come in for the most part off the street and say, hey -- I need you to list a home.

Megan: Right.

David: Or a buyer even.

Megan: -- set up my Facebook page, did -- everything they told you to.

Mike: So did you do any deals at all when you were an agent there?

Megan: I did listing appointments, but of course my broker was like -- oh I can't show up with you. I have never been to a listing appointment as a new agent.

David: So you had no training for the most part?

Megan: Pretty much, no. I was just going to these appointments, not really knowing what i'm doing. They give you a big packet, flipping through the packet, trying to sell this marketing plan which is like -- basically the same as every other companies marketing plan. They really -- you know? In real estate nobody can really do anything better because -- it is all made by the internet now.

Mike: There are so many regulations too -- you can't --

Megan: Yeah. There is nothing really I think -- essential that makes you stand out. You list it, it goes out on the MLS, goes out to 900 other sites and nowadays --

David: You are kind of an order taker at that point?

Megan: Yeah. They chose from the internet.

David: Somebody wants to make an offer --

Megan: It's not really --

David: Right.

Megan: -- anything that makes you stand out.

Mike: The industry is changing though. It has been very, very slow. The fact that agents are still around is fascinating I think, that they are so sticky.

Megan: Right.

Mike: Anyways, I kind of digress on that --

David: It was a lot different 15, 20 years ago.

Megan: Right.

Mike: They had big old packets of properties that they would look through --

David: They would look through and --

Mike: Hey, these ones you might be interested in -- yeah. So it is definitely a changing industry.

David: Right.

Mike: And -- I think I just shared some article about that actually. How the real estate commission is just so sticky. Kind of digressing. So Megan's story though --

Megan: Yeah, I wasn't making any money, so I came here and -- luckily --

Mike: Same story -- not making any money.

Megan: I wasn't making any money.

Mike: It wasn't overnight.

Megan: But I was getting leads from you guys -- and I was lucky enough to have you (referring to Mike) and you (referring to David) and Ray go on appointments with me -- and see how you guys all work and how you talk to these people. Obviously we all do it a different way -- everybody does it a different way. Close a deal and --

David: Sure.

Mike: You got to be yourself; you are trying to connect to another person --

Megan: Right.

Mike: Just --

David: There is no script when it comes to talking to people.

Megan: I could tell you –

David: Building rapport.

Megan: Yeah, I could tell you straight up, when I go -- when I went on that one appointment with you, I could right away tell you were into pleasing the seller and making the seller happy. When I go on appointments with Ray, he grunts a lot and points a lot at things.

Mike:  Ray the Rhino. Go back and check out episode 12.

Megan: Then -- it's kind of like a mystery; you can see it on people's faces. This guy -- what's going on in his head?

David: What is he getting at here?

Megan: I can only offer you $50,000 for this house. And they are like -- they take it or they don’t. I kind of learned from him is; you move on. If they don't like it you move on, go back and see if they want to take it again in a couple of months, if they don't; you move on.

Mike:  That is a valuable lesson though. It is a numbers game and we are in a people business, but it is a numbers game. You have to filter through -- enough sellers to find one that is actually motivated.

David: Right. And if you start chasing, you are going to end up buying it at a retail price too.

Megan: Right and that's --

David: You got to be firm on your offers.

Megan: Right, that's the woman in me. I am more of a people pleaser, I want to help these people, I can see some of these people are -- short sale people or people who have gone through divorce. You can see that they are hurting. So you're like -- I really want to take this property from you, and I really want to make you happy -- but I can't.

David: Right, I have heard this several times -- it stands true today, but -- if you are not embarrassed with your offer; it is probably too high.

Megan: Right.

David: When it comes to buying at a wholesale price, or even just getting a property at a really good price. Your offer has to be so low that sometimes it is embarrassing to even say. Hey I will give you 50 grand for this house -- when in all reality it may be worth 80 or 90. If you are going to make money in the middle, you got to get it cheap.

Megan: Right, that's exactly -- that's what everybody else is doing, that's what you do when you wholesale close -- so -- why would it be different? Houses now I don’t necessarily go to appointments saying, my plan is to sell your property for $10,000 more than I am buying it for right now. But if there is a need there, if they need to get out of it, if its -- if they are desperate enough, and it is a good enough offer and they are coming out, maybe $5000 ahead, maybe they are just coming out paying off their loan. But -- you can --

David: As long as you create the win:win:win it doesn’t really matter. A lot of times the level of motivation with them isn’t -- it is not a financial motivation. It's a burden, it's a weight. So if you can take the weight off of them -- at the same time you are able to make a financial gain -- then also T up a rehabber with a deal, you can still create that win: win:win. That is something that I really want to stress to the listeners and the viewers, I have said this multiple times in previous podcasts but -- you still want to look for that win:win:win. I am not saying if someone came to me and they said they want to give me a house I wouldn’t take it. Obviously I would say okay --

Mike:  Maybe. Some houses are not worth nothing.

David: Some houses are not worth anything, that is so true. But whenever I am out on the appointment, I usually try to build rapport with the seller -- there are two things I think I do pretty well; one I let them know that I am an investor, I don’t pay retail. When I walk in the door nowadays, I straight up tell them, this is what -- this is who I am. I am an investor, I don’t pay retail -- but I will follow that up with, however -- I am here to help. Although I am not going to give you the best number for this particular property -- I am here to lift that weight off your shoulders so -- if this is something you are just ready to be done with -- house could need 80 grand worth of work, I don't care.

Megan: Right.

David: I will still buy it; I will help you out and take this off of your shoulders. So -- you are creating that win:win.

Megan: Yeah.

David: So -- but let's get back to you and your endeavors. So -- you did four to five months -- at this other job, you didn't have any success, going in every day, spending a couple of hours I would imagine --

Megan: Going home everynight, taking care of a son that was two years old, infants, some a year old, infants at the time. So it was a lot.

David: It's a ton.

Megan: This is not paying off, I put all -- all this money towards it and nothing was coming out of it. So it was like, I have got to think of something to do.

David: Talk of persistent though. I don't know if I would have made it four or five months without making any money. You were going in every day -- busting you --

Megan: Even with this, I didn't necessarily make it, but I felt more potential here.

David: Of course.

Megan: At first I didn't get a deal in the first month, I didn't get a deal in the first two months. At the time I didn’t have the time to invest because I still had to go home and take care of the kids.

David: Of course.

Megan: Paying for babysitters is expensive.

David: Absolutely

Megan: So I was working maybe one or two days a week coming into the office, and -- just getting it out there. I told a lot of people like, I am in this business, and this is what I’m doing now. Yeah, if you have a house you want me to list it, I would love to do that, because I still have a real estate license; but I am not really into retail as much. It is more of a people pleasing thing, getting buyers, driving around -- it is more of a waste of my time. People seeking me out to buy their properties, or people that need me there.

David: You are going to create more value there.

Megan: Right, and more value as a wholesaler than I was --

David: Being a successful real estate agent is very, very difficult. It is competitive. You have to spend a lot of money on marketing -- and really the ones -- there are two agents -- I guess three that really stick out in my mind, that have made a really successful career. I know a lot of agents that pay their bills of course, there are two or three that stick out in my mind that have made a really successful career in real estate. Every one of them has been doing it for over twenty years.

Megan: Right.

David: So -- to build a business that is actually going to pay you -- a good, I mean a good amount of money, several six figure -- you got to be do it twenty, even thirty years and build that reputation up to where -- everyone just knows that you are doing it. But if you just jump in, your first year, or even your fifth year -- it is very difficult to be successful in that business because there is so much competition out there.

Megan: Right.

David: You don’t have as much brand recognition.

Megan: And -- most of these women that are doing it too, that started at the same time -- they were -- had husbands, a lot of them were older, they had husbands who supported them mainly financially --

David: Right. There is a lot of part time agents.

Mike:  There is a huge part time -- percentage I would say of agents.

David: I would say a majority of them -- or at least have another job if you wanna -- look at it that way.

Megan: So I found more value in wholesaling than I did in being an agent. So I just decided to put more attention to that. Even though I didn’t make money in my first couple of months -- whatever, I was just persistent, I showed up every time, I went on appointments. Again, I was learning from nothing; I never bought a house; I had never closed a house myself. I don’t really know anything about real estate really.

David: So let’s jump ahead. So -- and thank you for sharing all this information with me and Mike, as well as all the listeners and the viewers here. So let’s jump ahead; you found the ad on Facebook that Amy has posted, or just the post, saying, 'Hey my dad is starting a new company, we are looking to take on some junior buyers'.

Megan: Yeah.

David: So you contacted Amy, you met with Ray. Let's talk about what happened next.

Megan: Yeah, I went to my first couple of meetings, there seemed to be like a rapport. I was like; yeah this is definitely where I want to be. These guys are awesome, everything makes sense to me, I just need to learn more about it.

David: Like you said, when you came into the first couple of meetings, you didn’t really know a lot of the things we were talking about with the different properties.

Megan: Google was my best friend.

David: Right.

Megan: I think I Googled a lot of stuff after every meeting. Not that I was that afraid to reach out to you guys and ask, but I was already asking you a lot of questions/

David: Sure.

Megan: Not opposed to asking, but I felt a little bit stupid asking what MAL means. It seems that everybody else knows that that means but me, so I just figured --

David: You figured it out though, you did great. Absolutely.

Megan: Then -- yeah I kept coming back. In the first two months I was here I think one of the guys left. I was like dang; does he not see the potential in this? But I guess he saw some personal issues. So I just kept coming back and kept coming back and -- I guess it is like real estate; some people don't show up every day and some people do show up every day. I didn't have the luxury to show up every day, because if I had no kids and could put 110% into this and be here every day from 9-6 I would have been.

David: Right.

Megan: But because I didn't, it took me a little bit longer. I mean -- if you were here every day you probably could close a deal in your first month. If you are doing this and working it like a full time job you could. But I didn't so I wasn't opposed to -- it was going to take me a longer stretch.

David: You know what though? You're still here.

Megan: Right.

David: And you have been with the company -- not an employee of the company, but you are a junior buyer, and associate of the company and have been with the company six or seven months? Give or take?

Megan: Yeah.

Mike:  At least six months.

David: I would say something like that. But just the fact you were persist ant, I think is one of the biggest lessons I would like the listeners and viewers to take away.

Mike: Absolutely.

David: Anything in life that is going to be highly rewarding, isn't going to be easy, it isn’t going to come easy, you are going to have to work hard for it.

Megan: Right.

David: If you give up, you are never going to be able to reach those goals.

Megan: Right.

David: The fact you kept coming back in, I want to commend you, the fact you kept coming in and -- whenever we saw that you weren’t going away -- at that point we are like okay, let’s start giving her more and more leads.

Mike:  That's true, we had a conversation. We said, Megan is really persistent, she is trying to figure it out, we need to get her more leads, we need to get her paid.

David: Right.

Mike:  Like, we need to get --

David: Absolutely, that makes the difference.

Mike:  She has the tenacity, so let’s get her paid. Let’s talk about that then, let's talk about your first deal. Describe how that happened.

David: Please.

Megan: So my first deal was actually, a girl I met at [00:19:09.20 - inaudible] when I first --

David: So it wasn't a complete waste?

Megan: It wasn't a complete waste.

Mike:  There ya go.

Megan: When I first started there was a girl who worked with me, she started a month or two before I did. I had saw Ray's thing and I was going through all the JB buyers thing and I was like, oh I am going to start working for this investment company. So lo and behold I don't know -- six or seven months later she calls me up and says, my aunt is sick, are still working for that investment company? I need people to come see her house. Cash buyers, she can't open downstairs and they need to get rid of it quickly, they bought a condo and they are closing on it at the end of the month, so we need to do a double close on the day. So I was like, okay -- I will go look at it, ended up -- I went with Ray, because it was close to where we both live. He was like, oh I don't know if we are going to make any money on this deal -- or whatever. But I thought there was good potential in this area -- in St Louis it is a pretty good area, good school district so -- we ended buying it -- 168 plus we paid a thousand dollars to Maggie for giving us the lead because she is an agent. And then, we ended up wholesaling it for 182. So that was a good profit there.

Mike:  That's a great profit.

David: That's amazing.

Megan: So I was like, heck yeah! I really got motivated then. Oh so I guess when people really do need this service they will come find me, you know what I’m saying? It's not like -- I really have to -- yeah it's good to be proactive and seek them out, but when they really need you they will ask, hey aren’t you buying houses for cash?

Mike: That is absolutely true. The more times you tell your network, hey I am an investor now --

Megan: Right.

Mike: It sinks in, and eventually when they need you, they are going to find you.

David:  Right.

Mike: A lot of people reach out to me once a month or so, just to ask you, hey are you buying houses? Are you selling houses too?

David:  Right.

Mike: Do you have anything? I have some friends that are rehabbers too.

David:  Yeah, you don't want to keep your business a secret. You got to let people know what you do.

Megan: Anyways, I got what is it? A $5000 check, I was like heck yeah! This made all those months of struggling worth it. If I can one check like this a month, I will be fine.

David:  You will be great, absolutely.

Megan: If I can do more than that, I will be more than fine. But as for now, let's keep my goals realistic here.

David:  Sure.

Megan: And try and shoot for one or two closing a month, why couldn't I shoot for that? So the next month I actually -- well actually I bought this house a couple of months before. It was a lead that you guys had gave to me and -- it was in Valley park -- I don't necessarily think that -- the potential -- I thought -- man, I really got down because we were having a hard time finding a buyer for it. So we had a buyer that pulled out --

David:  I remember, we even had two that pulled out. But we had such a good deal on that on, I remember that particular deal, such a good deal that we had. We were buying it for so low that we took the risk of just closing on it with our own funds because we knew -- we have had a little trouble with some of the buyers -- saying they would buy it and pulling out. But because we were able to get it so low, we minimized our risk, to where we knew as a company, we know that we are getting this at such a good deal that we will at least break even on it. We won’t lose --

Mike: It was a little bit of an odd house but it was just such a good price --

Megan: Yeah.

David I remember that. Was that your second or third deal?

Megan: That was my second one.

David:  Your second one, okay I remember that. We ended up closing on it and -- two or three weeks later we were able to sell it.

Megan: Yeah, let me tell you. If they tell you as a junior buyer, all you do is get a house and a contract or whatever, I am not like that. I always follow up on my houses. I was out there like -- I put a note on the door. 'If you have any trouble call me' I was right down the street. I had the hardest time with the key at this house. I ended up actually finding the buyer for the house -- a guy that was doing rehabs in the area that I knew was trying to sell rehab up the street. It was just being persistentand that same day that I took the buyer over to the house, we were about to settle for 27, and I got him to sign for 36.

David:  I remember that. Hashtag hustle.

Megan: So I as like -- wait don't accept that contract!

David:  That's right, you did. You put in a lot of work and -- you earned it. You worked your rear off on that deal.

Megan: That was the hardest one. The other one was like -- easy.

Mike: Some of them are easy. That is another thing to point out to the listeners. I mean some wholesale transactions just sort of fall together. Some of them are more of a challenge where you really are working a lot more to create the win:win.

Megan: Yeah.

David:  That is a very good point, we have said this in previous episodes is wholesaling is very simple. The business of wholesaling is simple, but it is not always easy. Some of these deals are very difficult to --

Mike: A lot of them are.

David:  A lot of them are when it comes to the logistics of what has to happen. But there are those deals that can both be simple and easy. Those are the best, they're fun.

Mike: That's when it's fun.

David:  I am not trying to steal the show here, but I have had situations where I have been able to sell houses off two or three text messages.

Megan: Right.

David:  And those are so fun. I am not even saying those were super profitable deals. But I remember on deal in particular -- that I had got an e-mail from another wholesaler -- and I had -- a buyer has called me like a day prior. It was like, hey I am looking in this neighborhood -- this is what I will pay. Literally the deal -- it was like the clouds opened up and the sun came down. The deal was e-mailed to me, it was the craziest thing.

Megan: Right.

David:  I texted the buyer I said, hey -- I got this deal, go look at it. I had previously called the other wholesaler and he was like, yeah we will do a split on it. I think I made 6 or 700 bucks on the deal but just from one text message. I spent 45 seconds working on the deal, and three hours later he calls me back and says, hey I’ll take it. No negotiations, just done. I was like that's cool. Simple and easy, but doesn’t often happen that way.

Megan: Yeah that other one wasn’t that simple or easy because -- well not that one, but the [00:25:37.25 - inaudible] one I made a good one, that was definitely more simple than the other one.

David:  Right.

Megan: But it was just because the lady was ill so we had to get everybody in at one time, but you can tell -- I never actually done an open house I guess for a wholesale deal. But you could tell who was interested and who wasn’t. And there was just this one guy and he was lingering outside. Him and Ray were talking -- that's our buyer.

David:  Right. He wanted it.

Megan: Yeah, and Ray was like -- we did a deal a couple of days ago, or a couple of months ago.

David:  Sure.

Megan: The flip guy made $52,000 off of that.

David:  But that is the win:win:win we are always talking about. We made a little bit in the middle there, you helped the elderly lady that we said was sick. You helped her with her issues, she probably didn’t care.

Megan: She was [00:26:26.19 - inaudible]

David:  She just wanted to get rid of the damn house.

Mike: So Megan, -- tell us -- just rewind just a bit because we don’t think we have covered doing open houses for a wholesale deal. That is something our partner -- he does it pretty frequently. So -- Megan do you want to cover it?

Megan: So --

David:  Often times before he has the contract on the house.

Mike: Well let's not get into that. That's the other partner.

Megan: So yeah -- we just put it up on the website or send out texts to the buyers that we know that would be interested in that area and tell them, hey Saturday at 1 o'clock till 2 o'clock -- come in if you want to see this property you can. Other than that you get the pictures on the internet because, this lady is sick, she can’t afford for people to come in and out. So then we talked to the lady and we weren’t like -- oh we are going to be bringing potential buyers to your house. We said, we are going to have contractors and partners to look at the house from 1 till 2 of that’s okay. She couldn’t leave the house so she stayed in one room, that was fine.

David: Typically when you do an open house, it is whenever the house is occupied, it doesn’t have to be. We have done open houses on properties that were vacant. But usually we would have limited showing access. Now if you can get a lockbox great, you don’tnecessarily need to -- follow through people through on a specific time and day.

Megan: Right. They didn’t care about the locks -- sorry.

Mike: I was just going to say -- so that is the main reason you would do an open house, was if you have limited access. A lot of times if your seller can be a little bit stubborn about putting a lockbox on it, so you set up a time -- then you co-ordinate just like Megan has said.

Megan: Right.

Mike: To get a time for all your partners to come through the property.

David:  Right

Megan: And they didn’tnecessarily care about the lockbox on the property -- but it was a more of -- she's sick, how inconvenient would it be for us to say hey, it’s 12 o'clock on Wednesday -- she’s ill can we have somebody come through? Whatever, so we did have a lockbox on it, but it ended it up working out this two hour period -- we found a buyer right then and there. We knew it before even --

Mike: That is where you are adding value too though. This woman doesn’t want people coming in the house a bunch so you said, okay we are going to get it done right here.

Megan: Right.

Mike: But the reason you are able to do that is because you got it at a price that made sense for you as an investor. So -- it is a win for you, win for your buyer, win for the lady. It is all about creating win:win:wins.

Megan: Yeah it was a great deal -- I was happy to help them out.

David:  Which one was this? The [00:28:49.18 - inaudible] one?

Megan: Uh huh.

David:  Okay, I remember that one.

Megan: Literally you could tell -- you could tell the guy was out there talking to Ray and I was liek -- okay that is going to be out buyer.

Mike: Megan, tell us a little bit about where you're headed now. Because I think this is one of the more exciting things -- that you came up with.

David:  Absolutely.

Mike: Tell me what happened. You were deals, then you just got so excited about -- I need to do some marketing. I was like nice,she’s got it, she getting it.

David:  Yeah well I think the paradigm shifted where you were like -- real estate is the product that we are buying and selling. But I am in the marketing business and -- I can continue to be persistent in the office -- and -- these -- the Discount Property Investors are going to give me leads, I am going to continue to take those leads -- but I want to get my own leads!

Megan: I want a bigger split on them and make more money.

David:  And I can do more deals!

Mike: Alright, so tell your story. Both of us are excited for you.

David:  Right.

Megan: So -- I guess I approached you guys and asked if it was okay, because I didn’t want to step on any toes. I was like, hey is it okay if I do some of my own marketing?

David:  Absolutely.

Megan: I was like, oh I’m thinking of doing 'This girl buys houses' like -- this girl. A little stick figure with curly hair -- just putting some signs up, some bandit signs up or something like that. You could just see -- especially in Bill's face the excitement. I think Mike was like, okay Bill you got to calm down.

Mike: Well Bill is a visionary and he loves ideas.

David:  He does.

Mike: So if a good idea pops up, he does, he lights up.

Megan: Right. So I was like, okay yeah I’m going to start doing some marketing so -- me and Amy was just talking and we were like, oh we will just make this our own thing. So we were just talking and bouncing ideas off of each other -- I guess we just noticed a pattern of our family and friends, and everybody we know actually -- man, woman, it doesn’t matter. Everyone has a side hustle;everyone is trying to make extra money. They are driving an Uber on Friday and Saturday nights, or -- whatever. You're refereeing soccer games during the summer. I don't know but everybody does something else for extra money right now,and a household can’t even rely on two incomes. If you have three kids and two people working full time, it’s still really hard.

David:  It's tough. Absolutely.

Megan: Tough in this economy so -- I just started thinking, this is something women could make money off of. How can I convince other women this is profitable, right?

David:  Of course.

Megan: So I was like, thinking and doing some research into some direct sales companies that I have a lot of friends who work for -- some of them and -- on particular; it's a skin care company --

Mike: We won’t mention any names.

Megan: Yeah, not mentioning names. But -- in fine print at the very bottom it says, the average distributor doesn’t make more than $1200 a year.

David: Annually.

Megan: Annually yeah. So --

David:  You have to pay money to join this program.

Megan: Women are paying from 300 - 600 to 900 dollars to --

David:  To become a distributer -- buy the products to then distribute -- that is how a lot of the multilevel market companies are. I am not here to bash them, that is not my intent. But I know a lot of people -- I actually had a guy -- I think he sent you the email too, Mike. But he sent an e-mail just two days ago about a new program for these gift cards. It looked cool, I wasn't trying to be negative, but I am like, listen when you don’t focus on something and you are constantly jumping from one shiny object to the next shiny object -- you are never going to be good and successful at something -- that you want to be good at.

Mike: So this was someone else we had brought into the team and tried to help in real estate. Now he is coming back and saying, hey would you guys be interested in this?

David:  Right. So my point is I said, listen -- I am not against this -- it's cool, but I am not interested until I can see you produce $5-10,000 checks -- several months in a row. Because a lot of these MLM's -- they are a huge time suck.

Mike: Mmm hmm.

David:  You know? They get you real excited; they will show you all these things -- that a couple of people are doing, that are the top people -- essentially the CEO and the founder walks away with billions of dollars.

Mike: He is doing alright.

David:  And everybody else is making 800 - 1200 dollars a year busting --

Megan: Buying cruise ships for --

David:  Busting their butt.

Megan: Then those people who are selling the products are also buying tickets to his cruise ship.

David:  Right. Absolutely. So back to the ones you were looking into.

Megan: So -- I was looking into all these companies -- there has good to be a better way for women to make money. I know the appeal of -- literally -- I am on Facebook, and my news feed is full of -- these -- people selling these things. If it’s one from skin care to -- anything right? There just has to be a better way, so -- I just started thing and -- 6 degrees of separation right? I mean from sick people to somebody famous -- [00:33:48.13 - inaudible] cash buyer? Right?

David:  Yeah I like that.

Megan: S0 -- we will take a lead from anybody because -- I guess paying out a bunch of money in marketing is great -- and that is prospect marketing to a big bunch of people. But, for me not to have to pay for the lead until I actually get it under contract, that would be ideal right?

David:  Right.

Megan: So -- to get these people to brand themselves with me -- and have to do little work. So what can I do just to get them to give me a name? So if I can get girls to sign up and say they know 'This girl buys houses' and -- pastorLarry’s sister dies -- all I’m doing is making Facebook posts saying, "Hey if you every need any -- I buy houses for cash -- " handing out their cards -- doing something at the local community, talking to everybody, just telling them like -- yeah -- buying houses for cash. It's not really going to pastorLarry after his sister died, wouldn’t buy that house for cash. But when he needs you, and you're available -- you are six degrees from him -- you are right there. So it is just that idea of branding yourself with our company. So anybody can bring me a lead, I will $500 if I buy it. But if someone who wants to brand themselves with my company and be 'This girl buys houses' I will pay them out 20% of my profits, which is -- a good amount.

David:  It's an awesome deal.

Megan -- of money so --

Mike: 20% -- you are talking about still doing a majority of the work right?

Megan: Still doing a majority of the work.

Mike: So that is a huge -- referral fee essentially for anyone that wants to help 'This girl buys houses' by being 'This girl buys houses'. That is essentially --

David:  I like how you are giving them two options. Like if you don’t want to do anything, you don’t even want to be branded, you just want to give me the lead -- you will essentially give them 500 bucks.

Megan: Yeah.

David:  In the event that you buy the house. So you are creating a win:win there too, because you are getting leads, you are able to pay people to give you those leads and you are not requiring them to do anything.

Megan: Right.

David:  On the flip side of that is -- if they want to make more money and become more involved and more invested, they can make more money -- and essentially 20% they could make any amount of money.

Megan: Say they bring me a lead and I say, hey -- you can either take this 500 bucks, or I am going to offer you 'This girl buys houses' branding kit -- which is a box essentially with things that help market yourself to your family and friends -- a cup, cards -- magnet. And -- then you can get 20% of everything I make. So you are essentially investing in yourself, which is a really good investment for the initial -- investment -- what you're getting and what you get out of it. Even if one deal you did 20% would be more money than most people do all year in direct sales, off of one deal.

David:  It is pretty crazy to me that -- these MLM companies -- the average person is making -- 11,12,1300 dollars and that is the annual amount.

Mike: I imagine it is pretty low.

David:  It is.

Megan: It's pretty low and these people are hustling and -- again you have it in every business. Shiny objects, a lot of people get in and don’t do it. Or you get in and think, oh I am only paying this much amount to start -- then they are like, we are going hit you for a website fee of $20 a month. You are like, I don’t have any money, I’m broke as heck that is why I am trying to make money. With 'This girl buys houses' we are not asking anything. We are asking 500 bucks -- we arehere for you, we are giving you cards -- you give us leads we pay you out 20% -- we are trying to make it super easy for you by just entering in your information -- the lead information and -- getting money. So it's little work.

Mike: It is a really good idea for sure. It definitely -- I think we both got excited for ya because it is an exciting idea.

David:  I think what makes me the most excited is just that you took the initiative to go out and create something, work hard and build it -- to create your own leads. We are going to continue to give you leads because you continue to show up.

Megan: Right.

David:  Which is -- the most important thing. You are super persistent, and you are consistent. Those are two things that are very, very important. But that fact you said, hey I’m going to do my own business ontop of your guys business -- you have essentially created a win:win for us.

Mike: And for yourself.

David:  That is what I’m saying so -- you know have people that you are going to be able to pay for leads, they are going to be able to give you those leads where you can go work those.

Megan: Right.

David:  We will help you sell those -- all about the win:win.

Megan: Yeah, and some of these women -- maybe - some of these women are more eager to learn about the whole process.

David:  That is great too.

Megan: It is a lot, it took me a while to learn, it is a lot.

David:  Was the free wholesale course helpful?

Megan: Yeah -- I know everybody doesn’t have the time to invest in learning the whole thing. That is why I am trying to make it easy for a stay at home mom -- sister who is in school, to make extra money off of this business. Because it is profitable or whatever but -- when people do want to learn I will send them to you guys because -- it’s like, oh you want learn about what wholesaling is all about? Go to freewholesalecourse.com.

David:  Right.

Megan: Check these guys out, listen to the podcast -- learn everything that you can because -- the more knowledgably you are in this business -- the better off you are.

Mike: Well we appreciate you, Megan. You have been one of our biggest advocates as well.

David:  Absolutely.

Mike: We hope to keep -- seeing you grow and do well.

Megan: I hope I grow too guys.

David:  You are going to do just fine.

Mike: It's a great idea; it's going to blow up.

David:  You are going to do just fine. Well we are really proud of you Megan, thank you for coming on the show today, thanks for sharing your story.

Mike: Obviously you can go to Facebook and find 'This girl buys houses.'

Megan: 'This girl buys houses' if you got any leads to put in; you can go to thisgirlbuyshousesllc.com and put your leads in.

David: Awesome.

Megan: If you are interested in more; find me on Facebook and message us, reach out to us.

Mike: We will put the contact information in theshow notes, so if you guys are interested in reaching out to Megan. Currently 'This girl buys houses' is only in St Louis, but obviously that is going to change.

Megan: We can franchise.

David:  Going worldwide!

Mike: Alright guys -- Megan, do you want to wrap up with a closing quote for us today?

David:  Please.

Megan: Yeah sure. "Make your marking so useful people would pay for it." So I guess this is the end goal of 'This girl buys houses' we want you to pay for it, but you are going to profit.

David:  You are going to make money.

Mike: Awesome, thanks Megan. Thanks guys for listening.

David:  Thanks Megan.