Megan Caywood

I was born in Houston, TX, and grew up in the hustle and bustle of a large metropolitan city. My mother lived in Dallas / Fort Worth, which was my second home. My father was significantly older than most other parents with kids my age- he could have been my grandfather. He grew up with a different mindset and instilled those values and work ethics in my siblings and me. My working years began at a young age with completing my chores and making good grades to earn my allowance. This gradually turned into working as an Inventory Specialist in a telecommunications company during summers and winter breaks at the age of 15. The beginning of my high school years we had a downturn in our family income. My father decided late in his life he wanted to pursue a career in real estate and became a realtor. This drastically reduced our family’s income, as he was the breadwinner of our family of 5. I picked up jobs here and there- I worked side by side with a general contractor (my neighbor) and did anything he needed me to from painting, sheet rock, digging post holes for fences, and running a crew of Spanish speaking men working on the foundation for a house. I was paid cash at the end of the day and I was happy. I took on a more permanent part time position as a veterinary technician assistant and finished out my high school doing this. After high school, my parents never pushed the idea of college, but I decided I would enroll in community college, HCCS. While I was going to college part time, I had a part time job as an insurance agent working in a State Farm office. I was 18 and I realized I wanted to do exactly what the agency owner did, not very much, and make just as much money. Pipe dreams. Working part time and going to school part time was not working well as I was unmotivated to finish school. I stopped taking classes and took on two more part time jobs. I was working from 8 am to 11pm at night for about 4 months. I realized that while I was making money, I did not want to continue this schedule. So, I made a choice to ask the highest paying job for a full time position and a raise. It worked! I stayed with that for about a year before deciding I wanted to move to Dallas for change. While I had every intention of transferring within the company, there were no positions available that suited me. May 2005 I moved with only my savings and no job to speak of. Within 30 days I found a position at an Allstate agency that pushed and motivated me to eventually partner with the agent and purchase two more agencies in Dec 2007. By the time I was 25, I had reached my first “million” on my tax returns. In 2007, I formed a company with every intention of investing in real estate. I did research and analyzed deals, but let’s face it, I was on my own and had no idea how to go about doing this the right way. So, what better way to get your feet wet than to start with your own house. This was my "first". It was the least expensive house purchased in the neighborhood, which was a good thing, but needed some updating. We lived in a local hotel for about 5 months while it was being renovated. You’re probably thinking, 5 months?! Well, it was not the most efficient way as we hired a friend to run crews and do a lot of the work while we helped in areas to save money. I definitely appreciated the value of hard labor when we were finally able to move in. As any homeowner knows, it never stays this way, because later we re did the landscaping, resurfaced the pool and hot tub, added new tile and coping and a 40ft retaining wall. The pool contractor referred to us by a friend had his own ideas of how it should look and it conflicted with my ideas so we parted ways. A few months later, he called me and apologized and said he wanted me to be happy and was from then on much more accommodating to my requests. The project was a success! Everyone, including myself, was impressed with the outcome. Our next major project was the master bathroom. This was the project from hell. While I had tons of ideas and interviewed contractors who would make my vision real, I chose the wrong one. All the red flags were there, but I chose to ignore it because he was a referral from a family member. The bathroom was unusable for over a year I finally decided after a ton of lost money, it was time to stop mourning the effects of a very bad contractor job and hire a good friend of mine who was a contractor to finish the job. When I say finish, they completely gutted the bathroom and started from the studs. It turned out fantastic. Considering I could use my bathroom for about 2 ½ years I was ecstatic when It was done. Back to my career...about 6 years into my insurance career, I realized I did not like the direction the company I was contracted with was heading. I felt more like a prisoner than a “career woman”. So I branched off and started an independent agency and thought any prospects that did not work out with one agency could be transferred to the other. What I realized 2 years later, I just did not have the same passion for this as when I started 10 years earlier. I took a step back and re evaluated my short and long term goals. I made a decision to go back to college full time and finish my degree. Crazy talk. And here I am today. When I’m not investing in real estate, I enjoy spending time with my family + friends, cycling, and traveling. I read, a lot, and I am always seeking to grow myself and expound on my knowledge. Experience: Short version: "official" full time real estate investor since June 2014 Long story: I have always had the notion of real estate in the back of my mind; the question was how was I going to break into the industry? I convinced my partner and cousin, Jairo Freyre, to attend a real estate investing event with me and we were convinced it would be life changing and it has been. With my knowledge in start up small businesses, the only thing I needed to do was learn the real estate industry. For the past several months, we have immersed ourselves in anything real estate related, learning the ins and outs of investing and the DFW market. We are relentless in our pursuit of wanting to be the best WE can be! To date, we have made countless offers, analyzed properties and neighborhood trends, spoken to contractors, added people to our "team", discovered how NOT to wholesale, and now we are in the beginning stages of learning how to create a fruitful relationship with private money lenders. Real Estate Goals: NICHE: single family residence 3+bed/2+bath with ARV range $300k - $400K STRATEGY: Flipping / rehab properties; short sales Long term goal: learning how to find, analyze, and purchase/sell commercial real estate. Currently Seeking: I may sound like a broken record considering how many users are on Bigger Pockets, but here it goes. PRIVATE MONEY LENDERS: The interest rate is not so relevant as much as whether or not the numbers work. We will never do a deal with the anticipation that we will loose money. This is a safe guard not just for our lenders, but for us as well. You would have a note on the property, along with a deed of trust; we are never going to borrow more than 70% LTV. This is a safe buffer. JV Partners CPA/FINANCIAL GURU: Position has been filled. PROPERTIES Currently focused on properties in Bishop Arts District in Dallas, Arlington Heights in Ft Worth, Northwest and Keller ISD, and Decatur. Although, I have a large resource network with buyers throughout DFW and I will look at any deal.