Financial Freedom with Real Estate Investing MB 236: The Financial Freedom to Do What You Love – With Megan Lamke
Time is precious. Are you spending your days doing what you love with the people you love? What if multifamily real estate could help you do just that? What if you could achieve financial freedom fast—regardless of your current financial situation?
Megan Lamke is Managing Partner at Megan Lamke Real Estate, a firm that helps driven women turn their grit into true financial growth. She built a network of real estate investors working for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and once she and her husband, Darik, had paid off their personal debt ($535K in under 5 years!), they started investing passively in multifamily syndications. Megan quit her corporate job to pursue active investing full-time in April of 2019, and today, the Lamkes have a portfolio of 1,491 units valued at $344M.
On this episode of Apartment Building Investing, Megan joins me to explain why she took a W-2 job after college (despite wanting to become a real estate entrepreneur) and what she and Darik did to live below their means and pay off their debt so fast. She describes what she did to find a good operator as a passive investor and how she leveraged her sales and marketing background to transition to active investing. Listen in for Megan’s insight on how to raise capital at scale with a platform and learn how YOU can achieve financial freedom and spend time doing what you love!
Key TakeawaysWhen Megan started thinking about real estate
- Parents struggled financially, read Rich Dad Poor Dad at age 10
- Entrepreneurship and business clubs in high school and college
Why Megan took a W-2 job after college
- Needed to pay off student loan debt before leave Rat Race
- Learned sales skills, got to work with real estate investors
What Megan and her husband did to live below their means
- Sold luxury cars, bought cars for cash
- House hacked 6BR (rented to rugby teammates)
- Side hustle as sales and marketing consultant
How Megan and her husband got on the same page financially
- Financial literacy class as part of premarital counseling
- Set goal to pay off debt, achieve financial freedom
How Megan’s strategy shifted once she was out of debt
- Sold 6BR house to invest passively in multifamily syndications
- Goal to replace corporate salary as quickly as possible
Megan’s advice on finding a good multifamily operator
- Look at track record, online reviews, lawsuits and marketing efforts
- Ask questions re: where properties located, how managed, etc.
What Megan’s last day of work was like
- Surreal (like leaving the Matrix)
- Culmination of goal that started in fifth grade
How Megan’s life is different now that she’s a full-time investor
- Control own time (decide when to work)
- Spend more time with daughter, volunteering
What active investing looks like for Megan
- Use SDA to underwrite 10 deals/day (300 in 2019)
- Leverage background in sales and marketing to build out platform
What Megan has done to scale her capital raise efforts
- Done-for-you tech stack to automate lead gen, booking calls
- 30 to 37 calls with prospective investors every week
What Megan is doing to attract prospective investors to her platform
- Create content (social media, videos, blog and weekly webinar)
- Sponsor real estate events, promote lead magnet on podcasts
How Megan describes her ideal investor
- Successful career woman age 40-55, primary breadwinner
- Gritty and knows how to get stuff done
How the automation works to turn interested prospects into investors
- Receive automated email with free download
- Follow up with drip marketing campaign to encourage call
How much capital Megan has raised through her online platform
- $18M raise to close on $49M apartment building
- In process of closing on $18M 503(c)
How raising capital looks different now that Megan has a platform
- Don’t have to call each investor, track follow-up manually
- One centralized management tool that automatically follows up
Connect with Megan Lamke
Megan’s No-Nonsense Women’s Guide to Investing
ResourcesRegister for Michael’s Platform Builder Incubator
Join the Nighthawk Equity Investor Club
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Business Professionals of America