From 9-5 to Financial Freedom: Our Journey to 400+ Deals

Are you yearning to break free from the monotonous 9-5 grind and take control of your financial future? Join us as we explore the story of Meg Haywood, wife of our podcast co-host Ryan Haywood, who shares their incredible journey of quitting their jobs and building a million-dollar real estate investing business.

You'll discover their strategy for finding discounted properties, partnering with eager investors, and turning a profit, while gaining valuable insights into building a thriving business.

Frustration with the 9-5

Meg and Ryan's remarkable story begins in 2019. At the time, Ryan worked a 9-5 corporate sales job that had been good for a while, but it was becoming clear that it wasn't going to provide the income and flexibility they needed long-term.

Meanwhile, Meg was staying home to raise their son and doing some freelance design work on the side. They had been brainstorming about potential side hustles when they discovered the concept of real estate wholesaling.

Wholesaling involves putting discounted properties under contract and then assigning those contracts to end buyers for a profit, without having to invest your own capital. It seemed like the perfect solution.

However, when Ryan declared he wanted to leave his job to pursue wholesaling real estate full-time, Meg had some understandable concerns:

"I was totally cool if he wanted to leave his job, but I was like, 'You're going to just pull money out of thin air?' I was definitely at the end of pregnancy, and at the end of pregnancy, you go into mama bear mode and want to protect and provide for your family."

Taking a Leap of Faith

Despite the risks, Ryan was determined to gain control of his financial future. He promised Meg he would do whatever it took to provide for their family.

Shortly after, they discovered a 14-day wholesaling challenge by an acquaintance on Instagram. Although skeptical at first, this challenge turned out to be the catalyst that launched their business.

Here's how Meg describes those first few whirlwind weeks:

"Literally 14 days into the challenge, he found his first deal and assigned it. At that point, I knew it was going to be fine. I don't remember exactly, but I think we made around $8,500 on that first deal."

Ryan found the rundown property by driving around looking for vacant or dilapidated houses (an approach wholesalers call "driving for dollars"). He got it under contract for a discounted price, then used social media to find an investor buyer and made a $8,500 assignment fee.

That first deal gave Meg the confidence that they could make this work. Ryan's promise was kept - he provided for their family.

Scaling to 400+ Deals

Fast forward to today, and Ryan and Meg have done over 400 profitable wholesaling deals. How did they scale so quickly?

Meg credits joining a mastermind group called Collective Genius that connects successful real estate investors:

"It showed us what we didn't know. The first thing was hiring team members and raising our fees. The second thing was starting our own construction division, which doubled our revenue."

With the knowledge and connections gained from the group, they built out a full team and systematized their business. This allowed Ryan to step back from doing all the day-to-day work himself.

Meg also pushed Ryan to think bigger:

"Your perspective expands when you're in a room full of people doing more than you could imagine was possible."

Choosing Homeschooling

In addition to financial independence, the flexibility of entrepreneurship allowed the Haywoods to make another non-traditional choice - homeschooling their three kids.

Meg explains her motivation:

"I want my kids to know they have what it takes. School can drum that out of you - making you think there's only one path to success. I want them to do what they want, not what others expect."

She also sees parallels between homeschooling and entrepreneurship:

"You teach them the essential skills, then they have freedom to play and create. Similarly in business, once your system is set up, you have more freedom."

Lessons Learned

For those looking to start their own wholesaling journey, Meg and Ryan have this advice:

• It takes hustle upfront - Ryan put in full-time hours for those initial 14 days. Understand it takes an intensive push before you see results.
• Split your first deals - Partner with an experienced investor at first. The quick win is worth splitting profits.
• Join a mastermind - Being around others succeeding at a high level will expand your thinking.
• Support each other - Having a supportive spouse makes taking risks possible.

Their story proves that with determination, an openness to learn, and a solid partnership, you can build the life you want. What "non-traditional" choice will you make?