Real Estate Investing School Podcast: Episode 7

Bootstrapping Your Real Estate Business with Megan & Jeff Ahern

Release Date: August 22, 2022
Host(s): Brody Fawcett & Joe Jensen
Guests: Megan & Jeff Ahern

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, hosts Brody and Joe dive deep into the inspiring and resourceful journey of Megan and Jeff Ahern, a married couple who bootstrapped their real estate investing business from scratch. The Aherns share their beginnings—from selling everything they owned in California and moving to Nebraska in a travel trailer—to flipping, renting, and wholesaling over 38 properties in four years. Their story is marked by sacrifice, perseverance, and a focus on purpose-driven real estate: creating supportive housing for people recovering from addiction. The conversation is peppered with honest admissions of failure, lessons learned, and valuable advice for aspiring investors.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Starting Up: Radical Sacrifice and Relocation

• Selling Everything for a New Start
  The Aherns describe how getting sober was a catalyst for both personal and business growth. After getting sober and facing a career-ending military injury for Jeff, they sold everything in California and moved to Nebraska in a travel trailer to pursue real estate full-time.

  "We decided to just kind of sell everything we own in California, move to Nebraska in a travel trailer, and then park it behind each of our projects for the first year." – Megan (00:00)

• They flipped houses, bought rentals, wholesaled, and did whatever it took, scooping up 38 deals in 4 years.

  “We started flipping houses and buying rentals and doing a little bit of wholesaling … We’ve done 38 deals in the last four years that we’ve been here.” – Megan (00:14)

Marriage & Business: Finding Balance

• Division of Labor as a Couple
  Megan and Jeff discuss the challenge and necessity of dividing roles and separating work from home life.

  “We’ve been pretty good about splitting up our responsibilities and our roles in the business ... we just kind of have different roles and different functions.” – Jeff (03:19)

• Time Blocking for Balance
  Megan describes their structured daily schedule to keep life and business in balance.

  “Time between when we wake up at 5am till 9 is personal time… 9-3 is working, 3-6:30 is our kids, and then after that, our personal time.” – Megan (05:10)

• The Phone Trap: Both agree that keeping devices out of reach is essential to staying present.

  "Putting my phone away at home is the biggest thing… otherwise there’s always something coming in." – Jeff (05:46) “I put a voicemail that says… I only respond during the hours of nine to three.” – Megan (07:36)

First Deals: Failing Forward

• The Value of Failure
  Their first long-distance flip in Albuquerque, NM, was a financial and operational disaster—losing $20,000 due to contractor issues, market misreads, and a botched contract.

  “We did, like, every single thing wrong that you should not do... And so it was like, looking back on it, we're like, okay, let's never do any of those things again..." – Megan (14:19)

• Learning from Loss
  Despite their loss, they see it as vital tuition, not a defeat.

  “It was $20,000 of tuition for my real estate education versus however many thousands of dollars at college to go be an employee. And now I’m my own boss. So it seemed like a pretty easy decision at that point.” – Jeff (23:53)

• On Getting in the Game
  They stress the importance of taking action—even if the first deal loses money.

  “You need both [success and failure]… If you lose some money, but you learned a lot, then next time you’ll have better chances.” – Jeff (21:30) “What sucks more than losing 20 grand on your first flip, you know? … is working till you’re 65… That sucks worse.” – Megan (22:16)

Purpose-Driven Rentals: Sober Living Homes

• Created from Personal Experience
  After getting sober together, the Aherns transitioned into creating sober living homes, renting to programs that help people recover.

  “We have sober living houses here… it really just creates a very supportive atmosphere for these people that are going through their process of getting sober.” – Megan (26:41)

• Investment & Impact Align
  This strategy results in reliable income, two-year leases, low turnover, and well-maintained properties.

  “They are our best and cleanest houses. Every time we walk in, it looks great.” – Jeff (28:10)

Strategy Shifts: Flips, Holds, and Pivots

• From Flips to Select Rentals
  Initially focused on rentals, pandemic realities and property dissatisfaction drove them to sell old units and focus on flipping and select, quality rentals.

  “We sold off almost all of our rentals. We started flipping like crazy... and just being really super picky about what rentals we do bring on.” – Megan (34:06)

• Financial Realities
  Hard-money loans at 18% defined their early years; legitimacy with banks for financing marked their sense of “making it.”

  “It was a grind getting our business to a point where banks would lend to the business and not to Jeff and Megan on our fixed income … once we finally got a good relationship with a banker … it was like a breath of fresh air.” – Jeff (47:48)

Mindset & Advice for New Investors

• Go Bigger, Faster
  They urge goal-setters to think much bigger than they think they can handle.

  “If your goal is to flip 12 houses a year ... you'll never accidentally flip a hundred. Like, you have to completely redesign your whole way you do business.” – Megan (57:30)

• Forget the ‘Fake It Till You Make It’
  Instead, humble yourself, network, and just buy a house; the rest can come later.

  “We spent all this time and money and brain power on stuff that didn’t matter because we still hadn’t even done a single deal… What I should have been doing is ... networking and talking to people and learning.” – Jeff (58:40)

• Abundance Mentality in Real Estate
  They praise the industry’s willingness to help others:

  “Everybody is so friendly. Everybody’s always willing to help, because we all know that you can always make a win-win situation out of almost anything.” – Jeff (59:50)

• Principle of “Do Whatever It Takes”
  Their core value is aggressive action and constant learning.

  “Just doing whatever it takes ... we're kind of in this constant cycle of, like, all right, let's go fast ... and then like, oh, shoot, the wheels are falling off and we need to ... build systems.” – Megan (54:45)

• Push Out of Your Comfort Zone

  “Being in a comfortable place is detrimental. You’ll never be able to grow and achieve big things when you stay in your comfort zone.” – Jeff (55:55)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sacrifice

  “Even though our new fixed income was less than half of what we were making before, we still had more money at the end of the month than we did before.” – Jeff (44:35)

• On Personal Transformation

  “We both have very addictive personalities, so we just had to find a healthy addiction.” – Jeff (49:45)

• On Purpose

  “If I want to be able to open 100 transitional houses … I could be about that. I don’t need to make a million dollars a year, but I might do that in the process on accident.” – Megan (31:36) “Most people are fooled to thinking that money is the biggest motivator… I think deep down, most people are more driven by something they believe in.” – Jeff (32:41)

• On Freedom

  “Just, like, having the option to do whatever we want… being able to leave for months at a time and then come back to it.” – Megan (66:53) “Being able to do what we want, when we want, without money being the indicator on whether or not we can do it.” – Jeff (67:23)

• Bucket List Ambitions

  “I want to dive the Great Barrier Reef. I’ve been scuba diving for like 20 years now—it's probably my number one.” – Megan (65:15) “I want to, I want to be scared … I’ve always wanted to do cage diving with the great white shark.” – Jeff (65:42)

• If You Could Text the World

  “Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.” – Jeff (68:15)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro, dynamic as a couple: 03:14 – 05:46
• Sacrifices: Moving, getting started: 08:22 – 10:43
• First real estate failure: 13:57 – 21:30
• Reflection on failure vs. action: 21:30 – 24:13
• Giving back through sober living rentals: 26:41 – 28:58
• Strategy pivots & financing challenges: 34:06 – 47:48
• Advice to new investors: 57:27 – 61:39
• Real estate as abundance, not competition: 61:39 – 63:03
• Bucket list, definition of freedom, text to the world: 65:03 – 68:36

How to Follow Megan & Jeff

• Megan: Instagram: @the_tatty_investor
• Jeff: Instagram: @invictus_investor
  [Facebook: Acorn Properties]
  Website: acornhuskers.com

Key Takeaways

• Real estate investing rewards those who take action, learn from mistakes, and are willing to sacrifice and adapt.
• Defining purpose and connecting business to personal passion can fuel both financial success and personal fulfillment.
• Don’t get bogged down in surface details (LLCs, logos, etc.)—focus on taking action and learning from experience.
• Humility, networking, and the willingness to ask for help are far more valuable than appearances.
• A big, uncomfortable goal will take you further—even if you don’t fully arrive.