Investor Spotlight: Meredith Parker
The Hill Country is home to three of the ten counties that have logged the fasted population growth in the country since 2010 making it the fastest growing corridor in the nation. (1)
The vibrant city of Austin has an indescribable attraction, it’s a variable you can’t measure.
The combination of friendly Texan meets out of staters as bright as the Texas sun.
The vibes are reverberated throughout the city welcoming new combers from all over the country who are taking advantage of the economic growth.
Meredith Parker and Pretty City Properties
One newcomer I’ve had the pleasure of working with joined us from Atlanta, Georgia nearly a decade ago. Meredith and I connected through BiggerPockets, subsequently meeting at a local coffee shop for our first formal meeting.
After our meeting I could tell Meredith was a force to be reckoned with. She came to the meeting well prepared with a list of questions, already had her financing lined up, knew the contractors she wanted to use — and all while juggling her day job responsibilities.
To date Meredith has been one of the most successful investors in the Austin’s market, and is now hitting full stride.
Meredith and I had a chance to catch up recently and she was kind enough to share some of her experiences with us. These experiences are highlighted below.
How did you get started in investment real estate?
After working as an Advertising Copywriter for over a decade, I was feeling uninspired and trapped in the corporate world and wanted to find something I was passionate about. When I thought about what else I’d rather be doing, it always came back to real estate.
I had bought and sold a few homestead properties and found that I was able to make a profit each time by making thoughtful, budget-conscious updates, and funding those updates with equity I pulled out of the house through refinancing.
An investor cousin told me about Bigger Pockets, and I started educating myself on various strategies. The more I learned, the more I realized that I could transition into real estate without a ton of start-up money.
I took out a HELOC on my primary residence to get started and purchased my first rental property. I worked toward obtaining my REALTOR license and rehabbed my first property while still working full-time at my 9 to 5.
By the time I was halfway through my second renovation project, I gave my notice to my employer and moved into real estate full time. I haven’t looked back since!
Best advice you can give to a newbie?
The best advice I could give someone just starting out in real estate investing is to stay focused on learning as much
as possible in the beginning, but don’t let inexperience prevent you from moving forward.
I believe the very best way to learn is through doing, so don’t be afraid to take the plunge and get started! You can read every article, listen to every podcast and attend all of the seminars you want, but none of that is a substitute for the knowledge and experience you gain through hands-on action.
Don’t be afraid to fail…oftentimes it’s through momentary failures that we make our greatest strides forward. View every mistake as a learning opportunity.
Hardest part of a project you had to overcome?
Every project is different, but almost any project will have hiccups. For me, the hardest part of every project is
remembering to take a step back to take a breath, brush myself off and figure out how to change the game plan when these challenges come up.
The problem will always be different, but the mindset has to stay the same. It’s difficult in the middle of a stressful situation, but I keep having to challenge myself to stay calm and remember that there’s a solution for every problem, even if it’s not the solution I may have first envisioned.
Any pitfalls investors should lookout for?
I would caution new investors to be careful who they choose to work with and put EVERYTHING in writing. When you don’t have much experience, it’s easy to assume that everyone you work with knows better than you do, but just
because someone has been in the business longer doesn’t necessarily mean that they are trustworthy.
Vet every contractor and every potential partner. Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t fully understand something and consider writing up your own scope of work and have everyone sign off on it.
If someone doesn’t want to put your agreement in writing, that’s a red flag.
What was your most successful investment?
So far, my most successful investment was also the easiest. It was a quick, purely cosmetic renovation on a newer house with good bones.
As with most any project, surprises came up along the way, but in the end I made half of my old annual salary as a Copywriter in the 90 days that it took to renovate, list and then close on the house.
While not every project will go that smoothly, it was a good reminder of what is possible (and why I love real estate)!
Would you be open to new partners?
Currently, I am continuing to grow my investing business, focusing primarily on fix and flips while also looking for opportunities to grow my rental portfolio.
I am actively looking for investors to partner with and prioritize networking opportunities in my work schedule as a way to connect with and learn from others in the industry. I also recently launched a staging business, specifically designed to better serve the investor community with special investor-only packages and pricing.
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