Megan McGinnis' Blog–Get Connected!

In a nutshell:

Having moved from Chicago almost five years ago, I find the winters here in southern California to be not only tolerable but highly enjoyable.  I have a closet full of winter coats that I hate to part with in case something calls me back to winter’s wonderlands for longer than a visit.  Since leaving my antique store behind, I have delved into the field of real estate, buying and selling and helping others in their investing endeavors.  I love meeting people and seeing how I can help them improve their situation through my resources and networks.

Since this economic downturn I have turned my energies towards helping people keep what they have: their homes, their 401Ks, their assets and I’m educating folks about how money works.

Who is Megan McGinnis in a little more detail?

Megan McGinnis is a Midwestern gal with a penchant for pursuing her interests with passion and gusto.  With no experience in the field of antiques, she went from concept to doors-open-for-business in a total of 3 weeks in the city of Chicago where she had just moved and where she knew next to no one.  Now that’s not to say that she didn’t have more than a little help from her unpaid support staff back in Indiana, where mother, Trudy, and youngest sister, Shauna, slaved like Santa’s elves on the eve of Christmas Eve, polishing end tables, gluing legs of dining room tables, removing thick coats of dust from sundry items recently purchased in the hallowed halls of the weekly Shipshewana auction house—less house and more like barn.  What did Megan know of antiques?  Little to nothing but she recognized an opportunity to buy low in a farmer’s auction and sell high in an upscale market like down town Chicago.  Seeing the opportunity she seized it and was in business for 7 years with two stores at one point.  By the time she liquidated her business, Megan had a PHD in retail and a fair amount of knowledge about antiques, gaining all of this on the job and in books along the way.  Trial by fire is the best teacher there is.

After wrapping up business in Chicago, the draw west was irresistible and Megan headed there where 3 sisters were already living.  Knowing that retail was a mission accomplished and not feeling the need to duplicate her efforts here on the west coast, Megan set out to find a new endeavor.  While New York is the financial hub of America as indentified by the stock market on Wall Street, California is considered by some to be the real estate hub of America and the focus of much wealth building is through real estate acquisition.  Megan, finding herself in the Mecca of real estate just before the crash when the hype was still keeping people excited, the frenzy still furious and folks over leveraging themselves like crazy, decided to join the fervor but of course in a non-traditional way, not as a realtor like three quarters the population of California but as an investor.

What did Megan know of real estate?  Just enough to be dangerous and just enough to know that she needed to learn more so she got her education through extensive reading, consulting successful investors, attending real estate clubs and pursuing a few different areas of involvement from tax lien investing to wholesaling.  The consummate professional, Megan published her own retail website to attract potential buyers and sellers.  This website has evolved over time as the market has changed and is currently directed at helping people keep their homes through loan modifications with no upfront fee programs, as well as debt settlement, debt consolidation and credit repair.  www.OmegaLoanMods.com

As Megan’s real estate education expanded so did her personal network and she desire to help others succeed in real estate without having to spend thousands of dollars on expensive seminars?  She created her own website to share her knowledge and has a separate website dedicated to helping professionals improve their marketing efforts.  www.REPToolbox.com

Evolving even further, Megan is helping families who need loan modifications get the financial education they need to stay out of trouble in the future.  Not enough people know how money works so they are recklessly creating debt instead of building real, lasting wealth.  This stick house of an economy is crumbling because too few people are actually living financially stable lives.  Megan’s hope is to educate enough people to help make this economic recovery a lasting one.  One of the best ways to reach the most people is through the internet and that is why she is reaching out in this fashion.  It’s more far reaching than sitting across kitchen tables touching one family at a time.  Through the internet, she can reach out to thousands of families across kitchen tables each night by virtue of this virtual tool.  It’s grand!

On a more personal note, Megan has always valued personal relationships above all else.  Her family has always come first and she ranks God as her biggest fan right behind her Grandfather.  She attends church weekly, volunteers when she can and supports a few key causes like Komen for the Cure, Habitat for Humanity, The Special Olympics, KIVA, a micro-loan non-profit organization and newly founded Pitch In.  You might catch her on the tennis court, the golf course or a beach tennis court but more likely behind her computer.  She’s not a health nut but she’s a conscientious eater, an avid supplement taker with a holistic bent, and is dedicated to daily fitness.   She’s a fan of Notre Dame football since that’s her home town and she’s currently watching a game as she types this.  With God all things are possible.

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