Megan Brock is a multi-talented Wonder Woman with some inspirational renovating goals. She joined Bernadette on She Renovates to talk about our upcoming project with her and her dream of using her renovation skills for the upliftment of women.
Who Is Megan Brock?
For starters, Megan is a TV producer, a yoga instructor, an artist, and a cheese maker. In her 25 years in the world of television, Megan has worked with Hamish and Andy and on reality shows, including Master Chef, Love Island, and I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here. She has also worked on the Olympic Games.
I can’t believe I have never done the block. I’ve heard it’s really hard work, so I think I prefer to sit back and watch it from here.”
Megan recently produced two online series of interviews and classes with senior Iyengar yoga instructors and is coming on board with The School of Renovating to create a similar series with our Wonder Women.
Her journey in property began when she bought her first home at seventeen with her mom. Since then, she has bought nine properties, renovated a property in Ocean Shores just north of Byron Bay, and has just finished setting up an Airbnb in St Andrews beach on the Mornington peninsula.
Megan is passionate about women and children and finding ways to help those at risk of homelessness. She hopes to be able to do a project setting up affordable housing for women who need it most – a renovation project to uplift women.
Megan says that travelling the world with Hamish and Andy was a wonderful thing to do when she didn’t have children, but since her 5-year-old son came along, she realised she had to slow down.
Megan’s House In Ocean Shores
In 2019, Megan bought a property in Ocean Shores. During COVID, she discovered that her tenant wasn’t taking care of the property, and she took five months off from her job in television.
We went for an inspection and realised that the whole house would be ruined if we left him there. So we had to remove him.”
She decided to renovate the house and started binge-listening to She Renovates. In doing so, she discovered that the creativity involved in renovating was something she was missing in her job, which mostly involved project management.
Why Rent Property When You Can Buy?
Megan mentioned that she knows women in their forties and fifties who are still renting one-bedroom apartments. They have never entered the property market.
Women on their own, more than men, seem to find getting into the property market a hurdle they cannot overcome. Bernadette has a niece in her thirties who is renting an apartment on her own in Melbourne, and Bernadette is wondering why she doesn’t buy a property.
I went online, and found out that she could buy an apartment almost identical to what she was renting. And, in actual fact, it would cost her less than what she was paying in rent.”
Megan recommends buying a property with a couple of friends in your twenties. Of course, each of you would have to save up for the deposit, but when the burden is shared, it’s an easy way to get into the property market.
There are several ways you can make money from it. You could hold, renovate, sell, or turn it into an Airbnb. All it takes is overcoming the fear of purchasing a property.
People are scared to purchase property. They’re worried about losing money, but in my experience, you have to be in it to win it. Otherwise, you miss out, and you’re living in a one-bedroom apartment.”
Megan Brock’s Joint Ventures
Megan is grateful for her mom allowing her to purchase her first property when she was seventeen. With her mother at her side, she gained experience and confidence.
After making her first property investment, she felt capable of getting involved in joint ventures with friends and family. So far, Megan has done four joint ventures: One with her mom and one with her boyfriend and his parents.
Her third joint venture was with her friend Koji in Sydney, where they bought Koji’s grandmother’s property for $400,000. They were in their twenties, so it was a significant amount of money and a big commitment.
Megan said it was pretty daunting to enter into that kind of arrangement with a friend, and they were both living in the house.
To ensure their friendship was not affected and everything went as smoothly as possible, they made a list of possible situations and roadblocks that could get in the way of completing the project.
Their list included about fifty items, including what would happen if they had babies or had a fight. Finally, they answered some of the tough questions and formalised their agreement with a lawyer.
Megan’s Obsession With Renovation and Property Investment
During the Millionaire Mindset, Michelle Lewis, our renovation and mindset coach, encouraged our renovators to think about property for at least twenty hours per week. Megan says she thinks about it a lot more than that, and it has become a bit of an obsession.
Bernadette believes owning, renovating and investing in property is an extension of the nesting instinct. It became a passion for her as soon as she could buy her own home, and she has been living and breathing it ever since.
Men don’t seem to have the same passion for it. Megan and her partner Dave have a great relationship where he keeps track of their spending, and Megan indulges her passion for creating beautiful spaces. They work well together on their joint ventures, but they maintain separate bank accounts so they can live independently.
I think it’s nice to have a relationship where you can always have your own money and feel like you can go and do things on your own.”
Megan Brock’s Dream To Uplift Women Through Renovating
At The School of Renovating, our goal is to uplift women by giving them the skills to earn a living with property.
On the other hand, Megan wants to use her renovation skills to help women needing a home.
Before she gets to that, she has some short-term goals she and her husband want to achieve in the next five to ten years. First, they plan to buy properties, turn them into Airbnbs or renovating and selling them. They aim to build wealth to get them to the point where they have a few self-managed properties that can give them a tax-free income.
Megan’s dream project is to own property that can be transformed into affordable housing options to help women at risk of homelessness, the renovation project to uplift women.
I want to get to the end and feel like I’ve made a difference and been able to make some change as opposed to just talking about it all the time.”
To make it a viable project, Megan must learn about what homeless women need. Is a small studio apartment enough? Are they taking care of children and need more space? How do you set it up to give women the dignity they deserve?
I’ve donated quite a few things to charities around here that support women in those situations. They have said that I will be providing the women with the next step…you’re not providing them with a home for life. You’re getting them back on their feet again”
Finding the right kind of property is a challenge. Some good options are motels, closed-down retirement villages, boarding houses, and backpackers. They can be transformed into beautiful homes to give women the leg up they need.
Even the affordable housing legislation hasn’t been able to resolve the problem because someone living on welfare is still not able to afford it. So, Megan’s project must be charity-based rather than market-related.
Megan’s Plans For A New Home In St Andrews
Megan has been living in her partner’s home for fifteen years and feels it would be nice for them to create a new home for both of them. The house is still full of his belongings, and Megan’s are in storage.
Instead of selling the house they are living in, it will become her partner’s man-pad, and the house in St Andrews will be the property Megan can make beautiful, adding feminine touches to it. The new home will primarily be an Airbnb but will also be a place for the family to enjoy holidays together.
Megan has listed the property on Airbnb and is fully booked for Christmas. However, they are undecided about the fireplace. People either love or hate it, but removing it will be difficult without ruining the limestones. So, her best option is to use a painting technique to lighten it so that it isn’t prominent in the room.
The house currently has three bedrooms, one bathroom, and a laundry room off the kitchen. It was very grey when Megan bought it, but they lifted the carpets to discover some beautiful floorboards underneath. So together with the Tasmanian Oak and warmer tones on the walls, Megan hopes to lighten up the space.
They will begin their renovation after Christmas, but Megan has already met with David at Renovator Concepts to discuss it. She said:
If you ever need to look at a floor plan, some of the best money you can spend is to go and see David at renovator concepts.”
David was ready with seven different design options for their initial meeting, one of which was the exact plan Megan had envisioned. The renovation will include the following:
- Making the bathroom and toilet wider
- Creating an open-plan kitchen
- Floor-to-ceiling windows to make the most of their outlook
- Adding a covered deck
- Improving the shape of the lounge
- Knocking down the garage to create a secret retreat off the lounge
Plans For Retirement
In about seven years, Megan and her partner are planning to sell the St Andrews house and the property in Ocean Shores to buy a home for their retirement. They may sell their primary residence to save on capital gains tax, but they will rent out their other properties.
Megan’s ultimate goal is to have five properties when it comes time to retire, so they can sell as many as they need to to pay everything off. Those that remain will be a source of income for them to live off.
Sharing The Inspiring Stories Of Our Wonder Women
Megan joined us on our retreat and listened to our women’s incredible stories. She found them so inspiring that she approached Bernadette and suggested making a show about their success in renovating.
I loved hearing everyone getting up and telling their stories and showing how much money they can make from renovating.”
We will do a 10-part series showcasing our wonderful group of women to show everyone what you can achieve through property investment and renovation. Lucy Scott will be the host, beginning with an interview with Bernadette to discuss Lucy’s projects and the profits she has made from buying, renovating and selling property.
From there, Lucy will take over as the host, and together with Megan, they will showcase some of our Wonder Women’s projects. Each episode will feature photos of the properties, their transformation, and the budget and profit made.
Megan wants to sell the series to raise money for her affordable housing project as part of her renovation project to uplift women.
Conclusion: Making Dreams Come True Through Renovation Project To Uplift Women
Megan Brock is an inspiration to all of us at The School of Renovating. Looking for more time to spend with her young son, she wants to spend less time working in television and more time developing her property portfolio. Doing so will also set her and her partner up for retirement in the next seven to ten years.
Megan’s ultimate goal is to help women on the brink of homelessness, her renovation project to uplift women. She wants to create beautiful affordable housing options that meet women’s needs at various stages of their lives.
Our goal is the upliftment of women. We give women the skills and support the need to make renovating for profit a viable source of income for them to replace their day job or fund their retirement.
If you want to meet up with a group of savvy renovators, come over and join the She Renovates Facebook group. It is full of (mostly) women working hard to make their dreams a reality, making a great income through renovating for profit.
