Girl Bossed Too Hard: How Hilary Built 60 Rentals, 300 Doors & a Property Management Company

Natalie Pilkinton (00:00) Hi everybody. Welcome to Sugar Spice and Spirits where we talk life, business and real estate. And we have just the right amount of spice to go along with that. I'm Natalie, one of the co-hosts along with my co-host Mindy and Kelly. So we are so excited to have you here. Today's guest happy hour is extra special because our guest is a true powerhouse. in the real estate world. You won't want to miss her story. It is fabulous. Before we get started, make sure you like, subscribe and share this episode. Your support will help bring us real conversations about business life and real estate with a little spice on the side. You can also go to our website, sugarspiceandspirits.com if you have a show idea or want to subscribe to the newsletter. We'd love to hear from you. So without further ado, let's go ahead and get on to our sip of the day. Let's... Let's go ahead and I'll start first and then we'll have Mindy and then Kelly and then our special guest Hilary. So my drink is a little different. It's a little off-kilter. I don't think I've ever told you ladies, but I drink Brave and Lee. is an energy. have anti-toxins and stuff like that, but they also have a neuro topic, neuropathic mushroom coffee thing. So that's what I'm drinking today because I've been up since three and already had a pot of coffee. And I have more stuff to do today, so I have to be functioning. So this is a great brain wave activity thing for me. Mindy Price (01:29) This is my second cup of coffee today. It is just a plain coffee. However, I loaded it. It's unloaded, but it's loaded with vanilla chai from Skinny Syrups, and it's really lovely. It's very, very nice. Also have a... really busy day and so what did you call it the other day, Kelly? Whenever we had another one of our mocktails, we had no octane. No octane today, but I do have a fun flavor. Kelly Williams (01:56) No. Right, so I'm just on my first one. So I'm trying to cut back on real sugar. So I use a little bit Stevia. I also mix a little honey in it. I like the flavor of honey. I don't have it with me because it's in the refrigerator, but I've got some of the sugar-free Chobani creamer. So again, No octane this morning. I've got a few things I have to do as well, which is going to include some driving here in a bit. So I certainly don't want to load myself up and then get in the car. Normally I would like my little, little Bailey's or the bourbon barrel that goes along with the creamer and stuff. But yeah, this time we're low key. It's morning, it's early, so we're just going to keep it cool. So yeah, no octane for me either ladies. Hilary Kreschollek (02:46) There's never any octane for me, but I do have a cup of coffee with creamer and I'm a little bit of a bean snob. So I, yeah, I purchase, it's called Dean's Beans and it's Timoran coffee and it's kind of like a rare thing, super good bean. It can stand on its own. You don't need creamer, but I did opt for creamer today. Kelly Williams (03:09) Wow, okay. I see you writing. Did you write that down? Take notes. Mindy Price (03:10) You spiced it up a little bit. Hilary Kreschollek (03:12) Yeah. Mindy Price (03:14) I did, yes, Dean's Bean. I'm gonna check it out. Natalie Pilkinton (03:19) So I found Hilary on TikTok and her post that piqued my interest has almost 200,000 views. She said, a girl boss so hard that I accidentally ended up with 60 rental properties, a property management company that has 300 doors, a sales team that has sold 13 million this year, a construction company, and she's only flipped 31 houses. So that's it. So Hilary. Hilary Kreschollek (03:44) Thanks. Natalie Pilkinton (03:48) Chris Schollick, did I say that right? Great. Fantastic. Thank you for the phonics lesson beforehand. That really helped. She joins us from Western Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh, where she and her husband Thomas had built an impressive real estate portfolio. She spent most of her career in tech sales, but after moving to Pennsylvania in 2019, real estate went from a passion to a full blown calling. It all started with a $35,000 Zillow listing and from there it took off. Hilary Kreschollek (03:50) You were were spot on. Kelly Williams (03:53) Awesome. Natalie Pilkinton (04:18) Together they flipped 31 houses, built a personal portfolio of 60 rental units, and launched a property management company that now manages 300 doors and counting. Hilary is also a mentor to agents and investors who want to grow their portfolios the smart way. And she'll get into, think, a little bit. I'm sure somebody will ask a question on that. And when she's not closing deals, she's hanging out with her two cockatiels, Doodle and Strudel. which might be the cutest two-o name I think we have ever heard. So grab your coffee, your cocktail, or whatever is in your cup today because it's time for Sugar, Spice, and Spirits guest happy hour with Hilary. Hilary Kreschollek (04:54) Thank you. That was quite the introduction. Mindy Price (04:58) Well, it's very deserved and it's super neat whenever Natalie was like, hey, I found this person on TikTok and she's super interesting and she actually moved from Texas to Pennsylvania, which is very different. And she told us a little bit about you. Kelly and I were super excited to get to have you on. And I do want to start with a real estate question. Hilary Kreschollek (05:10) Mm-hmm. Mindy Price (05:22) But because knowing you were from Texas and Kelly, I don't know if you heard this earlier, but she's actually lived in Pearland. And so you were 22 miles from us. We live in the county seed. And so from Pearland to Pennsylvania, that had to be a little bit of a culture shock. Hilary Kreschollek (05:30) Nice. It wasn't the biggest culture shock that I've had. I'm originally from California and specifically the San Francisco Bay Area. So the difference between San Francisco to Houston to Pittsburgh is so it's like I've lived in three different worlds essentially. Mindy Price (06:03) Definitely sounds like it. So I have to ask being from the area, do you happen to be a Texans football fan or a Steelers fan or do you even do football? Hilary Kreschollek (06:12) I don't do sports. I know, which is like, I know I probably just got canceled in Pittsburgh for saying that, but it's really not my thing. don't have time. Mindy Price (06:14) Okay. Well, as I was asking it, think my blood pressure went up just a little bit because I was like, this could be really awkward since the Texans did just knock the Steelers out of the playoffs. Hilary Kreschollek (06:32) thank- And that's Kelly Williams (06:36) The end. Hilary Kreschollek (06:36) how we just lost all of Pittsburgh. Mindy Price (06:38) you Natalie Pilkinton (06:39) I like that. Kelly Williams (06:41) Here's the funny thing is that I sometimes I sit there and I get so overwhelmed and so stressed out when I'm watching sports that I'm like, why do I do this? Because I get so mad and I just get and I run along the parallel with Mindy's husband because sometimes you can hear him and he is just off the charts because he gets so excited. And sometimes I'm like, okay, I got to find me a new hobby because these sports are making me crazy. So I kind of applaud the fact that you find other Hilary Kreschollek (06:48) Right. Kelly Williams (07:09) other interests than something that will just make you crazy. But along the line, obviously, from when Natalie gave your introduction, you have plenty to keep you busy. So you definitely are the epitome of girlboss. Because you definitely have got it going on. So kudos to you. That's awesome. Awesome. Mindy Price (07:27) Yeah, Hilary Kreschollek (07:27) Thank you. Mindy Price (07:28) and Hilary just for the Pennsylvania and our Steelers fans that are out there, I do want to say this. So my oldest son is 23 and one of his very first presents that I received was a little bitty Steelers onesie that we still have because I just thought it was the cutest thing. And then I found out how passionate their followers are. It is over the top insane. I can Hilary Kreschollek (07:45) Aww. Hmm It's a lot. Mindy Price (07:57) Appreciate it and applaud it. So maybe we reel them back in just a little bit. I don't know Hilary Kreschollek (08:03) philosophy, I actually think everybody is a little bit of a Steelers fan. So I know, I know I'm saying this to three Texans, but I think everyone can respect it. I think that the the Steelers love is just worldwide and it's kind of like everyone's either favorite or second favorite team. That's what I think. Mindy Price (08:28) I'm gonna pay attention a little bit more on that. Okay, before I get in trouble from Natalie, I gotta reel it back into real estate. And so I wanna go back to, take us back to that $35,000 Zillow listing. What made you take the leap? Hilary Kreschollek (08:41) Right. So I was working in tech sales at the time. I was on an airplane two to four times a week traveling to different clients, teaching salespeople how to sell. That was my old life. And my husband was working a nine to five. I felt like there was no chance of ever getting out of it until we retire. And at the time I was 28 years old and I said to myself, I can't do this for another 20 years. And that's the minimum, right? Most people aren't retiring at 48. I can't do this for 20 more years. So I'm just scrolling. I was actually scrolling on Facebook and somebody posted a Zillow listing of this $35,000 house in Conway, Pennsylvania. And I told my husband, said, This is a deal. need to, like, this could probably rent for 800, $850. He's a scientist. He gets on his computer and starts spreadsheeting the whole thing and running the property tax. And he doesn't even know what he's doing at this point. Like, this is the first time we've ever run a deal. We have never watched bigger pockets at this point. We've never, like, done our research. So he starts running the numbers and he goes, we need to buy this. And I said, okay. So I called the agent. I'm not an aided at the time. I called the agent. And he goes, sorry, investor just paid cash, it's gone. I went, and I thought like the world had ended. I was so upset. Then my husband turns around and he goes, if this one was that easy to find, don't you think we could find more? I was like, of course, why not? So. That's really how it got started. We called our real estate agent at the time because we had just bought our house in Pennsylvania. So we had an agent. I said to her, said, hey, we want to invest in real estate. Do you think you could help us? And she goes, I could absolutely open the doors for you. However, I don't really know anything about investment properties. And I said, OK, that's fine. That's all we need. We can figure the rest out. So that's how it all started. Mindy Price (10:51) I mean you think about it Facebook. There's you we laugh about Facebook, know is Facebook or people really on it? Well, it depends on you know where you're at your niche all of those things But it all started from you just scrolling and you had zero idea That's what you wanted to do. you've laughed you just said I was teaching salespeople how to be salespeople Well, yesterday I did a three hour sales workshop for a client in the staffing industry. And of course, I absolutely loved it. It's what I do full time, teaching and speaking and consulting. But thinking about, I took the leap of faith to start my own company and that's what I do full time. I've had investment property in real estate and haven't taken it to the level that you had. And so I will tell you, my brain for just a second was like, hmm. Maybe I should get back into real estate. Hilary Kreschollek (11:40) You should. I don't regret it at all. It changed my life. Mindy Price (11:43) Yeah. Kelly Williams (11:45) You know, and ironically, I got a text yesterday that said there is an off-market property in Sweeney. And I was like, what? Where did this come from? And I looked at it and I was like, okay. I mean, it was like, I may need to look into this. So it's just kind of funny that you said that because it was just yesterday that that, I have no idea who it's from, but obviously it was on some sort of investor's radar at some point. Hilary Kreschollek (12:09) Great. Kelly Williams (12:14) And so it came and I thought, well, that might be something I need to look at as well. Cause you know, I've got a little bit of investment property, not at the level of what you've got. And of course at the experience level that Natalie and both Mindy have. yeah, definitely would follow in those footsteps. That's pretty incredible that it just kind of fell out of the sky. So that's awesome. Mindy Price (12:36) Well, and Nat, I know you're gonna have some questions too, but all of us have different backgrounds. And your background was tech. You said your husband, scientist, so great at the spreadsheets and logistics and planning things. But I would be curious, and I think our audience would be curious to know, what were some of the skills that you had in tech and what you were doing prior to that? What carried over into this new, this real estate career? Hilary Kreschollek (13:03) That's a really good question. So I actually have a philosophy that you have to have one of three skill sets to be a talented or successful real estate investor. There's people who disagree with me on this. I'll fight them. Kelly Williams (13:19) you Hilary Kreschollek (13:19) No, so one is accounting. I think you have to have a basic understanding of accounting, numbers, finance, and you don't have to have all three of these. This is just you have to have one of these three and that's where your margin is. That's where your profit is. The second one. is sales. So my experience was in tech sales specifically. I didn't really care about the tech aspect of it. I liked the sales aspect of it and I followed the money. was like medical sales or tech sales. Which one do I want to be in? Right. So I picked tech because I was from Silicon Valley. So sales being the second one. And then the third one is construction. My dad's actually a contractor in California. So I grew up literally digging holes and cleaning up job sites and following around job sites learning everything I could about construction. So I believe you have to have at least one of the three and if you don't you're going to lose a huge margin outsourcing all three. And people would say well investing is passive you can make money regardless. I don't agree. I know that that's like the trend that all the big players wanna promote because they're obviously trying to source syndication money and things like that and I get that and that is truly passive. But from my perspective of it, it was the sales side that helped me be very successful. When we just had one rental and we had a vacancy, I was able to... put a person, qualified person in that unit quickly because I was able to market the property. I was able to take the right pictures. I knew kind of social media and how that aspect of it worked. And I was able to connect with the people viewing it. had people, you know, in the early days, I don't do my only scene now, but I people in the early days that would be like, you know, this wasn't really my first pick for apartment, but you and I just connected so well. So. Mindy Price (15:00) idea. Hilary Kreschollek (15:18) That's part of what kind of skill set I personally had. My husband was, it was like the numbers aspect of it. And because he's so good with analyzing data, he was able to make good decisions on what kind of loans we were going to take, what kind of leverage we would have. Just price shopping, different things like appliances, like the whole spectrum of finance fell on his lap. and the sales and marketing fell on mine. And we always like to say that I work in everything on the business that talks and he works on everything in the business that doesn't talk. Natalie Pilkinton (15:57) So when did you like realize this wasn't just a hobby, that this was your lane, this was your passion, this is what you wanted to do and you were going all in? Hilary Kreschollek (16:08) When I got fired from my job So I when I was working in tech sales, I was selling kind of very casually real estate and was kind of just like people who came to me and I would help them out. Well, apparently that made me a top sales producer. And the brokerage that I was with at the time was like blasting my face and my name and my numbers all over the internet, which was great. I loved I loved the kudos. However, my boss in tech sales calls me and he goes, so I see that you're doing this real estate thing and I'm like, yeah, but like, I just have some rental properties and people are calling me asking me to sell, you know, and help them buy and sell for them as well. And he goes, well, I don't think you bleed our, you know, company's colors. And I don't, you know, he was kind of a jerk and he had said that and I went, are you going to fire me? And he goes, do you want me to fire you? And I was like, no, absolutely not. So he ends up firing me a couple months later. And that's really where I didn't realize at that moment that I was going to go full time, full bore real estate. But at that moment, I thought, maybe I'll try being a stay at home wife. Let's try that. So it lasted about two days and I got bored. Kelly Williams (17:09) Please? Hilary Kreschollek (17:35) And I just said, okay, I'm going to be a real estate agent and I'm going to be an investor. And this is, I'm never going back. At that point, I think I went, I'm never going back to a W-2 job. I'm never going to be employed by somebody else. I'm just going to do this for myself. And so I had to make it work because if I didn't, I had to go back. Natalie Pilkinton (17:57) So many women and so many people, I think they wait and they rely on their W-2 income. And that's one of the things that we've preached here on our podcast is that plugging in multiple streams of income and just having that secondary source, having that backup plan, not because you're anticipating something happening, but life comes at you fast. Like we just dropped the episode with Kelly and her surgery and. Kelly Williams (17:57) Right. Natalie Pilkinton (18:23) You just never know what's going to happen. You can have a car crash. You could have different things and What passive income do you have when I say passive? I do mean real estate even rentals that you own actively So what are you doing to plug in streams of income other than and I'm not talking MLM I'm talking true income for yourself in a business that you've built up. There are so many different things that you can do. Even if it isn't an MLM that you really enjoy, just be cognizant and run it like a business. Don't run it as a hobby where you, like women who shop because it's on sale when they don't need it. Like you wanna make sure that you're not doing that. Cause a lot of times we buy into products that we like such as like Brave and Lee. Like I like Bravenly products, which is why I use their products, but I'm not. out selling the business even though I have friends that make good money on it. It's be intentional with your time and with what you're doing and how you're making that money but be mindful of the market. Be mindful of the condition and what's going on and one of my favorite books and this is the next question that I have for you too is is like one of my favorite books is Who Moved My Cheese? And I don't know if you've read it, but it's just about the rats and like who moved my cheese? The rats in the study, their cheese gets moved. And we humans, we go to work and we do the same thing and we're in the rat race and we're doing the same continual thing. And then all of a sudden our cheese gets moved. We get fired. We have a tragedy. We have something happen with one of our family members. Now all of sudden we're the caregiver. These, you know, everything changes and especially when we're midlife, right? Hilary Kreschollek (19:48) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Natalie Pilkinton (20:03) So I think it's really important to plug in those streams, whatever it is, finding a passion, still keep your day job and pay your bills, but build on the side that business that you really enjoy. So I mentioned Who Moved My Cheese. What are some of your books? What would be a book that you'd refer? What's been the most impactful book for you? Hilary Kreschollek (20:26) Recently, my favorite read and I'm not a nonfiction reader at all. So like it's all business books and stuff like that for me. I really like the Section 8 Bible. Because of the market that I'm in personally I live in a somewhat rural area outside of Pittsburgh and there's a lot of industry It's very blue-collar. We do have a fair amount of section 8 rentals that we manage and that we own and I love the section 8 Bible because The guys who wrote the book they're from Philadelphia. So there is some some connection there in the Pennsylvania side but they have really good tricks on how to be more efficient and Natalie Pilkinton (20:39) you Hilary Kreschollek (21:07) it's helped save our company and our clients a ton of money which is the ultimate goal is spend less make more right so that's my current read right now I started rereading the 48 laws of power and I can't decide if I love it or hate it like it The reason why I say that is it makes your mind completely turn. You're like, man, I could apply this to that and this to that. But then also sometimes you're like, wow, it's giving me permission to be way more selfish than you should ever be. I don't know. I think that people who need a little bit of confidence and push love that book for them. I don't think any of us need that book. It depends on the person but that one it there's moments where I'm like, oh that that was enlightening and then there's moments where I'm like I did not need permission. I didn't need to hear that Those are those are kind of the two that have been on my playlist recently I'm a huge audiobook person because we drive all the time and in the real estate business And I also I'm a huge podcast person. So you guys are gonna be on my playlist from now on Kelly Williams (22:24) Yay! Yay! Mindy Price (22:25) That's awesome. It's so funny you said audio book. So because I teach so much and I love to read and I haven't heard of the 48 laws of power. So I will check that out. And then I'll, say something about section eight, the section eight Bible here in a minute. What's so funny is, and it could be my age, it could be old school. I love to listen to a book. But then Hilary, I still love to have the book if I'm really interested in it if there's principles that I want to share and of course give credit to. I like to feel the paper and I like to read it. And then I'll fast forward sometimes when I'm in the car and I will listen to audio books. Kelly loves to read paper as well, like the actual book. Natalie looks at us like we are crazy. She's like, how do you have time to read a physical book? I'm always doing it on the go. And I was like, I just make time I don't watch TV and I'm, you know, New Year's Eve, I read a book, my birthday, I finished a book, and because they're so close together, I was like, these are just goals that I have, and I want to increase that and just being a little nerdy. But I'm so I wrote down 48 laws of power, because you inspired me to when you said, we may not need that. But you come across so many individuals that do need that extra step. so learning, you maybe there's two principles that are in there and you can send them that clip or that snippet and you can say, hey, this is something you can apply as you have your team and the folks that you work with. And if you're building up any new investors and helping them learn and they might be a little bit shy, they may not have that personality that you have, just thinking of it from that perspective and being able to share that lesson with them and giving them the little, I'm not saying do all of this, but I don't know. I'm very intrigued by that book. And then I'm super curious on the section eight. Definitely a program that's needed, I'm very active with the National Apartment Association as well as the Texas and the Houston. And once a year at least, we go up to Capitol Hill and we are talking about different legislation that holds back the rental industry. And we want it to be favorable to all parties, definitely to the renters because they need a home, but also fair to the landlords. You know, we typically don't say that word, but to the owners, to the landlords. And there is so much paperwork that goes into Section 8 and some of the government policies that are around. Hilary Kreschollek (24:31) Mm-hmm. Mindy Price (24:48) that oftentimes where we say we need more affordable rental housing, because there's so much paperwork and there's so many things you have to pay attention to, there are owners that are like, I'm not gonna do it. Like it's not worth my time, it's too much of a headache. So then we have a shortage of good, fair rental housing, affordable rental housing. So I hadn't heard of the Section 8 Bible, I've never. own property where we had Section 8. I've had very successful clients with it, so it's something that I did highlight. I don't know if this was something that once you got in there and you're able to explain it in a way and it makes it easier because affordable housing is a big issue in our country. Hilary Kreschollek (25:31) Yes, I feel passionately about that as well. And so the Section 8 Bible small tip here is they actually don't sell it on audiobook. I wish they did. I had to read a real book, which I haven't done in a very long time. And I also struggle to find the time to do stuff like that. But it's worth it. It's 100 % worth it. Back to your point of we have to find a way to make this easier or legislation, can't even say the word, has to realistic expectations, realistic situations. I do find that there's a lot of misconceptions about Section 8. Mindy Price (26:04) Legislation, gotcha. Hilary Kreschollek (26:15) and I try to share my experiences with owners that we work with because it's up to them if they want to allow section 8. Overall, would say statistically, our stats for our company show that we've had better experiences with section 8 tenants than with non-section 8 tenants. We definitely have had hardships. Don't get me wrong, there are bad at Apples and every bunch right but overall it's been a really good program for us. We also live in a small county it's called Beaver County and we have a local section 8 department for our county that we have an incredible relationship with so it's very easy for me to explain to our owners that we have a great connection and great relationship with our county and they're really the ones that enforce all of the federal laws and so The paperwork is just about 20 minutes of our time maybe to fill out a packet. There's an inspection, but local occupancy inspections pretty much mimic what the section eight requirements are. And it's stuff that you should already have, like smoke detectors, GFCIs, very basic stuff for safety. So if you're not checking those boxes, we wouldn't even manage your property anyway, or we would require you to come up to code. So for us, it's not any extra work other than a piece of paper. And then it saves us time on the back end because we're not having to chase down the tenants for a significant portion of their rent. It's getting deducted. It's getting auto deposited into our company's account. And then we can disperse it to owners and whatnot. So it's really simple for us. I like to tell people that I prefer it. And if I could have almost all section eight, I probably would. Obviously, I don't think that's a great investment strategy to put all your eggs in one basket, but for ease and for simplicity, I would go that route. Natalie Pilkinton (28:12) Yeah, so I had an experience or somebody I knew, like I've been in real estate for 20 plus years. I'm not dating myself, but I am. So I've been in real estate 20 plus years and we didn't ever really teach the Section 8 aspect because... the government has come in and did an accounting audit where they shut off funding for three months. And if all of your properties are in section eight and they're doing an accounting audit and you're not getting paid that these unfortunate family that I'm thinking of, had other businesses, they had three locations of a retail store and they had other rent houses. They ended up losing their rent houses going into foreclosure because they were running on such thin margins, which really, really put Hilary Kreschollek (28:56) Right. Natalie Pilkinton (28:58) put them in a bad spot. So that's why it's kind of like, I'm a control freak. So I don't want the government involved in any aspect of my life or our part. So, but I know for some people, and sometimes it does make sense. I think it's an important part, bringing up margins thin and being tight, the flip to hold strategy, you flip houses and roll that money into your rentals. You're really conservative on what you do. Why don't you share how you do things and what you do. Hilary Kreschollek (29:19) Mm-hmm. Sure, so typically we go through a period, maybe about a year, where we don't acquire any rentals and we just flip. So we take a little extra nest egg that we have and we flip a couple of houses and we basically almost triple that nest egg and we use that, a portion of that. to purchase another multi-unit property. And then we do another couple of flips. And usually I would say two to three flips kind of gets you the 20 % down for your standard purchase out here. Just for example, the cost of our duplexes in this region are between 100 and $150,000. So you really don't need a ton of money to be able to buy multi units. My husband and I actually just purchased a 50 unit property, so that was a little more expensive. Thank you, thank you. It was our biggest purchase to date. We bought it cash, which we were incredibly fortunate to be able to do that. And the reason we were able to do that is because we flipped 31 houses and hadn't bought anything for a little while. And so it was a good deal. And I to what Natalie was saying I have pretty strong opinions on being over leveraged in this industry. think that's how people lose. And I want to be able to ride the wave of different markets. I actually graduated high school in 2008, was supposed to go to college. And the reason I didn't go to college was because my parents were in tech and construction in Silicon Valley in 2008. And we had a situation where it wasn't going to be affordable. And so I saw what that did to people, my parents, my friends' parents, everyone around me in 2008. And so me and my husband have decided to take a very conservative approach to real estate investing by really not being over leveraged. Most people have 30, 20 to 30 % equity in their property. We have in our total portfolio over 70 % equity. So if the market changes, can take it. And unfortunately, and I don't mean this in a crass way, but unfortunately, the people who will lose their properties we'll be able to acquire really incredible deals at that time. Mindy Price (32:04) Are you seeing anything in your market right now? We're starting to see this show up quite a bit in the larger multifamily properties in Texas. are you? Do you have, for instance in Houston, was, what is it Natalie? The first Tuesday of every month, you can go to the foreclosure auction. Do you have that there and are you starting to see more and more foreclosures? Do you even go that route? Hilary Kreschollek (32:12) Mm. Natalie Pilkinton (32:23) Yes. Hilary Kreschollek (32:31) So I have purchased many foreclosures for flips. I am seeing more foreclosures, absolutely. I haven't noticed it in the multi-unit market yet, but I am seeing it in the single family market pretty heavily. Are you guys seeing it in the multi-unit more than single family out there? Mindy Price (32:56) Natalie could speak more on the single family side. We have been predicting for a couple of years an uptick on the multi-unit, on the multi-family side. And we're seeing more and more that are showing up on the foreclosure list. We're also hearing about some back-end conversations that are happening with owners that know they're a. they're about to lose that property. And we've worked with a great guy who's been successful in multifamily and you talk about syndicators and raising money and that's what he's doing. And these predictions that he had, he thought they were gonna happen sooner. Now we're seeing them trickle into the market even more. What that's going to look like because at one point in time we thought is it gonna be as bad as it was, however many 10 plus years ago. So I don't know, I'm just kind of. Hilary Kreschollek (33:21) Yes. Mindy Price (33:48) because I'm not full time in real estate anymore doing investment properties. I'm not as in tune with it, but Natalie, what about you? What are you seeing? Natalie Pilkinton (33:58) see the market here becoming a little more saturated with foreclosures. It's a perfect timing of everything. I think we got a little spoiled with the lower interest rates. Everybody thinks that's the norm. That was not the norm. It will never be the norm to have a 2 % interest rate. So I think what happened is two people came in and we had this push in this inflation and rental properties are great to hedge inflation. However, We had pushes on taxes, on insurance with all the natural disasters across the United States. So people got hit with a much higher escrow account and escrow balance because we as humans like to take the easy road and like to watch our Netflix show on the weekend and don't like to take a look at our accounts and see where we're at and what's going on. And when we get our insurance renewal, homeowners insurance renewal, and we get our county tax statement, we just like to file them away and be like, okay, yep, I'm paying. money up that sucks but what they don't realize is that they're only chunking in so much into their escrow account for their mortgage because you pay your principal your interest your taxes and your insurance and when you pay their they're basing that off the average from last year so when your prices go up for your insurance and for your taxes you're getting a one-two punch you're not plugging in more into that escrow account then all of a sudden Hilary Kreschollek (35:18) Mm-hmm. Natalie Pilkinton (35:23) when they resize and it's not resize but when they reevaluate and adjust your escrow account and your payment amount which you'll see it every time around March, April they'll readjust what you're paying in your long-term debt service or from your mortgage company. What you find at that moment is like crap that 250 I didn't pay last year a month additional for the higher taxes and higher insurance is now doubled in $500 a month. When we're already tight and playing paying so much for inflation from our electricity cost our gas cost our food cost everything is going through the roof and then all of a sudden our home bill to pay just our mortgage went up 250 because of the cost but now we got to pay ahead because we're in the rear zone then we got to pay for the upcoming year you're paying 500 additional a month that is a one-two sucker punch that many families cannot cannot sustain and keep going. So it is an unfortunate thing. like Hilary said, we will be buying those at the auction. I posted a TikTok video of the Harris County auction. is like the courthouse steps. I have people that are standing right next to me. Like I am auctioning off property 6254. opening bid is $60,350. And you're like, did this guy just auction off a house right next to me? Did that just happen? And then you have big boys like auctions.com that are there that have people that get there and camp out. They put a chair down in the room where they are there with their computer and everybody's scheming right there. it's all over the place, Mindy. Like the market is definitely moving. And what I find is when the market's moving, it's a time to make money. You make your money in the up and you make your money in the down market. And it's moving and being aware and like Hilary said, when they're flipping or they're buying rentals, it's all in the market and what's available and the numbers of the deal in your buy box. That's kind of my thoughts and two cents. Kelly Williams (37:24) I had a couple of rental properties only because of, it just kind of fell on my lap unfortunately. I'm a medical background. And so when, I'll be straight up transparent with you. The thought of being a landlord is the last thing on my mind. Don't call me about your garbage disposal. Don't call me about your hot water heater, all that kind of stuff. My thought is for those, and obviously when I listen to you saying how many properties you have acquired and everything, I know part of your business portfolio is a management company. And obviously having a management company help you with as many properties as you've got is the way, is the route that I would want to go. Now, whether or not that would be financially smart for me to do with only one or two properties, but at what point, did you realize, okay, hey, I need to go ahead and benefit myself? and educate myself because you weren't from real estate, but you pushed forward and now you've got that management company. I mean, having as much property as you've got, at what point did you cross that threshold say, okay, now I need to branch out into the management company side? Hilary Kreschollek (38:34) This is one of those things that fell into my lap. I had friends and clients that were buying rental properties through me as their agent and they were asking me, can you manage my property too? Like one client, for example, he travels for work. Kelly Williams (38:39) Yeah. Hilary Kreschollek (38:51) So he was like, there's no way that I can manage these. And I was going to go to and insert my competitor's name here. Right. And he goes, but I heard really bad things about them. So was hoping you could do it. And I was like, I can't legally do it. My brokerage doesn't allow management. I'm really sorry. And he's like, can you please like find a way? This is like, this is the only way it's going to work for me. And I said, OK, I'll find a way. Literally just one client. Like. All right, one house, one client decided to like uproot my whole business at one brokerage. So I moved it to another brokerage that did facilitate management and they had a sister management company which I was able to work with. And so basically property managers would have their own portfolio under that management company and then they would do the finance side of it. I actually built my business up to about 200 doors while I was with that company. That company had some issues and we decided to leave four months before they got in a lot of trouble. So we got all of our clients out. Everyone that wanted to move with us moved. Kelly Williams (40:00) Mm. Hilary Kreschollek (40:06) started what is now called Maple Street Property Management, which is the one that my husband and I run. yeah, we got all the owners, all the tenants, everyone out. That one basically collapsed and ceases to exist. And we're on the safe side. And that's kind of how it built up is people came to me and said, Hey, can you manage my property after you just sold it for me and I had the ability to do it. It was again an accident. Kelly Williams (40:39) Wow. So for someone who, like I said, doesn't have a whole lot of investing experience and they do realize how lucrative investing in real estate can be and how it can give you, you buy back your freedom in your life. Are there any particular principles or pointers that you would give someone out there that maybe them not wanting to be that landlord is what's keeping them from educating themselves about Hilary Kreschollek (40:54) Mm-hmm. Kelly Williams (41:09) being investors in either single family or multi-family, are there certain things that they need to look for in a management company? If they're like, okay, wow, I've got this cash sitting here, I wanna go out and do this duplex or this single family home, whatever. But again, I still work full time, I can't be that landlord slash property manager. Are there any pointers that you would give someone to say this is what you look for in a good management company? Hilary Kreschollek (41:27) Mm-hmm. Absolutely. So one thing that I tell people before they decide to invest is do not spend a dime that you make for at least five years. So every drop of rent from all of your properties either needs to be saved or reinvested into your portfolio. You're not going on vacation. You're not going and getting lattes. You are putting every dime back into the business and saving it. If you can't do that for five years, don't join. Don't do it. It does take discipline. Yes, it's passive. Yes, it's easy. Pretty much anyone can do this, but you do have to have some level of discipline before you start. As long as somebody can agree to that, I think green flag, we're gonna move forward. Let's talk about what you should look for in a management company. I would honestly check Google reviews. I mean, that's like the silly answer, but it's true. But some management companies may have poor reviews because tenants leave them versus owners. So you want to sort through those and see. Because we've been reviewed before at our previous company. Our current company doesn't have a ton because it's newer. We've had tenants who got evicted because they didn't pay their rent bash us on social media and on Google. That's fine. That doesn't bother me because I know that a smart investor can go into the reviews, read them and see, you know, actually they protected their client in this scenario. And that's what we would comment back is, hey, I was doing what I needed to do to protect my clients from tenants like you. And that work, know, that owners understand that. You have to read reviews and see if it's owners complaining versus tenants complaining. And what are tenants complaining about? Are they complaining that the quality wasn't good? Were they complaining that the management company didn't answer their phone? Because I would read those differently as well. We answer our phone. We're very active with our tenants, so no one's going to say that about us. But they might say, this place was a piece of junk. Well, that's pretty subjective, and that's an opinion, you didn't post any photos to show that that was valid right so we would respond accordingly so read reviews also test them a little bit see if they'll meet you in person at your property see if they'll talk to you on the phone pretty you know I spend at least an hour on the phone with every owner of ours on a quarterly basis. And that's minimum. That's like the bare minimum. do a check-in call. So see if they'll spend that hour with you on the phone doing an introductory call, giving you information about their company and trying to learn about what you're trying to do. I would say people's pricing is also pretty indicative. If they're willing to drop their prices quickly for you, that means they're desperate and they're losing business. And so they're willing to acquire business quickly at any cost So if someone's willing to negotiate too much on price, I would take that as a red flag we actually have a pricing structure that is based on how many doors you have total because the misconception is that It's the number of doors that actually makes you very busy as a management company, but it's actually the ratio of owners to doors. Because I can talk to one owner and tackle 20 doors in a conversation versus one owner with one door, and that's going to take the same amount of time. mm-hmm. Is there a baby or also, and this is one of my non-preferred, Kelly Williams (45:24) Yeah. Mindy Price (45:24) sometimes more because that's their baby. Hilary Kreschollek (45:34) types of clients, we still work with them, but on a case by case basis is I lived in this house and I have an emotional attachment to this house and nobody better ever make a scratch anywhere. And now. Natalie Pilkinton (45:50) The heartbreak when you get back your first rental that you was an owner that you lived in and you turned it into a rental and you see the rim around the sink and you see the dirt around the baseboards and you see that they didn't take care of it the same way that you did it is absolutely even though they were great tenants like I have great tenants but the first house I got back I was like my goodness how could they but then they I realized they were really the better ones Hilary Kreschollek (46:07) Yes. Yes. Yeah, you would have taken them 100 times over after that but that shock so usually I coach those people because they call me they see us on google they call me and I say Let's meet and we have a conversation. This is what's going to happen If you have this as a rental and this is what I think we should listen at if you sell this and I push them in the sales direction, not because I'm going to make more money, I'm going to make more money here, but I push them in the sales direction because I know they're not going to take the heartbreak of the first move out well. And I don't think I don't think people should be hobby landlords. If you're going to do this, do it. If you only need one rental to hit your goals, that's OK. That's different than, I just happen to have a vacancy now that I've upgraded my house to a new house or I've moved out of state, but I want to keep this. So we have that conversation like this is what you can sell it for. This is what you can rent it for. Let's consider this side a little bit heavier than this side. If you want this side, we can help you but I'm gonna give you all of the of the ugly side of this too so that you are not shocked and you can't say I didn't tell you Kelly Williams (47:32) No, very good. Yeah. No, thank you for that. Because like I said, was coming from the medical background. These two were huge mentors for me and my first property was a disaster. And then after learning a little bit about it from these two ladies and from a mutual gentleman that we worked with, I was able to turn it around to where now I'm not quite so anti-landlord-ish. I feel like I have a little bit better Hilary Kreschollek (47:58) Mm. Kelly Williams (48:00) toolkit now to push me forward. So yeah, no, thank you for that. That was super. Appreciate that. Natalie Pilkinton (48:01) Thank Hilary Kreschollek (48:06) Absolutely. think my personal opinion is it sounds like you have the head for this business and You should be in the business. You just need a good property manager Kelly Williams (48:17) Yeah. Gee, Natalie, who could that be? Hilary Kreschollek (48:21) you Mindy Price (48:21) Yes, one that will tell you you're not running a charity. This is a business and we understand that hardships happen and things happen, but we have to look at it that way. And I would bet Hilary, that's something that you've seen. know Natalie's seen it and you know, Kelly, when you got into real estate talking to newer investors, it was being able to say this isn't the hobby, as you said. And even if it is a hobby, it is a hobby that you have to apply business principles too because otherwise you're going to lose money. You're going to get taken advantage of. You're going to have the nightmare stories and there's so many things that you personally can put into place and yes it takes time but if you can align yourself with the right management company the amount of headache that you will save yourself is I mean that pays for itself. You what do they say you can't buy more time. Hilary Kreschollek (48:50) Yes. Mindy Price (49:13) Well, this is one of those areas that actually, if you think about it, depending on how many houses you have, you are buying yourself more time because you're paying a company like yours, Hilary, to run that asset and make sure everything, it's meeting the inspections, you're getting the rent on time, you're handling the evictions or any issues that you would have with a tenant if there are those. And it sounds like, and I could be wrong, but it also sounds like... they can learn from you if they've got questions, if they want to buy more, and just the position you're in, can help them grow that portfolio. I don't know if that's part of your strategy, but I'd be curious to know. Hilary Kreschollek (49:48) It is. So a lot of our clients are either on one side or the other of this they're either Retiring and would like to get out of the business and so they hired a management company to take over for them And those people are usually just like a year or two away from completely divesting altogether and just enjoying the fruits of their labor Right, and then there's the other side of it where we have a lot of clients that are new to the business Just buying their first couple of rentals Natalie Pilkinton (50:04) Bye, you all. Hilary Kreschollek (50:20) and they're looking to acquire. So we're essentially matchmaking people, right? We know who's about to sell or who's most willing to sell. We know who's most eager to buy. We know what their buy box is because again, I'm checking in with everyone on a quarterly basis and this is part of that conversation. And so I can matchmake those people. And obviously I'm real estate agent so I would make a commission on that sale, but also I'm keeping the the property within our management company. And then when it comes to collecting all the financial data, well guess what? I already have it. So I don't need to wait for another agent. I also don't need to scare the tenants by putting up a big for sale sign in front of the house. They knew who I am. They've met me before. If they haven't met me, they've met one of the property managers that works for us. And so they'll go into the property with a prospective buyer on video because a lot of our buyers are out of state, a lot of our clients are, and the tenant has no idea that the property is getting sold. In fact, they probably never know because they still pay their rent through the same portal and call the same maintenance line. And so there's nothing, there's nothing, there's no fear there. Natalie Pilkinton (51:40) It's a seamless transaction. Hilary Kreschollek (51:42) It's so easy. and I kind of like, I was actually, I'll brag for a minute. I was the largest multifamily real estate agent in sales volume in 2025 in Beaver County. and I'm very proud, thank you, wasn't the biggest agent by by no stretch but I was the largest multi-family agent in Beaver County and the reason for that is and that was on the MLS so that doesn't even include all of our off-market transactions which we do a ton of. And the reason for that is I know how to sell properties that are tenant occupied. You don't want to bother the tenants as much as you can, but you still need to get people in. You need to not alarm the tenants. You need to ensure them that it's a familiar face. And so that's part of the process. Natalie Pilkinton (52:35) All right, so what is one of the most expensive mistakes that you've made? Hilary Kreschollek (52:42) Natalie Pilkinton (52:44) Well. Hilary Kreschollek (52:45) That's a good question so We buy almost all of our properties that me and my husband acquire without inspections We know what we're looking for. We're pretty decent at identifying termites and things of that nature We bought a duplex and this is a while ago, but we bought a duplex and we waved the inspections and the guy told me that there was a roof leak at one point. He patched it and it was the dead of winter so I wasn't getting anyone on the roof to go inspect it. It was covered in snow and there was staining on the ceiling but he had told me that it was patched and that's why there was staining and Literally right after closing I text the tenants and I said hey, I'm your new property manager Just wanted to let you know This is where you pay the rent and the guy goes and the guy hadn't the seller hadn't even walked out the door of the office and the tenant goes I'm so happy to hear from you because my roofs been leaking for two years So in the dead of winter we had to figure out how to put a roof on a property Because it was actively leaking and the only roofs that you can like really put on in those temperatures are metal roofs and at the time the price of metal was pretty high so for a very small property of shingle roof that should have probably cost about six thousand dollars we had to spend twelve thousand dollars on for a metal for a metal roof and this Natalie Pilkinton (54:17) Things we don't have issues with snow. We're down in Texas, so that's not even in our mind. Hilary Kreschollek (54:24) Yeah, we, there's a lot of differences in the real estate market between Texas and Pennsylvania. There's a lot. So yeah, we the We got a metal roof on like the next day, literally. We had a roofer that worked a lot with us. And so we got a metal roof on immediately. Tenant was obviously happy. But this was a $40,000 duplex. So $12,000 is percentage wise, a huge amount. that was probably one of my most expensive mistakes. there's definitely like in my early days of property management, when I only managed my own rentals, getting like friendly with the tenants and, know, feeling sorry for them, obviously like treating it a little differently than we treat it today. there was a situation where, a tenant had explained to me that they got their credit card hacked and they just needed to get like, you know, of course the excuse. right? And I let the eviction probably get pushed back by about a month. In the scheme of things that's not a super expensive mistake, but you know, you remember all of those little things vividly because you know I'll never do that again. Natalie Pilkinton (55:40) So crazy is tenet story since we're going to go ahead and go down there. I mean, I've got some crazy ones. I'd like to hear what you're like if you want to share. mean, I know and when I say this and we share this, it's not to scare any of our listeners or audience away because real estate is a beautiful investment to be in from the tax advantages, all the different ways, the six different ways, seven different ways we make money with it. So when we share this story, it's not to scare you. Hilary Kreschollek (56:05) Mm-hmm. Natalie Pilkinton (56:10) about investing in real estate. It's just a fun little tidbit. Anything you want to share, any story that comes to mind. Hilary Kreschollek (56:17) I have a few. The main one that comes to mind is we had a, we evicted a family and when we did their post eviction walkthrough, they left a bunch of their stuff. And among some of those items were like, swords and axes and like shields and very like childish kind of You guys use this the other night on your podcast me and child stuff. So There was like a lot of that and I didn't really think anything of it So I get a dumpster delivered to the property after the third in Pennsylvania have to wait 30 days to start throwing away people's stuff So we get a dumpster delivered to the property 30 days later and I get a text and the text is, I can see you at my property, get out. And I'm like, well, that's weird. But like also I'm not easily intimidated. So I start like going, this property was on a bunch of, had a big parcels, very forested. And so I start walking around the property looking for a camera. And because I had already searched everything inside. I'm like, there's no camera inside. He's seeing me drive up to the property. So he's got to have like a tree camera or something or game camera somewhere. So I start like walking through the forest looking for a camera. Didn't find one. So, oh, well, whatever. He can he knows I'm here, whatever. So. I come back to meet the dumpster people and we have one of our handymen going to go clean out the property and just throw everything away. And this is like a 30 yard dumpster. This is a lot of stuff. And I just had a sick feeling. I don't know why at this specific day at this time, because I'd been at the property and I'd gotten threats before, but this moment when the dumpster got delivered I had this weird feeling something was gonna happen and I was very nervous for my handyman so I drove down to the property and I checked on him and I was like are you okay and he's like yeah I'm okay and I'm like I just have a weird feeling do you want me to stay here and he's like no I'm totally okay I'm like okay what guy is gonna say yeah stay here and watch me right okay so I drive back up the hill and I see an SUV parked and there's four people in the SUV and all have masks on and i'm not talking like covid masks i'm talking like bank robber masks right and to add to the chaos there's a baby in the back seat like a baby, like a newborn baby. Well, I recognized it because it was like the baby I knew the baby because it had a very big head. It was like really noticeable that it was that particular baby that I knew. And I was like, I just identified them because their baby is in the back seat and I can see them. So I pull over like the crazy person I am and I rolled on my window and I'm like, Hey guys, are you lost? And they're like, oh we're just waiting for somebody like they're thinking this crazy woman just pulled over and asked for masked bandits you know if they're lost right so so they said they're just waiting for a friend and i said okay well this isn't where you wait for friends and they drove away but they didn't drive far they went around the corner i saw them Kelly Williams (59:27) And they're just waiting for someone in their masks. Natalie Pilkinton (59:38) Thank Hilary Kreschollek (59:44) So I stay where I'm at and I call the handyman and I'm like, hey, beware, those tenants are sitting in their car up the street in masks, in ski masks. So then as soon as I hang up with him, he's like, bring it on. I'm like, no, that's not what we're doing today. I'm like, I would like you to leave. He doesn't listen to me. So I call the police. The police come and the police find weapons in their car. and asked them what they're doing and they said, we were literally just gonna go get our stuff out of the dumpster. Well, you guys had 30 days and never got it from us. You could have called us and we would have happily opened the door for you to get your stuff out. We didn't wanna throw it away. So they were apparently gonna like show up with weapons and ski masks and scare my handyman, but we caught them. Kelly Williams (1:00:21) Thanks. Hilary Kreschollek (1:00:42) full circle this is like how crazy the world is they're my tenants again but not because i chose them because i took over a property that they are already tenants at yeah and Kelly Williams (1:00:59) So how happy were they to see you? And they're like, now you're like, we've got the crazy people. And they're like, no, now we've got the crazy woman. Hilary Kreschollek (1:01:02) Hello? This is actually like five, four or five years ago that this happened and they didn't remember me. Yeah. So, and they've been paying their rent. So I'm just gonna let it slide. We're just gonna pretend like nothing happened. Kelly Williams (1:01:24) Well, one can pray that their circumstances are better and they've learned their lesson and maybe they're going to be premier tenants now, hopefully. Hilary Kreschollek (1:01:33) I admire your optimism. Kelly Williams (1:01:37) Why keep that one eye open, right? Natalie Pilkinton (1:01:38) What are the gun laws in Pennsylvania? Like in Texas, we're strapped, everybody's strapped, you don't know who's carrying. So we've kind of equaled the playing field there. And as a realtor, you're a female or you're walking into a property. We have certain things we can do, but I also, I'm not one to let myself wait for the police either. So what can you do in Pennsylvania? Do you have same rights or? Hilary Kreschollek (1:01:45) Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yes. Mm-hmm. It's similar, especially like the area that I live in. I can't like speak for Pittsburgh proper because I don't do business, too much business in the city. And we actually don't manage any properties in the city of Pittsburgh because their laws are just not in line with what I agree with. So. In Beaver County specifically, you can get a concealed carry permit and you can legally carry a firearm concealed and law enforcement is very for that as well and It seems to be like a cultural norm here. So that's good for us realtors and property managers because I also agree with you. I think that it's important to protect yourself. And especially if you're comfortable with firearms, then you should carry one if that's what you feel you need for your safety. And I personally do. And I'm a very, very strong advocate of that. Natalie Pilkinton (1:03:10) Yeah, so we're gonna go ahead and I think wrap up. Did you ladies have any other questions for Hilary before we let her head on her way? Kelly Williams (1:03:22) I have ton of questions, but we could probably spend a whole other hour with her with some of the other questions. just from the side of inexperience, I've learned a ton from you, of course, with these ladies as well. But yeah, I think you're definitely a great resource of information. And certainly, hopefully, people will begin to follow you that follow us. Mindy Price (1:03:22) No. Kelly Williams (1:03:48) and become more educated and a lot more involved in the investing side and maybe become their own girl boss or guy boss, I guess. we definitely want to be girl bosses. So, yes. Hilary Kreschollek (1:03:59) I'd love to see more of it. Natalie Pilkinton (1:04:01) So Hilary, do you have any final thoughts or anything that you wanna cover? Maybe we didn't cover something and you're like, I wanna bring this up, anything like that. Hilary Kreschollek (1:04:10) you know, I, the only thing that I can think of is like, I think one of the secrets to our success is you mentioned earlier that people treat this business as a hobby and they get really excited about like which color to paint their walls and what kind of flooring to use. I think that the money is made by creating processes and we paint every single wall the exact same color and we use the same exact flooring and I think taking the creative side out of the business is actually the most profitable. And that's kind of one of the ugly truths of flipping and rentals. You don't make more money because you did a beautiful sage green kitchen versus an agreeable gray kitchen. And I'd like people to take that information. and think about if they still want to be in this business if the creative side isn't a huge aspect. Natalie Pilkinton (1:05:18) And Hilary, tell everyone where they can find and follow your journey. Hilary Kreschollek (1:05:21) So I'm on TikTok as HKTeamSold. I'm on Instagram as the same handle. I'm on Facebook as well, same handle. So you can find me in all of those. You guys are, I think, going to post my link tree as well. And you can also email me at Hilary with one L at HKTeamSold. Natalie Pilkinton (1:05:42) Yeah, we will post your link, tree So we do appreciate you. And if anybody enjoyed today's episode, make sure to like, subscribe, comment, and share. I know Hilary's gonna be sharing it with her friends. So we welcome you guys. We thank you for listening. Hilary's amazing. So, and if you have an idea or something you wanna share with us, sign up for our newsletter or spill the tea, go to sugarspiceandspirits.com. We'd love to hear from you. This has been Sugar, Spice, and Spirits, so cheers everybody. Mindy Price (1:06:15) Cheers. Kelly Williams (1:06:16) Cheers! Natalie Pilkinton (1:06:17) and we will see you next