Tara Zaluski - Rebuilding Homes & Lives At The Same Time

Tara Zaluski, the CEO of RTZ, is an accomplished figure in the real estate industry, specializing in home buying, flipping, and property management in the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania. Overcoming significant personal challenges at a young age, Tara's journey into real estate is marked by remarkable resilience and determination. Her hands-on experience and expertise have positioned her as a formidable force in the realm of real estate, particularly in property transformations and construction. Tara's profound insights and practical knowledge make her a valuable resource for individuals seeking to navigate the intricacies of real estate flipping. Her journey stands as a testament to the potential for growth and success in the real estate sector.

In this episode, you will be able to:

• Overcome challenges in real estate investing and thrive in the market.
• Discover the benefits of buying a duplex as your first home and set yourself up for financial success.
• Start a real estate flipping business and turn properties into profitable assets.
• Manage properties strategically to achieve financial freedom and build wealth.
• Teach your community about generational wealth and leave a lasting impact for future generations.

The key moments in this episode are:

00:00:00 - Pursuing Real Estate Passion
00:04:57 - Overcoming Challenges and Adversity
00:10:03 - Transition to Real Estate Investing
00:12:54 - Starting a Construction Company
00:13:32 - Overcoming Adversity During COVID-19
00:18:30 - Building a Successful Property Management Company
00:24:32 - Community Education and Mindset Change
00:26:42 - Conclusion

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Full transcript here:

Tara Zaluski
Within a year, I wanted to start flipping while I was still a realtor. So that's what I did. And that's whenever I told my brother about my plan and what I wanted to do, and he said, well, I want to do it too. And I was like, okay, great. Because that'll be the perfect partnership.

Mike Swenson
Welcome to the Real Freedom show, where we inspire you to pursue your passion to gain time and financial freedom through opportunities in real estate. I'm your host, Mike Swenson. Let's get some real freedom together. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Real Freedom, Real Estate Leverage Freedom, where we talk about different ways that people are building time and financial freedom through opportunities in real estate. I'm your host, Mike Swenson. If you want to get started on your real estate investing journey or kind of figure out what your path is, check out our website, Freedom. Through realestate.com we purposefully have lots of different stories of people doing different things in real estate. We're hopeful you can kind of find a story that resonates with you, a path that resonates with you, and ultimately, you know, your journey is probably going to change and adapt over time as you get further into real estate. But we just really love interviewing great people with great backgrounds and stories to be able to help you kind of get over some of your mental hurdles or whatever it might be to find success in real estate. So today we have Tara Zaluski. You are the CEO of rtz and you do home buying, flipping, different things like that inside of the Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvan and property management and a construction business, and really kind of overcoming a lot of challenges that you had in your. Your background. And I think, you know, talking offline, I think a lot of people feel like, oh, if somebody has success, it's because they. They had everything handed to them and they had a leg up and they didn't have to try as hard. They didn't have to overcome anything. And so would love to hear you kind of share your background and your journey to hopefully inspire others that, you know, what it's it is about. Overcoming challenges is overcoming difficult things that happen to you and still finding a way to continue on your pat be successful. So, Tara, we're so excited to have you on the show, and welcome.

Tara Zaluski
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

Mike Swenson
Why don't you just kind of start. Dig in, pick up wherever you want to pick up in your background, and we'll continue to tell the story from there.

Tara Zaluski
Sure. So I guess we can start when I was 16. I was actually put into an all girls home. And at that time I was only supposed to be there briefly, you know, a few weeks, whatever it was supposed to be, until they felt that, you know, I was good to go back to my parents. But while I was there I learned that they actually had a program where you could stay and live there permanently and I could basically start doing the normal things that you would do each day. Because when I was first put in there, I wasn't allowed to go to school, I wasn't allowed to go outside, I wasn't allowed on a phone, wasn't allowed to watch tv. I was in a room with eight other girls. We shared one bathroom. So you can imagine the conditions. And just basically you didn't have any of your basic needs even, right? You know, maybe you like a certain shampoo or makeup or this or that. It was a very basic living. But I made the decision to stay there. And after I made that decision to stay there, I knew that I could go back to school, I would have to get a job and I would have to save 70% of my money because they wanted to set me up for success so that whenever I turned 18 I could get an apartment, have the money for a security deposit, monthly rent, all the furnishings, all the stuff. But there was another big decision I had to make in that because I had already switched school six times at this point in my life. So I had to decide if I was going to switch schools again or if I was going to stay in my current high school, which meant I'd have to get up at 4:30 in the morning and take two buses to school and then two buses back home, then also have that job job. So I did end up staying at my school and choosing that probably a little bit harder route, but I just didn't want to switch schools again at that point in my life. And that's kind of how my journey started in the sense of, you know, at a very young age learning how to take care of myself and navigating public transportation, which I had never done at that point in my life. I was in an area that I never lived in, so I didn't even know the area. And also, to be honest, I was pretty much a minority, you know, which was another thing that was the first time in my life because where I was living was predominantly black and I was white. So that was another thing. You know, I just wasn't used to and had to, you know, get acclimated with the culture and the differences and the things of that nature. But that's where I started. So, you know, when people think that, you know, hey, you have, like, great parents or maybe you were given money or maybe you had great schooling, um, that you were just set up right in some type of way to succeed, that's typically not the case with, you know, most of the people I meet anyways, to be honest, that are successful.

Mike Swenson
I think it. It shows that, you know, you have to persevere through challenges. We talk about the transferable skills that you pick up before. You know, for people that get into real estate, a lot of people think that, yeah, there was a path you had to be on or you had to be successful doing this thing or that thing to have success in real estate. And it's. No, it's really just taking kind of the best things that you had previous to real estate. And how do you kind of capitalize on those things moving forward? Perseverance, not giving up, being able to work through challenges. Those are all things that you can now utilize to your advantage as you grow. Because you've been through tough stuff, you know, you're not going to give up easily. You see the bigger picture, you see where you want to go. And so there's so many great transferable skills that people have, regardless of what their background is. And I just encourage people to kind of think about that and think about what can I take with me as I kind of get into real estate. So for you, talk about that transition, so kind of, you know, where you're at. Maybe, you know, end of high school, what happened after that?

Tara Zaluski
After high school, I bought my first car on my own, you know, so I was able to get back and forth to work. Didn't have to take public transportation anymore, but I still had no direction in my life. All I knew was I didn't want to go to college. College. So I kind of just was in the service industry already continued with that. And it wasn't until I got pregnant with my son that I really started thinking about, what do I want to do with my life. And after getting pregnant with him, I decided, well, I want to buy a house, right? I want to, you know, have a home that we can live in versus renting. So that's when I really started thinking about my future. And also I started looking at houses. And when I would look at houses, I would just get so excited about it, you know, making these appointments to see houses. And it was just my passion. I don't know, I'd go in them and I didn't have this, like, huge budget or anything. So I'm looking at houses, you know, that have, like, tons of wallpaper, like, green carpets, and they're just completely outdated. Right. Maybe they smell or these different things where people would overlook them and they'd be on the market, and I would go in and be like, oh, like, I could do this or I could do that. So that's. Honestly, it was through that of, like, trying to find my own house that I realized, like, there's something more here, because nothing had excited me like that up until this point in my life. So that's when I decided, you know what? I want to pursue this. Not only get my first home, but I'm going to, like, redo it, remodel it. And, you know, when it comes to the time to sell it or whatever, I'm gonna see what happens. Right. Like, let's see if people like what I did.

Mike Swenson
Mm.

Tara Zaluski
Yeah.

Mike Swenson
Awesome.

Tara Zaluski
Yeah. So that's how I got started. And then in between that time as well, I actually bought my first duplex. So I kind of had the best of both worlds, right? I was, like, almost like, essentially flipping a house while I was living in it. And then I also had a duplex where I could try that out as well, the whole landlord aspect, and see if I could do it. And also, did I want to continue doing it after I had tenants?

Mike Swenson
Did you actively pursue trying to find a duplex, or was it just an opportunity that kind of came in front of you that you're like, oh, I hadn't thought about it before, but this seems like a great opportunity?

Tara Zaluski
Yeah. So I actually wanted to buy a duplex for my first house, and I let my husband at the time talk me out of that and just buy a single family home. So I always wanted to start with a duplex because I knew that I could have that in income coming in that would basically pay my whole entire mortgage, and then that would allow me to save more money, so then I could go get the next one.

Mike Swenson
You know, people that always ask me, like, how to get started into real estate. Like, if. If that's where your life is at and that's where you have an opportunity to do that, and it makes sense. I think there's a ton of value buying a duplex early on. We actually had talked about doing that when we first got married, and we were going to go into it with another couple, and we were both going to buy it together. Us live in one half, they live in the other half. And what ended up happening Long story short is about six months later, they ended up getting divorced and filed for bankruptcy. And so didn't work out for us at that point. And then we moved somewhere else, and then kind of life happened, and we didn't get back to that opportunity for a duplex. But I think there's a ton of awesome value there if it matches up in your life to be able to do that.

Tara Zaluski
Oh, yeah, for sure. I still regret not buying that first one to this day. I still think about it because it was in a really, really good school district, nice area, good deal. And I'm like, man, why did I not buy that?

Mike Swenson
What happened after that then?

Tara Zaluski
So after that, I remodeled the house. I put it on the market, and it sold within, like, one day. Multiple offers.

Mike Swenson
And this was the single. The single family home then?

Tara Zaluski
Yeah, the single family home that I was, like, remodeling while I was there. So that gave me the confidence and the courage to actually start pursuing this. So I was like, I'm going to get my real estate license, and I'm going to learn, you know, how. Like, how to not how to be a realtor. But there's a lot of contracts and agreements, you know, different things involved. There's title and there's lending. So I thought that for me, that that would be the best way. Let me, like, get my feet wet, essentially, right? I'll become a realtor. I'll make some money while I'm doing that, and I'll learn the whole process and how this all works. So I did that, and then within a year, I wanted to start flipping while I was still a realtor. So that's what I did. And that's whenever I told my brother about my plan and what I wanted to do, and he said, well, I want to do it, too. And I was like, okay, great. Because that'll be the perfect partnership. You know, we're different from each other, so we bring different skill sets. And I knew he also had a little more experience than I did in, like, construction and working in it and everything, because me and him at that point actually put a roof on my duplex together. So, you know, we'd already done some stuff together where I had helped and participated. And then through all those renovations I did, I was doing all that stuff on my own, you know, ripping up floors, putting new tile floors in. So we both kind of, like I said, had experience. I knew he had more than me, so I was like, all right, let's do this, you know? So we started flipping, and we realized really quickly that we couldn't do all the work ourselves. It was taking way too long. There was no way we would be able to scale at that, you know, pace. And we also were still working our full time jobs. So we decided we got to start hiring some contractors, we got to get this stuff moving quicker, we got to be able to eventually do multiple at a time. So we hired contractors and within our second flip, we end up losing money because of the contractors not doing the work right and us having to go back in, you know, buying new materials, rip things out, fix things. All the stuff, you know, that can go wrong sometimes does, you know, even though you both have experience, even though you vet people out, you know, things don't go the way you planned, but you have to use those failures as stepping stones to not only do it better the next time, maybe you need to do it differently, you know, using that fail or that reflection of it to know like, okay, this is how I can improve. So we decided we were going to open a construction company the next year because we were just like, this is too much. We're having too many problems with all these contractors. And we didn't want to continue losing money because even on our next flip, we had issues with contractors, but we didn't lose money. But it was still just a hindrance. And we Knew that in 2020, we actually decided to start our own construction company. And we all know what happened in 2020. Me and my brother both quit our full time jobs and, you know, decided that's what we were doing. And then Covid hit, we got shut down. We were considered non essential, so we couldn't work for months. And we were both obviously thinking like, what in the world did we do? Was this a mistake? You know, are we not supposed to do this? Whatever the thoughts you may have? And I think my brother was probably losing his mind more than me, to be honest, because I was used to already being a realtor and working, you know, sales and commissions, and if I didn't do well, I didn't make any money. But he worked for the army Corps of Engineers, so he had a nice salary. You know, he had that money guaranteed. And even if he didn't work hard that day, he was still getting that money, right? We did end up making $700,000 in revenue that first year, even with all of the shutdowns. So once again, you know, hurdles here, there and everywhere, but we pushed through and we did it and we succeeded. So we were able to start training our own guys, right? And knowing that they were doing the work right, holding integrity and all the things. So we did that for almost a couple of years with all of them. And then we helped them get their own LLCs, we helped them open their own businesses so that they could follow their dreams and then continue working for us. Because in 2022 is when we decided, okay, we're going full time real estate. Like, we're not doing anybody else's stuff anymore. We're not, you know, doing any construction. And we transitioned all of our guys over in that sense so they can continue working for us and that we wouldn't, you know, lose that hard work and time that we had put in as well. But the biggest thing, I think for us was we wanted to see everyone win, you know, so that was kind of why we wanted to do that as well.

Mike Swenson
Yeah, that's awesome. To be able to kind of show them the next level of what they can do in their business, but at the same time keep those relationships going. That's. That's awesome because, yeah, you, you realize that while somebody can be a great employee, they might not be a great business owner. They might not know what to do. And so being able to kind of show them how to do that, I love that.

Tara Zaluski
Yeah. And it was just like a win win, like I said, you know, they get to follow their dreams. Then also they know they have guaranteed work. Right. If they don't want to fully go out on their own, they knew that they could work with us. So just all around, it was just great, you know, to see that be able to happen. And then people following their dreams and then, you know, branching out on their own eventually.

Mike Swenson
So what types of properties are you looking for at that point? Are you working to do flips? Are you trying to kind of hold some of those? What criteria are using for. For what you're looking for?

Tara Zaluski
Yeah. So in 2022, since we came, we knew we were supposed to be in the McKeesport area and that we were supposed to start revitalizing that area. So when 2022 came around, we kind of were just buying as much as we could and holding all of it. We weren't really flipping too much anymore, and we wanted to just, you know, start bringing up the values in the area, remodeling the homes, giving people a nice place to live. Because a huge thing for us too is we think everyone deserves for a nice place to live. And unfortunately, some people out there aren't, you know, creating that space for people. So that was a big part of it. And Showing people that, you know, no matter where you're at in life and what's going on, whether you're buying a home or renting a home, like, we want to make it nice for you.

Mike Swenson
That's awesome. That's actually. Oh, I kind of got started. I mean, we didn't do it. We didn't do a lot of flips, but we did one or a couple of them. But it was really because my brother in law was looking for a place and he didn't have a great situation with his previous landlord. And I started to run numbers and I was like, oh, we can fix this up, rent it to him and go from there. So it's being able to kind of help people at the same time as well as help yourself. And when you can marry those two things together, it makes for a great opportunity.

Tara Zaluski
Oh yeah, for sure. And it gives you like a purpose too, right? Like some fulfillment, I think. You know, I know for us when we were just like in it and just getting more homes, getting more homes, getting more homes, weren't feeling fulfilled, even though we knew what we were doing and what we were trying to do, we still weren't as involved with the community as we are now. So we were both like, what are we doing? You know, and we, we had to really like stop and think about, like, how do we get back to, you know, helping others, bringing the value, but not just through houses, actually like spending that time with people.

Mike Swenson
Okay, so then you're mostly managing the properties that you're then acquiring and choosing to hold and then really just kind of building out. Property management, tenant placement. I'm sure all your construction folks were the ones, you know, doing the work that needed to be done on the properties, kind of the continuous maintenance. So is that kind of how the, the property management company came to be?

Tara Zaluski
Yeah, so that's how we ended up doing property management because we were managing all of our properties to begin with. But as we got bigger and having more properties, we did try to hire a property management company, but we just couldn't find like a person or a company that really held our standard and what we wanted for our tenants. So we actually just end up bringing it back in house and just hiring the right people, you know, getting the right people in the right seats to take care of it for us so that we know that it's being done well and things are being handled, you know, in a timely manner if there's any issues. And just really treating our tenants like our business partners because they are, you know, without our tenants, we wouldn't be able to rent our houses. So I constantly remind them, you know, that we're not above them in any type of way. Of course, there has to be certain rules and regulations, but I really want these people to know that, you know, we're like a white glove service. And we want you to know that we, we value you. Right. We know that you're a part of our business.

Mike Swenson
That's fantastic. So what does your role look like in the company in terms of as you guys have now built and, and scaled this a. Over the last couple of years, what do you, what do you spend your time on?

Tara Zaluski
So, a lot of things. I feel like I wear so many hats sometimes I get jealous of my brother. I'm like, you're just out in the construction field, like, that's so easy, right? Dealing with contractors and all the headaches that come along with the things that go wrong and. But for me, I handle the whole back end, essentially. So I'm constantly evaluating our systems and processes and making sure that we're not only staying up to date with everything that's coming out and technology and how fast it's moving and AI and, you know, our property management software. But I was the one who was like dealing with our attorneys and our CPAs and anything that goes on with that. And then I handle our whole team. You know, I'm the one having one on ones and checking in each week and making sure everyone has what they need or training them on what they need or creating, you know, videos and different things. So my, my role keeps honestly changing. You know, now we've branched out into wanting to do more podcasts. We were doing more speaking events, which I typically handle. So, you know, my role just continues to change, which, you know, forces me to grow, which is great because, you know, I don't want to ever stop growing or thinking that I've learned enough. But we'll see what's in the store because as I was saying, you know, now we're in the community, we're doing these speaking events, we're doing podcasts, we're trying to get it out there, let people know what we're doing, and then that is probably going to turn into digital courses and things that we would love to, you know, share with the world. You know, if we get this down pat and it works in our area, we know then it could work in the areas for other people as well.

Mike Swenson
As you guys are finding properties, is most of it off market type stuff or kind of what marketing Channels are you using to find the properties that you guys are buying?

Tara Zaluski
Yeah, so we do find off market. I actually just reviewed this recently and I would say about 40% of our business has come from off market and that has all been organic to be honest. We had tried using like a mailing company at one point. That didn't work out well for us. So we haven't really gone back to that at this point. And then with the MLS of course we're you know, on the multi list and getting properties off of there which is probably about another 40%. I want to say maybe 30 to 40 and then I would say that last like maybe 20% is from wholesalers.

Mike Swenson
Yeah, I think a lot of times people sleep on the MLS listings. What I had found like when we, you know, worked with investors buying smaller multi family is there actually is some good opportunities there. I mean what, what we tend to find was you have a seller that has agreed to sell, you have tenants that are aware that they're selling and if you want to go see a property you can schedule a showing and doing that versus off market stuff. There's kind of more hoops to jump through and red flags. There's a lot of challenges there and even getting the information and like it's just weird sometimes to on those off market things. And so I think people have this idea of like, oh, the only way I'm going to find a good deal is if it's off market. And for us like we found great deals on market. So it's just all about running the numbers and where do you see that opportunity?

Tara Zaluski
Oh absolutely. It just comes down to the numbers. That was something I've always was told like if you don't buy it right from the beginning, it's not going to be a good deal for you. So I just want to mention that for people to keep that in mind, you know, you, you have to buy right up front otherwise you're going to have issues.

Mike Swenson
Are you looking to get started or scale in real estate investing but don't know your next step? Are you overwhelmed thinking about finding deals, analyzing deals, deals, doing due diligence and managing properties on top of it? Go ahead and push the easy button and invest with us. Real estate investing is what we do full time. We've done dozens of deals with hundreds of doors. We have the knowledge and experience to hand pick the best deals that most investors can't find. We've at large off market deals all the time where you can hopefully find returns and economies of scale that you Just can't find on your own. The best thing is it's 100% passive to you for less capital than you put down trying to acquire a property on your own. Don't let this year go by where you don't make the leap, add to your portfolio, or you just sit in analysis by paralysis. To find out more, visit freedomthroughrealestate.com and click on Invest. You can book a call and learn more there. So get to scaling your portfolio now with us by your side. Now you mentioned, you know, continuing to grow your marketing, putting together some programs to be able to help others. What, what other stuff do you have kind of up your sleeve as you guys continue to grow, Grow?

Tara Zaluski
So the education within the community, you know, going into the high school, teaching them about generational wealth, passive income, and then also going to the community as a whole and teaching those classes as well for people to be able to sign up for for free is just a huge part of what we want to do right now because we're truly looking to change mindsets and teach people once again. Like, you heard the beginning of my story of it doesn't matter where you come from or what you have going on. Truly, like none of that matters. What matters is your mindset and what you think you can accomplish and the fact that you're willing to take the action on it. Right. So you have to believe in yourself enough to say, okay, this is my passion, this is my purpose, this is what I want to do. And then follow it. And not follow what you think the schools want you to do or what your parents want you to do or whoever, you know, your boyfriend, husband. And that's hard for people. And I get that. Not saying that any of this stuff is easy, but you know, we really want to like start educating people about that so that hopefully they'll, you know, follow their dreams and not take as long as I did in figuring it all out.

Mike Swenson
Awesome. Yeah, that, that sounds like a good story. And I think too for people that are looking to sell their houses, like you'd rather sell to somebody that's trying to do something good that's not just selling some institutional investor or somebody that's trying to sell a home to increase the stock price. Right. Like you're a human being who's trying to do good in the community and help others and, you know, who wouldn't want to sell to somebody like that versus, you know, kind of the traditional big pocketed buyers. So for people that want to reach out to you, learn more about what you're doing. How can they do that?

Tara Zaluski
Yeah, I think the easiest way is probably my website, which is www.rtz.1. That's going to have a form on there that they can fill out super quickly and get in contact with me.

Mike Swenson
Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story. It's good to see somebody that is helping others, you know, has overcome a lot of adversity and is being successful. And best of luck as you continue to grow your business.