Real Conversations with Lilly Melnichuk: Balancing Clients, Contracts and Motherhood

At nine months pregnant, Lilly Melnichuk took her real estate exam just before becoming a first-time mom. In this episode, she shares how an unexpected career pivot led her from dental assisting to building a successful real estate business with Keller Williams Realty Bothell.

Lilly opens up about balancing motherhood, recovery, entrepreneurship and real estate while growing her business through consistency, social media and relationships. Her story is a reminder that success does not always follow the path you planned — sometimes it comes from taking a chance on yourself.

Connect with Lilly

206-697-4332

melnichlilly@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to the Real Conversations podcast. The podcast dedicated to the Real Story of the Telco Real with your vote.

SPEAKER_06 0:18

Good afternoon and welcome to Real Conversations. I'm your host, Dan Edwards, managing broker here at Keller Williams in Both. And I'm here with Lily Melichuk. And I uh practiced that name a couple of times. Lily is one of our amazing agents here at the Bothell office. And I'd like to welcome you to the podcast.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Thank you. Hi, everyone.

SPEAKER_06 0:38

Yeah. Hi. We're all like podcasting to hear. Yeah. So uh so Lily, you have been in real estate how long?

SPEAKER_05 0:46

I have been in real estate for six years now.

SPEAKER_06 0:48

Six years. And so that means Lily started when she was 16. I'm just kidding. Very young. Um, and so Lily, you're not though. You've been doing this for six years. And tell me a little bit about where you grew up.

SPEAKER_05 1:02

So I actually grew up in Mount Vernon, Washington. So that's Skadgett County. I was born in Mount Vernon, so I've lived there almost all my life. And then when I got married at age 20.

SPEAKER_06 1:13

20.

SPEAKER_05 1:13

19, actually.

SPEAKER_06 1:15

Oh, okay. Yeah, there you go. 19. You want to pause? Yeah. No, we're not pausing yet. Okay, so you got married. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 1:24

Okay, I got married at 19. And then when we got married, I moved to Woodenville. So to Snohomish County. And then I kind of started doing research in Snohomish County and kind of figuring that area out. So a little different from Skagit County, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_06 1:37

So we're gonna go back. So you grew up in Mount Vernon.

SPEAKER_05 1:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:40

What were your hobbies and interests? What did you do in high school?

SPEAKER_05 1:43

So in high school, I was very busy with classes. My plan was to become a dental hygienist. I was a dental assistant for five years. So I would go to college, I would have orchestra classes, I played a violin.

SPEAKER_03 1:58

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_05 1:59

I had choir classes and then was very, very busy at church. So we had um, I was teaching kids' class at church, uh, kids' choir at church. So just very busy schedule, very packed schedule.

SPEAKER_06 2:12

Was that by design by your parents?

SPEAKER_05 2:14

Yes. How come? Why?

SPEAKER_06 2:15

Why did they make it so busy?

SPEAKER_05 2:17

So we grew up in a Christian family. Uh, we had seven kids in our family, and our parents wanted us to kind of stay very active in church just so we wouldn't kind of like they would say go off into the world, kind of like start doing bad things, yeah, get distracted, not get off, get off root. So they kept us very busy, and I kind of like that because that so what number of seven are you? I am number, so there's a one younger sister than me, so I'm number six.

SPEAKER_06 2:45

Six, okay. Six to the youngest, yeah. What's it like growing up with a house with six siblings?

SPEAKER_05 2:51

It's very busy. The youngest get bullied a lot.

SPEAKER_06 2:55

Oh, really? I thought you guys get babied.

SPEAKER_05 2:57

No, no. Well, the younger one, she's six years younger than me. She really got babied.

SPEAKER_06 3:02

Oh, yeah, that's pretty young.

SPEAKER_05 3:03

But the older ones, I feel like they would do this or I'll tell mom, or like, you know, parents would tell them to do something and they would want you to do it. Or they won't take you to the house. They just kind of pass it along.

SPEAKER_06 3:15

Yeah, yeah. Hey, if you want to go to the store and get this or that or the mall or whatever, yeah they kind of hold that over you. Oh, that's funny. I bet there's some good stories there. So, was it a big house you grew up in? With with, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:26

So we grew up in a four-bedroom house.

SPEAKER_06 3:29

Wait, seven children, two parents in a four-bedroom house. Yes. So you were stacked on top of each other, basically.

SPEAKER_05 3:36

We all had to share rooms, yeah. Yeah, so it was a 2,500 square foot home, and we had about one acre of land, and my parents had chickens, we've had chickens, they kept two pigs, so we had animals on our land. So I feel like our community really likes land just so they could have some animals, space for the kids to run around, like a swing set.

SPEAKER_06 4:03

Something more than just like a like some of the communities that are being sold now where you go out in the backyard, it's a little short aggregate patio, and that's it.

SPEAKER_05 4:11

Yeah, yeah. My parents didn't like that. We always wanted some space to grow. And I guess we needed that with such a big family.

SPEAKER_06 4:19

Yeah. In order to get a little bit of sanity, you had to go to the back corner of the acre. Right. And so what do you had brothers too, or just all sisters?

SPEAKER_05 4:28

I did. I had four older brothers. Okay. One older sister and one younger sister.

SPEAKER_06 4:34

Gotcha. Okay, that's fun. That's a big family. And so you said you're community. So what community are you a part of?

SPEAKER_05 4:40

So it's a Slavic community, it's called Slavic community. And I feel like sometimes because of the Slavic community, because of speaking Ukrainian at home, I'll have a language barrier in English.

SPEAKER_06 4:52

Like I'll try to So at home it's always Ukrainian?

SPEAKER_05 4:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 4:55

And when you say Slavic, I I'm thinking multiple countries, but I don't know because I don't understand. So what is does Slavic community incorporate?

SPEAKER_05 5:04

So Slavic community is like Ukrainian, Russian. I'm not sure if it's Romanian. I don't think it is. Although some of the Romanian words are very similar to Russian and Ukrainian, but mainly just Russian and Ukrainian.

SPEAKER_06 5:16

Okay, got it. So that, and so here in Mount Vernon area, there's a fairly vibrant Slavic community.

SPEAKER_05 5:23

Yes. Okay. So there is a Mount Vernon Church. It's a pretty big church. And then there's another like Baptist Mount Vernon Church. We went to a church up in Bellingham.

SPEAKER_06 5:34

Oh, so you went all the way to Bellingham. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 5:37

So there were two Slavic churches there that I knew of. And then now I go to a church, Slavic church up in Mount Lake Terrace. So we rent a church.

SPEAKER_06 5:49

You rent a church. Yes. Okay. The church that's okay. That I go to. And it's all in Ukrainian?

SPEAKER_05 5:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 5:55

Oh, okay. All right.

SPEAKER_05 5:56

So we do have a couple families that speak English, but there's always translation available for them.

SPEAKER_06 6:02

Oh, okay. All right. And so that translates to English, the the sermons and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_04 6:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 6:07

Okay. All right. So that's cool. I'd love to learn, right? A little bit about you. But um, so so you decided you're like gonna be a dental hygienist. That was dur in high school.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 6:18

Okay. So in high school, you're actually doing dental hygienist work.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 6:22

And finishing high school and then getting married.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 6:26

Okay. So then uh where did you meet your husband?

SPEAKER_05 6:29

I met my husband at a youth conference.

SPEAKER_06 6:32

Okay. So you guys have been sweet for a while? Yes.

SPEAKER_05 6:36

We met when high school sweethearts.

SPEAKER_06 6:38

Oh, that's so cute.

unknown 6:39

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_06 6:40

And how many kids do you have?

SPEAKER_05 6:41

We have four kids.

SPEAKER_06 6:42

So you're on your way to the big family.

SPEAKER_05 6:44

Yes, we are.

SPEAKER_06 6:45

You only have three more to go.

SPEAKER_05 6:47

I don't know if I can do seven. I feel like four is very, very busy.

SPEAKER_06 6:53

Uh yeah, right. So imagine your mom, right? With with all seven of you. Yeah, mom and dad like keeping you busy.

SPEAKER_05 6:59

I thought about that. I'm like, my mom had seven kids. We were all almost a year apart, other than my youngest sister, who is six years apart.

SPEAKER_06 7:06

She's the oops, the mistake, right? No, I'm just kidding, sister, if you're listening, just kidding.

SPEAKER_05 7:12

No, my mom actually had three miscarriages after me, so she kind of turned out to be six. But I just thought about it now. I'm like, my parents, you know, they had seven of us and they kept us all so busy, and they were able to um help us all financially that way. We all went to college. You know, we all had we we would always go to our doctor's appointments, to our dental appointments. We were so on time with everything. And both my parents worked. I'm like, how did they do it?

SPEAKER_06 7:43

That work, yeah. Yeah. Oh, I think there's a lesson in that, right? It have you ever experienced a time where you're really, really busy and then a time when you're not? And it tends you tend to find out that you can actually do more when you're really busy than when you're less busy. And it's because this concept that that time expands or contracts the amount of activity you have in it. And so your your parents found, I'm sure they have stories of where they were probably losing their minds.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure. I mean, I only have four and I have that sometimes.

SPEAKER_06 8:13

So good. Okay, so your journey to real estate. So you're doing dental hygienist stuff um on your way to to to college, right? And so did you complete college? Where did you go?

SPEAKER_05 8:24

I went to um Skagit Valley Community College, yes.

SPEAKER_06 8:29

And you got your associates there.

SPEAKER_05 8:30

I didn't get my associates, so I started and I was doing all the prerequisites for hygiene, applied for the program, but they only accept 20 students every year to the Kirkland College, and I didn't get accepted. So either I re-waited and reapplied the next year, or um what figured out kind of what to do if I still wanted to do it and wait this next year, or kind of what my other options were. So I just worked as a dental assistant those years, and I'm like, I'll probably wait till next year, but then I ended up getting married, and when I got married, I was still working as a dental assistant, but then I thought it would be awesome to have kids, and as a dental assistant working eight hours a day every day, you know, hiring a babysitter that just didn't really make sense to me. Because as a dental assistant, eight hours every day, you're hiring a babysitter, you're not really there with your baby, right?

SPEAKER_06 9:25

You know, it's the same girl.

SPEAKER_05 9:26

Yeah, so I was just kind of thinking, what would I actually enjoy doing? And so, you know, growing up, I always liked real estate. I like looking at homes. I kind of liked interior design things, but I always thought it was hard to be successful in that. I always heard stories of real this real estate agent is not successful, they don't really know what they're doing. It's really hard to be in real estate. There are so many real estate agents. So I never thought that I would be able to go into this career and be a successful agent just because of the things I've heard. But when I got married, was doing uh dental assisting for five years, uh I got pregnant and I'm like, it would be awesome to just start studying real estate, just just to kind of study it, see if I like it, and you know, if it brings my interest in real estate, I'll do it. And so my whole entire pregnancy, I studied real estate nine months. I took my real estate exam when I was nine months pregnant. That was hard. Um, but I enjoyed studying. Like I know a lot of agents that I talked to, they would say they fell asleep while they were studying.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

Oh, geez.

SPEAKER_05 10:40

And yeah, and I I didn't really get that when I studied, I was kind of like actually into it. Like I enjoyed studying it and kind of figuring things out, and like it it had my interest there.

SPEAKER_06 10:54

Yeah, it it it basically drew you in, and and it was something that you started to find a passion for. Yeah, okay, yeah. So then you took your test, then what did you do?

SPEAKER_05 11:02

So I took my test, I was nine months pregnant, and after I delivered my baby, I joined Keller Williams. So I came into the office, I basically did my onboarding, did everything. And I feel like starting real estate at that stage of life was kind of difficult. Just because I had a C-section too, so I had a baby and a surgery and recovering, it was just kind of like you know, signing wise, it was like, Yeah, you're so new to this. And I feel like when you just kind of step in, you need to actually study the contracts before you start representing people. Because I feel like if you're just stepping in and signing things and doing whatever, you're not gonna be able to represent them at a hundred percent, uh, which I think they would need.

SPEAKER_06 11:47

That's pretty important, yeah. Yeah. So you so instead of doing a whole lot of working with clients, you spent time learning the contracts. Is that right?

SPEAKER_05 11:56

Yes, yes. So I spent after I had my baby, I spent time learning the contracts, kind of figuring out how would I want to structure an offer to make it appealing if I when I get my first client, you know. How am I how why would they want to work with me? Kind of like what is my why? Why would someone want to work with me? I need to know my contracts. So I kind of started there.

SPEAKER_06 12:21

How long did that take?

SPEAKER_05 12:22

It took about a year, I think when my son was a year.

SPEAKER_06 12:25

So you didn't have any transactions, you just kind of focused on learning the contracts and then kind of learning your value proposition. Why would somebody choose to work with Lily over the hundreds of agents out there?

SPEAKER_05 12:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 12:38

Okay. So then when does it now start to kick? When does do things start to click then for you?

SPEAKER_05 12:44

I feel like a year in when I really studied my contracts, knew my contracts, I felt confident. And so I started, I made a page on Instagram, made a page on Facebook, and I started posting, you know, kind of teaching people about real estate, um, you know, posting the interest rates, just sharing some values as an agent that I thought were important to people. And people kind of followed along and they saw that. And so my very first client was from church. And I'll never forget this client because when they called me and said, Hey, Lily, we want to buy this house, will you represent us? That was kind of like it was like a heartwarming hug.

SPEAKER_06 13:24

Oh, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_05 13:26

Like, you know, they trusted me, you know, they saw something in me to use me as their agent. And that just felt so special to me that, you know, I think consistency and posting things online that really did help.

SPEAKER_06 13:38

Yeah. I think we talk about two things competence and care. Like when people choose to work with you, it's because they know that you care about them and they know that you know what you're doing. And your avenue of doing that was through social media. And essentially the relationships that you had on social media were relationships from your church.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 13:59

So you didn't like build a database and start emailing out, you just actually built your database on Instagram and Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 14:06

And just shared your knowledge.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 14:08

And not no ask, but just, hey, by the way, I'm a real estate agent here.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 14:12

And how long from the time you started doing that to the time you received uh your first uh referral? How long was that, you think? I would say that took about that took about three months of consistent, like how often would you post?

SPEAKER_05 14:27

Consistently, consistently. I would do at least one post a day, one story a day. And you know, sometimes people would be like, You're posting too much as an agent.

SPEAKER_06 14:36

But I'm like, Did you put personal stuff in there too?

SPEAKER_05 14:39

Sometimes, yes. Yes. So like family photos, kind of like, oh, there's a coffee shop in town that's new, whoever wants to check it out. So just very local things that people would actually be interested in. Because I know there's a lot of people that already own homes, which are like following me, and they're like, Why would we want to just follow her if she keeps posting these home things when we already own a home?

SPEAKER_06 14:59

So you're trying to change it up a little bit for it to be interesting.

SPEAKER_05 15:03

Yeah, I tried to change it up so it'd be interesting. So I feel like those three months of just posting consistently, that brought my first client. And then after I had my first sold, you know, some people kind of saw, oh, like Lily already sold a house this far into real estate. Um, and then when you have a client and they like their experience working with you, it's like word of mouth. So when I had this client, they really enjoyed working with me, and then I went to their signing appointment. They really like that because I guess a lot of agents don't really go to your signing appointment with you. But I was there, I was there through every milestone. So from meeting them first to writing the contract to going to the showings, the inspections, every milestone, I was there. And I feel like when you're a first-time home buyer, especially, it's really important that you're there with your client every step of the way, just so that they feel confident about their sale and it kind of shows your value as an agent.

SPEAKER_06 16:04

Yeah, throughout the process. And I was talking, I actually did a podcast before this on AI, and we kind of nerded out on all this stuff. And what I want everybody to know out there is that if you are building a real estate business, yes, there's AI, yes, there's you know, shiny objects, marketing plans, referrals, Zillow, leads, all that kind of stuff. But really, when you take time to focus on the quality of the service that you provide to the customer that's right in front of you, the that is the best way to have never-ending referrals, right? Because as I understand it, your business right now, 100% is just word of mouth.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 16:41

And it's a human telling another human you've got to work with Lily because she takes really good care. She shows up at the signing appointments, she explains the contracts really well, et cetera. What was uh maybe your most challenging, maybe it's right now. What's one of your most challenging transactions that you've had um over the over the few years?

SPEAKER_05 17:03

Um, one of my most challenging transactions was probably uh commercial sale, I would say. I guess there was just more paperwork involved, and then we needed we kept needing to extend the closing date just because this wasn't in yet from uh what was it called? We had to do an inspection from the city because they had uh like fuel tanks at the property and they needed to make sure that none of that leaked.

SPEAKER_06 17:33

Oh, environmental impact? Yes, that's what it was. Yeah, was that recently? Yes, okay, yeah. Commercial takes a little longer because you're sometimes waiting on government officials to get their stuff done.

SPEAKER_05 17:46

Yes, so that takes a little longer, and that was a little more difficult because it was more new to me, and I didn't really study in that area.

SPEAKER_06 17:52

So Okay. So, and have you done many real um commercial or what what would you say is your percentage?

SPEAKER_05 17:58

So that was my second commercial sale.

SPEAKER_06 18:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 18:02

And right now in our church, we've been renting a church for over 20 years.

unknown 18:06

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_05 18:06

And so now our church is looking for our church building to buy. And so that would technically be my third, but I guess I'm kind of getting more into commercial. Well, half and half. I just haven't really studied so much the commercial side that I'm more newer to it.

SPEAKER_06 18:21

So I felt like it was a little more. But there's a lot of agents that have been doing real estate for a long time that never touched commercial. Why doesn't that scare you?

SPEAKER_05 18:29

It doesn't scare me because I honestly I think I enjoy I enjoy commercial.

SPEAKER_06 18:37

Um you don't know. Well, I mean, what I'm observing as we're talking is I see that if you don't know something, that's actually more exciting to you because you can go learn.

SPEAKER_05 18:49

I'm a risk taker. Yes.

SPEAKER_06 18:51

Well, it's not, I wouldn't even say a risk. It's, you know, one of the things that really bothers me is people who know it all. And so they already have an answer for this, they already have that. But curiosity is kind of what changes the world, right? Yeah. So if you say if somebody comes to you and says, Hey, Lily, I want to buy a commercial building or I want to do this, you know, you can say, Well, that's not my expertise. And that may be the case based on your time and ability. But if you stay curious and you say, Well, let me see what I can do to find out, one of the great things is we've got tons of experienced brokers here that you can go and ask, you know, Brian, our designated broker, can help guide you in that. But really, it's all, I mean, I almost want to say it's like a quick search away. But learning is not, it's just a matter of applying your curiosity on a subject matter and then making sure that that if you don't understand it, that you go to the resources that can help you explain it to your clients. But it sounded like it was fairly straightforward, just a few more extra feasibilities.

SPEAKER_05 19:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 19:46

Okay. Well, congratulations.

SPEAKER_05 19:48

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 19:48

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_05 19:49

I yeah, I actually enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_06 19:51

So, um, what year is this for you now in real estate?

SPEAKER_05 19:54

This is the sixth year.

SPEAKER_06 19:55

Sixth year. Okay, year number six. So, somebody just getting started, you gave us some great experience and stuff like that. Um, word of mouth, all of that. Um, what would you tell somebody that maybe in this market where it's a little more challenging, right? Buyers are kind of on the fence. What advice would you give somebody that's maybe struggling in this environment right now?

SPEAKER_05 20:14

The advice I would give is know your contracts, study them so you would be able to explain them well. Know how to structure your offers. So if there's a you know a multiple offer situation, how is this offer gonna stand out? Why would the selling agent or the seller want to choose our offer? Um, learn how to structure the offer and also protect your client's best interest. So if you're writing an offer, how is this gonna appeal to the seller, but still protect my buyer? And I would I would say stay consistent online. So consistency is key. If people see your professionalism, that you're consistent, the referrals will come. It might be slow in the beginning, but if you show your consistency and show up every day, even when business is slow, I feel like that will really help your business.

SPEAKER_06 21:12

I like that. So, how do you do this with four kids?

SPEAKER_05 21:16

Honestly, you just show up when they take naps, you know, it takes a quick second to just post something online. Um, I would say it's doable. It's doable. If I can do it with four under four, agents can do it.

SPEAKER_06 21:31

Let me just rephrase that. She said four under four. Yes. So she's got like probably two in diapers.

SPEAKER_05 21:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 21:39

Yeah, two in diapers. That was a long time ago for me, folks.

SPEAKER_05 21:42

So yeah, but I feel like also if you have help, like my husband and mom help a lot, so they'll sometimes babysit, and I feel like that'll help me kind of like go to a showing and I'm fully there, I'm fully present. I feel like that really helps when. You know, you know, I've had people that have said to me, uh, oh, we use another agent because you have four kids, you're very busy. And I I don't like hearing that because even though I have my four kids, that's not a burden to me. I will fully be there every milestone of the way. I will explain the contracts well. I know the contracts well. So you just really have to prove that you are a good agent.

SPEAKER_06 22:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:25

Why would people want to work with you?

SPEAKER_06 22:27

The funny thing is, is you're really, I mean, it's about being efficient, right? Because essentially, like you said, when they're taking naps, okay, this is time for me to lead generate because I got the kids down, all that. And I mean, you're able to, I mean, I I always took my laptop with me on vacation, but I always found time to shut the laptop down, go be present with my family. So it's not necessarily about having enough time, it's making sure that you're present when you when you have the time. So you're either present with your family or you're present with your clients and not feeling conflicted between the two. And you seem to manage that really well.

SPEAKER_05 23:02

Yeah, I think we're doing a good job.

SPEAKER_06 23:04

Awesome. Okay. Anything else you want to say or share? Oh, I think that's I think that's well, how if there's a buyer listening to this or a seller or of real estate, how would they contact you?

SPEAKER_05 23:14

They would contact me through email or phone number. I'm really easy to reach. I feel like I'm I always have my phone with me.

SPEAKER_06 23:21

So what's your phone number?

SPEAKER_05 23:23

206-6974332.

SPEAKER_06 23:26

Okay, and email address?

SPEAKER_05 23:28

M-E-L. I spell it out. Okay, yeah. Hard to pronounce M-E-L-N-I-C-H Lily at gmail.com.

SPEAKER_06 23:37

Okay. Well, there you go. Um, thank you so much for coming on. That was fun.

SPEAKER_05 23:41

Thanks so much, Dan.