Intro Post

#EntrepreneurOfTheWeek – Post #1

Hi everyone 👋
My name is Shelly Kochal, I’m 41 years old, living in Sde Warburg, Israel.
I’m married to Barad and a mother to Yonatan (15.5) and Yuli (12).

My journey started long before real estate.

At age 20, I went on a post-army trip to Australia and New Zealand.
When the money ran out, I continued with friends to Hawaii to work in cosmetics sales.

Looking back?
That was the best university I could have asked for.

That’s where I learned how to negotiate, how to build resilience, how to truly understand people, and how to work hard—sometimes 12 hours a day or more.
And I made great money while living in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

That’s also where I met Barad Zrien—my husband and my partner in life and business.

At the same time, I began studying law at a university in Hawaii,
and our business started to grow.

We opened a chain of stores, moved to Silicon Valley in California, and later expanded our operations into the Asian market.

In the midst of all this, we entered the real estate world—specifically in Israel.

We bought land and houses, participated in auctions and foreclosure sales, did flips, and kept some properties as income-generating investments.

After quite a few years in the U.S.,
we felt the desire to return to Israel and raise our children here.

We spent a lot of time going back and forth (mostly Barad),
and we were determined to crack the formula:
live in Israel and earn in dollars.

Alongside working between countries and our real estate activity in Israel, we also tried investing in Europe—Barcelona.

At first, Barcelona looked promising. Tenants, income, stability…

But then came the real test.

Tenants who stopped paying and became squatters, an eviction process that took nearly a year, and complex dealings with language barriers, cultural differences, and a slow legal system.

That’s when I truly understood:
the quality of an investment is measured דווקא when there’s a problem—not when everything is running smoothly.

At that point, we made a clear decision:
we’re going back to invest where we know best—the United States.

But this time, we entered from a less conventional angle.

We started by purchasing land through Tax Sale auctions.
We fell in love with it very quickly.

From there, we continued to deepen our knowledge and expand into multiple strategies:
flips, rentals, BRRRR, land deals, and more.

We built a broad portfolio in the DFW (Dallas–Fort Worth), Texas area, with a long-term vision.

Not just “doing deals”—but building real stability.

I believe real estate is much more than an investment.

It’s a way to build security, freedom, and options in life.

Over the coming week, I’m going to share more from my journey.