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The Short Term Show with Joe Prillaman
In this episode of The Short Term Show, Avery speaks with Joe Prillaman about his journey into real estate investing. Starting with a BRRR property in Fayetteville, NC, Joe explains how he transitioned from industrial equipment sales to becoming a real estate investor, utilizing platforms like BiggerPockets to gain knowledge. He discusses the importance of recycling cash, getting creative with financing, and the pivotal role mentorship played in his success.
Avery: Welcome back to the Short Term Show. Today, I have a guest I’m very excited about, Mr. Joe Prillaman. Carolina Beach Joe, welcome to the show!
Joe: Hey Avery, thanks for having me, yeah absolutely, thanks for coming on.
Avery: Can you just tell us a little bit about yourself, your background, how you got into real estate investing, and what your portfolio looks like right now?
Joe: Absolutely. So, I got started investing in June of 2018. I bought my very first BRRR property, which is Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. I bought that in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It was a very classic, smooth deal, and I’ve been doing about two years of research before that. I sold industrial equipment in a previous life, and I had so much windshield time that I really got plugged into a platform called BiggerPockets, where I learned a lot about real estate investing. I absorbed the podcast, grabbed as many books as I could, and pumped myself full of knowledge before hitting the ground running.
Avery: That’s awesome! So, your first property was a BRRR. What made you decide to start there? I know when I was new, I just went for a buy-and-hold, thinking it was the least to deal with. What made you go BRRR right out of the gate?
Joe: It was a lack of capital. I was trying to get into real estate investing with low to no money down. I had to find a way to recycle cash, either through hard money or private money, to create the real estate machine I wanted. At the time, my wife wasn’t interested in house-hacking; that wasn’t what she wanted. We had bought our primary residence thinking, “This is it, we’re staying here.” It was a complete mind shift for us. Taking that leap into another property wasn’t something we were willing to do at first. So, the only way I could figure out how to recycle other people’s cash was by adding value.
Avery: So, you figured it out?
Joe: Yeah, I got to buy foreclosed properties, fix them up, refinance them, and I had a lot of help. BiggerPockets was great; I met people who guided me through the deals and taught me how this all works—how to get creative with financing, and how you can do things people say you can’t. It just worked out beautifully.
Avery: So after your first one, you kept going?
Joe: Yes, we ended up doing five more BRRR properties in Fayetteville. Then, we slowly transitioned into short-term rentals.
Avery: That’s awesome. One thing that stood out is how you had someone to hold your hand through that first deal. I think that’s so important for new investors, because a lot of times, I know I did this, we get caught up in listening to all the podcasts, reading all the books, and trying to copy what others do—but they’ve done hundreds of deals, and new investors can’t always just jump in and do that.