How to Build a $600K/Year Rental Property Portfolio with NONE of Your Own Cash! with Josiah Smelser
The BetterLife Podcast: Wealth | Real Estate Investing | Life
Brandon Turner and Cam Cathcart
4.8 • 767 Ratings
🗓️ 30 July 2024
⏱️ 87 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Josiah Smelser is a real estate investor and appraiser who built a $17 million portfolio from scratch, without using any of his own capital.
In this episode, Josiah shares his incredible journey from growing up in a small town in Alabama, to living in Tanzania at the age of 12, where he had experiences that shaped his entrepreneurial mindset and real estate investing success. He reveals how he went from corporate accounting, working 90 hours a week, to starting his own appraisal business at 21, later amassing an impressive real estate portfolio without investing a dime.
Josiah also talks about:
- How he leveraged his appraisal skills to recognize hidden value in real estate
- The BRRRR strategy that helped him build a $17M real estate portfolio
- Transitioning from $50K to $600K/year through vacation rentals
- The true meaning of wealth (Being grateful for what you have)
- Why he took a break from social media
Books Mentioned:
- Bothy Tales by John D Burns
- The Creative Act by Rick Rubin
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Connect with Josiah:
Book: https://a.co/d/hkXHdxw
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/josiahsmelser/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JosiahSmelser
Connect with Brandon:
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beardybrandon
💻 BetterLife Tribe, Brandon’s Real Estate Investing Mastermind: https://abetterlife.com/
📸 BetterLife Tribe’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterlife/
💻 OpenDoor Capital, Brandon’s Real Estate Investing Company: https://odcfund.com/
📸 OpenDoor Capital’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/opendoorcapital/
Connect with Cam:
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cam.cathcart/
💻 Deal Flow Real Estate, Cam’s Real Estate Investing Mastermind: http://dealflowrealestate.com/
💻 Revel City HomeBuyers, Cam’s Real Estate Investing Company: https://revelcityhomebuyers.com/
📸 Revel City HomeBuyers’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revelcityhomebuyers/
Josiah’s charitable cause (100% of ad revenue goes here):
- Christian Services Foundation primarily funds Tanzania mission works, schools, substance abuse recovery, and scholarship funds.
Show Sponsor:
- BetterLife Tribe - A Community for Real Estate Investors Seeking Financial Freedom
Interested in building wealth without losing your soul? Join the BetterLife Tribe here: https://join.abetterlife.com/tribe
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | And people always ask, like, should I go into appraisal? |
| 0:04.5 | I'm like, it's not really the job of being an appraiser that's actually attractive. |
| 0:09.0 | It's the skill set of learning how to recognize value. |
| 0:12.8 | Because if you can recognize value in something, you know that deal AJ Osborne did where he bought |
| 0:16.8 | that Kmart and converted that made like 20 million bucks or 25 million or something. |
| 0:25.6 | That is, he recognized value there that other people didn't see. And as an appraiser, |
| 0:29.2 | you can learn how to do that. So that got me into the entrepreneurship game. |
| 0:36.4 | Welcome to the Better Life podcast where we talk about real estate investing, building wealth, |
| 0:37.7 | and all in all living a better life. My name is Brandon Turner and I've spent my life investing in real estate to achieve |
| 0:42.5 | financial freedom. And alongside my co-host, Mr. Cam Cathcart, we want to help you do the same. |
| 0:49.4 | On this show, you're going to hear from world-class guests who have been handpicked to help you level up your |
| 0:56.5 | investing, your leadership, your goals, your habits, and more to become the very best version of |
| 1:03.7 | yourself. So, join us as we explore the habits, the actions, the beliefs that it takes to build |
| 1:09.7 | wealth through real estate investing without losing your soul. |
| 1:30.3 | Cam Cathcartes, welcome to the show again. |
| 1:32.0 | Dude, it was a blast being with you. |
| 1:34.4 | Dude, I love, this show was phenomenal today. |
| 1:39.4 | Josiah Smelzer is our guest, and he is a rock star real estate investor. |
| 1:41.0 | We talked about a ton of cool things today. |
| 1:42.7 | What was your highlight for you? Oh, learning about how I am not investing |
| 1:46.6 | wisely. Not necessarily, but it was a great moment. Yeah, I loved it. We tore apart your portfolio and |
| 1:52.7 | your cash flow. Yes. And we talked about how you could make a million dollars a year and you're only |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Brandon Turner and Cam Cathcart, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Brandon Turner and Cam Cathcart and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.