Joe Calloway’s passion for Allentown is palpable—he loves the neighborhood and wants you to as well. (Join his huge parking lot party this week to get a feel for the place.)  Raised by a single parent in a two-bedroom, low-income apartment in Mt. Oliver, Joe used his military reenlistment bonus to buy his first property in 2004. Since forming RE360 in 2009, the company’s rental portfolio has expanded to 270 units.

Monday, October 17

Monday morning starts with the drive in from Wexford to the RE360 headquarters in Allentown. I arrive in Allentown at 7 a.m. for coffee at Black Forge Coffee House. I start most days off here because it gives me time to think and plan before going into the office and because Black Forge is an amazing coffee shop.

Every Monday at 9:30 a.m. is the RE360 production meeting where we discuss new properties we are buying, leasing and selling, and also go over any staff issues. This is followed by our construction meeting highlighting real estate construction and rehab projects we’re working on, and then job site walkthroughs in Allentown.

Joe at a pop-up event in Allentown to support local businesses and highlight available storefronts for rent.
Joe at a pop-up event in Allentown to support local businesses and highlight available storefronts for rent.

I will go to lunch with my CFO Mike Roth. We take our lunch selection very seriously so we’ll choose Doce Taqueria for their daily special—which is always different and always amazing.

The rest of the day is consumed by answering questions and moving the ball forward with the 30-person team at RE360.

At 4:30 p.m. I depart to head home. Part of what I love about entrepreneurship is the ability to set my own schedule and have ample time to spend with my family. Being able to have family and business coexist makes for a much more fulfilling life.

Tuesday, October 18

Today we are shooting episodes of our Ask Prof Joey C video series, which is part of out real estate education and training platform called REInvestorProfessor. Benjamin Prisbylla, director of REIP and an amazing photographer/videographer/business person, and I head out to the first location to shoot the first of three videos. We usually pick the location for the shoot the day of; this one will probably take place in one of the storefronts we own along the Warrington Avenue corridor between Arlington and Beltzhoover Avenues. Today we are interviewing Max Beier of Beier Law to discuss real estate law and the legal pitfalls of investing.

My afternoon will be filled with meetings where I will be pitching the new real estate brokerage we started called The 360 Group. I am very excited about this venture because we took some of my favorite real estate and business professionals and put them under one roof to offer the best client experience when selling or buying their home.

Tonight we have a client who is selling a high-end home in the north suburbs. Brian Kirchner, one of The 360 Group’s sales pros, and I will meet with them and get the deal closed.

Wednesday, October 19

Today we have a refinancing closing on a package of properties scattered throughout Arlington, Mt. Washington and Allentown with S&T bank. After that, CFO Mike Roth and I will tour a 12-property package and potentially submit an offer for it.

After that, we’ll hit our in-house gym for an intense hourlong workout. In the afternoon, we have a financial meeting to discuss our year-end projections and start our planning, projects and goals for next year.

For the last two hours of the day, we will bring in our intern Tysere. He’s part of The 180 Project and comes into the office to clean for an hour and then to do his homework, study and watch Warren Buffet videos—all of which he is paid for. The 180 Project focuses on showing inner-city youth the opportunities that are available to them through hard work and determination by exposing them to professions, neighborhoods and experiences that may not otherwise be available.

Joe with attendees of his real estate training event.
Joe with attendees of his real estate training event.

Thursday, October 20

Today starts out early! Currently, construction work is causing the T to detour through Allentown (there is no normal service that runs here). So along the detour, we’re throwing a huge party in one of our parking lots to raise awareness for the great businesses in Allentown, and try to get the T to start offering regular service through the neighborhood! We’ll have mimosas and hot cider in a tailgate-like atmosphere promoting getting the T turned back on with stops in Allentown.

The party will take place in the parking lot at 831 East Warrington Avenue from 7 to 8 a.m. All are welcome to attend to help RE360 spread the love for Allentown!

This evening I’ll fly out to the Inc. 5000 awards ceremony and black-tie gala in San Antonio to celebrate being on their list of the fastest growing privately held companies in America.

Friday, October 21

Alla Famiglia
The T detours past Alla Famiglia. Photo: Brian Conway.

I will fly back early Friday morning to stop in and check on the troops at the office. After that, we’ll have a cookout for the entire team, which we do twice a month. We will go over the weekend work plan and what leasing prospects look like over the weekend and then call it a day.

Saturday, October 22

Family time and celebration: it’s my anniversary and although we canceled big plans to go out of town we will spend the day together relaxing, shopping and going out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Alla Famiglia.

Sunday

Church, family time and getting ready to do it all again . . .

See who else is NEXT Up here.

Jennifer has worked at the Mattress Factory, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Dahesh Museum of Art and is co-author of Pittsburgh Signs Project: 250 Signs of Western Pennsylvania. She also is co-coordinator of Handmade Arcade. Musically, she is in a band called The Garment District and is a founding member of Brooklyn's The Ladybug Transistor.