Explore every episode of the podcast The Real Estate Espresso Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vertical Integration Is Back | 30 avr. 2026 | 00:05:15 | |
For the past several decades, the dominant playbook was globalization and specialization. Companies outsourced components to the lowest-cost producer, often halfway around the world. Supply chains became long, complex, and highly optimized for cost. On paper, it made perfect sense. If a supplier could produce a component cheaper and sell it to multiple competitors in the same industry, everyone benefited from economies of scale. But there was a hidden assumption baked into that model. The assumption was that supply chains would always function smoothly. And we now know that assumption was flawed. Over the past several years, we’ve seen disruptions from pandemics, geopolitical tensions, trade disputes, and transportation bottlenecks. What used to be considered low-probability events are now happening with uncomfortable frequency. Supply chains are no longer just an efficiency mechanism. They’ve become a source of risk. And when risk enters the equation, the optimal strategy changes. We’re now seeing companies rethink their dependence on third-party suppliers for critical components. In many cases, they’re bringing production back in-house. That’s vertical integration. Not across the board. Not for every component. But selectively, for the parts of the value chain that are mission-critical. That's changing demand for industrial real estate. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| My December Fed Prediction Came True | 30 avr. 2026 | 00:04:54 | |
Today’s show is sponsored by The Cost Segregation Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Segregation Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, click on the link in the show notes and you’ll be able to connect with them directly, and qualify for a discount because you came from the show. https://costsegregationguys.com/estateespressopodcast/ ------------- On December 10 of last year I published an episode of the podcast that summarized the rules for how the Federal Open Market committee elects their chair. The Federal Reserve Act requires the Fed Chair to be elected in the January meeting for the balance of the year. It has been customary for a Fed chair to resign their position as Fed chair and to relinquish their seat on the FOMC in order to create space for the incoming chair to take their seat on the committee. On December 10, I made it clear that the committee has followed the custom of electing a new chair in January, and then after the resignation of the chair, making way for the new Fed chair to take their seat. While unprecedented, the current Fed chair, Jerome Powell would not be required to resign and it would in fact require a change to the Federal Reserve act in the Congress and the Senate in order to force the Fed chair to resign. I put this forward as a distinct possibility. Well, as fate would have it, today Fed Chair Jerome Powell announced that he would not be stepping down, and that he would only do so when he felt that conditions were right to protect the integrity of board as a whole. Powell is clearly signaling to the President the terms under which he gets to appoint his new Chair. This is a high stakes game of chess. It will continue to make headlines probably for days and weeks to come. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Why Is Energy Being Ignored? | 29 avr. 2026 | 00:07:34 | |
Today, we’re going to talk about something that is not getting nearly the attention it deserves, and that is the economic impact of the war in the Persian Gulf. Sure there is lots being shared in the media. But I think the mainstream media are either dramatizing the war, or downplaying the economic impact. Markets, broadly speaking, are treating this as a contained geopolitical event. Maybe a temporary disruption. Something that will resolve itself in due course. I believe that view is fundamentally flawed. --------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| What Does The Purchase of Remax Mean? | 28 avr. 2026 | 00:06:05 | |
Today’s show is sponsored by The Cost Segregation Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Segregation Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, click on the link in the show notes and you’ll be able to connect with them directly, and qualify for a discount because you came from the show. https://costsegregationguys.com/estateespressopodcast/ -------------- Today, we’re looking at a major headline in the brokerage world, the acquisition of RE/MAX for approximately $880 million, and more importantly, what this means, not just for agents or shareholders, but for residential clients and real estate investors. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Industrial Storage with David Miller | 26 avr. 2026 | 00:11:03 | |
David Miller is based in Northern California where he is a principal at Peninsula Real Estate. He specializes in industrial storage in markets across the US. On today's show we are talking about what market conditions are conducive to industrial storage projects. To connect with David, visit https://www.peninsulare.net/ or a Centum Capital at https://centumcap.com/ ----------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Evolution of Self Storage with Fernando Angelucci | 25 avr. 2026 | 00:19:17 | |
Fernando Angelucci is based in Chicago where he invests nation wide in self storage. On today's show we are talking about the demand drivers in the business and how you read the market. To connect with Fernando visit https://ssse.com/ or you can call him directly at 630-408-8090. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| The Productivity Rocket Ship | 25 avr. 2026 | 00:05:45 | |
On today’s show we are talking about yet another transformative innovation in the world of artificial intelligence. I realize that this is a real estate podcast and not an AI podcast. But any business that builds its business systems around AI will experience transformation. So on today’s show I’m going to showcase two different innovations that have launched in the past week. Spoiler alert, not all of them are worth embracing. The first one is a new product called Claude Design. The idea is that you should be able to provide a description of what you want to create and the AI will generate it. You can seed the process with examples. In one test case, I wanted to create a new building design. The floorplan is based on an existing design with 2BR apartments. I wanted to change the 2BR apartments with a 1BR apartment, but maintain the overall theme of the building. After half a dozen iterations, each one as bad as the one before, I gave up and realized that I would not converge on anything useful anytime soon. Unfortunately I have to give Claude Design a failing grade. I’m sure it will improve, but it’s not close. You will see dozens of YouTube videos talking about how great Claude design is. I can tell you that it is not great yet. This past week, OpenAI introduced the latest release of Codex. This is the OpenAI answer to Claude Code and Claude Cowork. As is so often the case in the tech industry, competitors will often leapfrog each other. The new Codex release from earlier this week is precisely one of those moments. Codex is now capable of interacting with any application on your computer just like a person. Most other AI applications are looking for a machine to machine interface in order to properly create an integrated AI agent flow. But Codex interacts with any application by reading the screen, typing input, and moving the mouse. But it does it in the background. It allows for multiple desktop agents to be working in the background while you are working in the foreground. The new Codex release comes pre-packaged with connection to over 90 native Mac applications as part of the initial release. The depth and quality of work I’m able to get done in those few minutes each morning is truly mind blowing. I now have 3 Codex windows open perpetually on my computer and have up to 3 separate workflows running simultaneously. Now I know what you’re thinking. Victor you’re a senior partner in a real estate development firm. What the heck are you doing with 3 separate agents running in the background? Well, I can tell you that I’m continually conducting research. I’m conducting research for this podcast. But I’m also conducting research for various projects that we have underway. This includes due diligence, and verification of assumptions. I’m testing whether certain new products can meet the building code. The use cases are almost too numerous to mention. So while you’re trying out new tools, be prepared that they might not be ready for prime time. But equally, be prepared to jump on a productivity rocket ship. ----------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| A Weak Investment Thesis | 23 avr. 2026 | 00:05:04 | |
Today’s show is focused on an investment thesis that sounds good on the surface. It comes from a listener question. The idea is that a logistics hub like Houston is a growing market which continues to experience population growth. The need continues for more apartments, for more industrial warehouses, for more commercial, and for more industrial storage. Specifically, the argument was that there is need for more truck parking in Houston. The problem with this thinking is that it is focused purely on the demand side of the equation. I am a student of the law of supply and demand. To me, supply and demand is to be respected with the same reverence as a law of physics, maybe even gravity. If you try and cheat gravity, chances are you will fall and get hurt. Violating the law of supply and demand will have similar consequences. Today we're talking about assessing the existing supply, but more importantly, the hidden supply that could enter the market at any time. It's that hidden supply that is much more difficult to assess. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Austin Is The Canary In The Coal Mine | 23 avr. 2026 | 00:06:17 | |
Today’s show is sponsored by The Cost Segregation Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Segregation Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, click on the link in the show notes and you’ll be able to connect with them directly, and qualify for a discount because you came from the show. https://costsegregationguys.com/estateespressopodcast/ --------------- Austin has become one of the clearest case studies in the country for what happens when supply gets too far ahead of demand. It’s not the only market in that position, but it may be the most visible. For several years, Austin was one of the hottest multifamily markets in America. Population growth was strong. Job growth was strong. Tech expansion was strong. A lot of tech companies were relocating people from the more expensive silicon valley location to Austin where quality of life is better, cost of living is lower. For years, Austin was a poor second cousin to Silicon Valley in the tech industry. For example, if you were at Apple and wanted to have influence, you needed to be in Cupertino. Austin simply didn’t have critical mass. That’s no longer the case. Developers responded exactly the way you would expect. They built, and they built aggressively. From 2020 through 2025, apartment inventory in Austin expanded at one of the fastest rates in the United States. That construction wave was enormous. Tens of thousands of new units hit the market. At the same time, rent growth that had once been spectacular started to reverse. What had been a landlord’s dream turned into a concession-heavy leasing environment. Today, the market is working through the consequences. --------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Did You Know Your Website is Broken? | 21 avr. 2026 | 00:06:19 | |
Here's a question for you. When was the last time you actually checked — really checked — whether your website was working? Not just glanced at it on your phone, but actually verified that every link works, every form submits, every automated response fires the way it's supposed to? If you're like most real estate operators, the honest answer is: not recently. Here's the reality of modern software: nothing is static. I could give you a dozen examples. The tools and platforms we depend on — website builders, CRM integrations, booking systems, payment portals, tenant screening services — all of them are constantly changing underneath us. APIs get deprecated. SSL certificates expire. Third-party services get acquired and sunset. WordPress plugins stop receiving security updates. Payment processors change their webhook format. The hosting environment that worked perfectly last year rolls out a server-side update that silently breaks your contact form. This is where AI agents change the game. Not AI in the theoretical sense — AI in the practical, deploy-it-this-week sense. You can now set up an AI agent that runs a daily verification sweep of your entire digital footprint. Every morning, before you've poured your first cup of coffee, that agent has already visited every page of your website, clicked every link, tested every form, checked your SSL certificate expiry, pinged your integrations, and verified that your automated email sequences fire correctly. If something's broken, you get a notification before your first tenant does. An AI agent doesn't get tired. It doesn't forget to check the maintenance request form because it was a busy Monday. It runs the same checklist, every day, at the same time, with the same thoroughness. --------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| When Staff Have No Place To Live | 20 avr. 2026 | 00:05:57 | |
Today’s show is sponsored by The Cost Segregation Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Segregation Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, click on the link in the show notes and you’ll be able to connect with them directly, and qualify for a discount because you came from the show. https://costsegregationguys.com/estateespressopodcast/ Today we’re talking about the shortage of workforce housing at resorts and near manufacturing plants. Our case study today is the Campus Ryan project at Mont-Tremblant in Quebec—a blueprint for how we can apply similar models in places like Vail, Breckenridge, Aspen, Banff, Whistler and countless others. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Industrial Manufacturing with Drew Wahlgren | 19 avr. 2026 | 00:12:45 | |
Drew Wahlgren is with Mag Capital Partners based in Dallas. His company specializes in sale lease-back transactions for industrial space, primarily in manufacturing. On today's show we are taking about how the business has evolved from there to expand into two new vertical segments while maintaining primary focus on single tenant industrial. To connect with Drew, visit magcp.com or email him directly at drew@magcp.com -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Cost Segregation with Nathan Resnick | 18 avr. 2026 | 00:13:07 | |
Nathan Resnick is based in Park City Utah where he is with the Cost Segregation Guys, the number one cost segregation firm in the US. On today's show we are talking about how cost segregation can be used with bonus depreciation to improve the cash flow of your property significantly. To connect with Nathan you can email him at n@costsegregationguys.com or visit: https://costsegregationguys.com/estateespressopodcast/ ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| The Real Counter Party Risk | 17 avr. 2026 | 00:05:43 | |
Most people think of counterparty risk as a banking concept. Will the other party perform? Will they pay? Will they deliver? But in a supply chain, counterparty risk is much broader. It includes whether your supplier can obtain raw materials, whether their supplier can get feedstock, whether the shipper can secure insurance, whether the vessel will even sail, whether the port will accept cargo, whether a manufacturer can operate with intermittent inputs, and whether the customer at the far end still has the liquidity to take delivery when costs have doubled. A closure in Hormuz does not mean every factory shuts down tomorrow morning. That’s not how these systems work. There is a lag. Cargoes already in transit continue moving. Inventories buffer the shock for a period of time. Companies rely on safety stock, substitute routes, and emergency procurement. For a brief window, the financial markets can tell themselves a reassuring story. If fertilizer inputs are impaired, that impacts agriculture with a delay, but the delay does not remove the problem. It simply means the effect appears later in the form of food shortages or higher food prices. Governments can print money to try and wall paper over the problem. But they can't print food and they can't print oil. --------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Global Data Center Locations | 16 avr. 2026 | 00:07:06 | |
Today’s show is sponsored by The Cost Segregation Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Segregation Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, click on the link in the show notes and you’ll be able to connect with them directly, and qualify for a discount because you came from the show. https://costsegregationguys.com/estateespressopodcast/ -------------- They need reliable power, redundant fiber, cooling systems, physical security, and enough land to support expansion. But today the site selection problem has become much more complicated. It is no longer just an engineering problem. It is also a legal problem, a geopolitical problem, and increasingly, a national security problem. It’s those last elements that we’re going to be talking about today. A number of recently published articles on data sovereignty all point to the same conclusion. Data sovereignty is not simply about where the server sits. It is about who controls the data, which laws can reach it, who holds the encryption keys, who operates the systems, and whether the data can be moved across borders in an emergency without violating local law. In other words, the old real estate mantra of location, location, location has a new cousin in the digital world, jurisdiction, jurisdiction, jurisdiction. Now add physical risk to the equation. Last month, Reuters reported that drone strikes damaged Amazon Web Services facilities in both the UAE and Bahrain. Amazon said the strikes caused structural damage, power disruption, and fire suppression incidents that led to additional water damage. In a separate Reuters report, Amazon described the recovery as prolonged. This was not a cyberattack. It was a physical attack on cloud infrastructure. That changes the conversation. Then there is political opposition. ----------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Prices Have Jumped. Pay Attention! | 15 avr. 2026 | 00:05:26 | |
Today we’re talking about the immediate impact of price escalation on construction projects. Not next quarter. Not next year. Right now. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen a growing list of U.S. building-product manufacturers announce price increases across roofing, insulation, siding, waterproofing, gypsum, and steel-related accessory products. This is not a theoretical inflation story. It’s not an abstract discussion about commodity markets. It’s a boots-on-the-ground problem for anyone with a project in design, in permitting, in tender, or under construction. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Leasing In An Oversupplied Market | 14 avr. 2026 | 00:06:32 | |
Today’s show is sponsored by The Cost Segregation Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Segregation Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, click on the link in the show notes and you’ll be able to connect with them directly, and qualify for a discount because you came from the show. https://costsegregationguys.com/estateespressopodcast/ ------------ Today we’re talking about leasing strategy for new buildings in a market that is over-supplied. This is a topic that matters a great deal right now, because in many markets, especially where there’s been a wave of new Class A deliveries, the challenge is no longer simply getting the building built. The challenge is getting it leased without destroying the economics of the project. When markets become over-supplied, a lot of owners make the same mistake. They become emotionally attached to their pro forma rent. They want to defend the number on the spreadsheet, even when the market has already moved on. In an over-supplied market, the first objective is not to maximize rent. The first objective is to maximize occupancy. That may sound counterintuitive, especially if you’ve just delivered a shiny new asset with premium finishes, nice amenities, and a construction loan that doesn’t care about your excuses. But it’s the truth. A vacant unit is the most expensive unit in the building. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| What Is Data Center Demand? | 13 avr. 2026 | 00:05:59 | |
Today we’re asking a question that sounds simple, but it is actually the wrong question. People ask, how many data centers will be required over the next decade? The research says the better question is, how much compute, power, cooling, and land will be required? Because one 15 megawatt enterprise facility is not the same thing as one 100 megawatt AI campus. Counting buildings without counting power is like counting apartment buildings without counting units. It does not tell you what you need to know. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Pivoting During A Drought with Chad Zdenek | 12 avr. 2026 | 00:11:45 | |
Chad Zdenek is based in Southlake Texas where he is working with PassiveInvesting.com. On today's show we are talking about pivoting during periods of difficult market conditions. To connect with Chad, visit https://www.passiveinvesting.com/ Chad also has an engineering background in space and aviation. He was the host of the show "Inside Mighty Machines" on the Smithsonian Channel. You can check out some of his trailers at https://www.youtube.com/@chadzdenek5252/videos ---------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Helping Land Owners with Max Hansen | 11 avr. 2026 | 00:13:05 | |
Max Hansen is a lawyer and Managing Director at Accruit. He is an industry veteran when it comes to sheltering tax using Section 1031 and Delaware Statutory Trusts. On today's show we are talking about the family farmers and ranchers that are going to be divesting in the coming decade and how to create income passive streams for them while preventing a huge tax bite at retirement. Max can be reached at Accruit at 800-237-1031 or his direct line at 406-660-4206. Accruit at a lot of resources and more contact options at accruit.com --------------
| |||
| How Robo Taxis Will Change Real Estate Design | 10 avr. 2026 | 00:07:33 | |
Today’s show is sponsored by The Cost Segregation Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Segregation Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, click on the link in the show notes and you’ll be able to connect with them directly, and qualify for a discount because you came from the show. https://costsegregationguys.com/estateespressopodcast/ ------------ Today we’re talking about autonomous taxis, also called robo taxis, and how they’re going to revolutionize real estate. When people think about autonomous vehicles, they usually think about transportation. They think about convenience, safety, maybe labor disruption. Think about all of those folks driving for Uber who will be out of work. But from a real estate perspective, the more important question is this: what happens to the built environment when the it makes more sense from a convenience and an economic perspective to call for a robot-taxi instead of owning a car. For the past hundred years, we’ve designed cities, apartment buildings, shopping centers, office properties, and even single-family homes around the assumption that every household needs one or more private vehicles sitting still most of the day. That assumption is about to be challenged. Today, most privately owned cars are parked roughly 95 percent of the time. They are extraordinarily expensive assets with very low utilization. Autonomous taxis flip that model on its head. A shared vehicle can serve many riders in sequence throughout the day. The result is higher utilization per vehicle, fewer idle hours, and a materially lower need for parking at the point of destination. Now, does that mean fewer vehicles on the road? Not necessarily, at least not right away. In fact, in some markets you may still see a similar number of vehicles circulating, especially during peak commuting hours. But even if the number of vehicles on the road doesn’t decline dramatically, the number of parked vehicles absolutely will. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Saving Thousands on Engineering | 09 avr. 2026 | 00:05:56 | |
Today I want to talk about a very practical use of artificial intelligence, from a real world use case. I’m talking about using a well-written AI prompt to eliminate unnecessary engineering cost by finding existing tested assemblies that already solve the problem. This came up recently in the context of a wood framed floor assembly. The plans examiner at the city rejected the proposed assembly as not meeting the code. Now when that happens, you generally have two ways forward. The first is to use a prescribed assembly, something that is already recognized, already tested, already accepted. The second is to have an engineer design the assembly and stamp it. That second path is often perfectly valid, but it can also cost thousands of dollars. Sometimes many thousands. And if the assembly you want already exists in tested form somewhere in the world, then paying to reinvent it is not adding value. It’s just adding cost and time. If a published result exists, an AI tool can often find it in ways that a conventional search tool could not. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Hospitality Held Hostage | 08 avr. 2026 | 00:07:13 | |
Our sponsor is The Cost Segregation Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Segregation Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, click on the link above and you’ll be able to connect with them directly. ----------- Today we’re talking about an issue that at first glance sounds like an energy story, or maybe an airline story, but it is also very much a real estate story. There is a pause in the fighting in Iran. But significant damage to energy markets has already been done. The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is now working its way through the travel economy. Airlines are facing sharply higher jet fuel costs. Some carriers have already warned that if fuel supply problems persist, they may cancel flights. United Airlines has already cancelled long haul flights. Many discount carriers in Asia have cancelled flights. Others are raising baggage fees and other ancillary charges to offset those costs. Reuters reported that Delta and Southwest raised checked baggage fees on April 7, and that United and JetBlue had already moved in that direction. Reuters also reported jet fuel rising from roughly $85 to $90 per barrel in February to about $209 per barrel. Airlines usually operate with about 30% of their cost structure based on fuel. So when fuel prices double, airlines flip from profitability to money losing in a heartbeat. Now, what does that mean for real estate investors? It means that any property whose revenue depends on people getting on an airplane needs to be re-underwritten, at least mentally, for a period of turbulence. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Gain Control Over AI In Your Business | 07 avr. 2026 | 00:05:41 | |
Today I want to talk about artificial intelligence, not from the standpoint of hype, but from the standpoint of using it in your real business. There’s no question AI is powerful. It can summarize documents, draft communications, analyze markets, answer customer questions, and automate tasks that used to consume hours of staff time. But there’s a dangerous mistake I see many businesses making right now. They are trying to use AI to paper over broken processes and disorganized data. That is not a technology strategy. That is an accident waiting to happen. Most companies, including many of the major AI companies, are focused on the visible layer. They’re focused on the prompt, the chatbot, the agent, the interface, the demo. What they are often ignoring is the underlying organization of the data itself. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Why Rates Will Fall | 06 avr. 2026 | 00:06:48 | |
If you want to save a ton in taxes, visit The Cost Segregations Guys and learn how cost segregation can improve your tax situation. -------------- On today’s show, we’re talking about weakness in the labor market, and why the headline unemployment rate is telling a much more optimistic story than what many people are feeling on the ground. Moreover, the surge in energy prices is causing some people to sound the inflation alarm bell which has led to a surge in yields on Treasuries. But this is not telling the whole story and frankly I believe we will see a reversal in interest rates soon. Yes, the Fed has signalled that they intend to keep rates unchanged at the next meeting. But the Fed doesn’t set market rates. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Slow and Steady with John Casmon | 05 avr. 2026 | 00:13:25 | |
John Casmon is based in Cincinnati where he invests in multi-family apartments. On today's show we are talking about how their investment thesis has shifted to meet market conditions. To connect with John, visit https://casmoncapital.com/, check out their podcast at Multifamily Insights on all of the major podcast platforms. Also download their 7 Questions Guide for investing in multi-family apartments. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| California Infill with Jared Jones | 05 avr. 2026 | 00:15:04 | |
Jared Jones is based in Riverside California where he leads Middle Housing Partners. On today's how we are talking about how the zoning rules have changed and what is working in today's environment. To connect with Jared, visit https://middlehousingpartners.com/ or connect with him on LinkedIn. --------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Healthcare Could Drive Your Investment Thesis | 03 avr. 2026 | 00:06:39 | |
On today’s show, we’re talking about a real estate thesis that I believe deserves a lot more attention, and that is investing within a radius of major healthcare institutions. When I say healthcare institutions, I’m talking about hospitals, regional medical centers, specialty clinics, research hospitals, cancer treatment centers, rehabilitation campuses, and large outpatient networks. These are not simply buildings where doctors work. They are economic engines. They create employment, they attract patients, they generate supporting businesses, and they create demand for housing. Now, as real estate investors, we need to remember a very simple principle. People need a place to live close to where they work. Employment and housing demand are directly connected. If you can identify sectors of the economy that are growing, resilient, and difficult to automate, and then match your real estate strategy to those sectors, you’ve got the foundation for a very solid investment thesis. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Not Breaking News - Social Security Is Insolvent | 02 avr. 2026 | 00:05:14 | |
On March 25, 2026, the Senate Budget Committee held a hearing called, “Social Security: A Discussion on the Facts and the Path Forward.” According to the testimony presented to the committee, the combined Social Security trust funds are projected to be depleted in 2034, and the retirement fund itself is projected to be depleted in 2033. At that point, absent changes in law, scheduled benefits would face an automatic reduction. That's 7 to 8 years away. Everyone in that room understands the math. It's is not a mystery. This is not an ideological debate about whether arithmetic is real. The testimony was very direct. Lawmakers will need to increase program income by about one-third, lower scheduled benefits by about one-fourth, or adopt some combination of the two. Those are not my numbers. Those are the numbers presented in the hearing. So why is the largest budget line item in government spending getting almost zero news coverage? In the meantime, the news is covering how the B52 is still flying. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| BOM - The EOS Life by Gino Wickman | 01 avr. 2026 | 00:06:21 | |
We have a new sponsor on the show. The Cost Segregation Guys are the leading service provider in the US and they have helped tens of thousands of owners improve the tax efficiency of their assets. To learn more, visit The Cost Segregation Guys. ------------ The EOS Life by Gino Wickman asks a simple question: What would your life look like if your business actually served your life, instead of consuming it? Wickman frames that ideal around five conditions:
That is the central promise of the book. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| What Can AI Help You Stop Doing? | 31 mars 2026 | 00:06:51 | |
On today’s show, we’re talking about the flurry of new capabilities being released in Claude, and more specifically, how these new tools can take real work off your plate as a real estate investor. There’s a big difference between a technology that is interesting and a technology that is useful. For a long time, artificial intelligence sat in that interesting category. It could summarize an article, write a paragraph, maybe help brainstorm a marketing idea. But that’s not where the real leverage is. The real leverage comes when the technology stops being a novelty and starts removing actual labor from your business. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| The Deflationary Economy | 30 mars 2026 | 00:05:58 | |
Today we’re talking about the deflationary impact of an oil shock. Now that might sound counterintuitive at first. After all, if oil prices spike, and if shortages appear in oil, aluminum, fertilizer, natural gas, and other key industrial inputs, most people’s first instinct is to call that inflationary. And at the consumer level, it certainly feels inflationary. You see it at the pump. You see it in groceries. You see it in utility bills. You see it in transportation and construction costs. But that’s only the first-order effect. The deeper question is this: what does a commodity shock do to the broader economy? History gives us a fairly consistent answer. Oil shocks are not ultimately expansionary. They are contractionary. They are not the fuel for growth. They are the tax that crushes growth. In the 1970’s we called it stagflation. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Distressed Debt with Chris Seveney | 29 mars 2026 | 00:12:57 | |
Chris Seveney is based in Northern Virginia. He invests in distressed residential debt across the US. But not everywhere. There are some jurisdictions that heavily favor the borrower and make it difficult for a lender to protect their rights. To connect with Chris, visit 7einvestments.com ------------- *Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Deep Due Diligence with Shane Pogue | 28 mars 2026 | 00:11:26 | |
Shane Pogue is based in Dallas Texas where he uses his investigative skills to help investors with due diligence. To connect with Shane, he can be found on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-pogue-6b900a11a/ | |||
| AMA - Expensive Connection Fees | 27 mars 2026 | 00:05:57 | |
Today is another AMA episode, (Ask Me Anything). Our question comes from Tracy in Washington State who writes: I’m working on a 144-unit apartment project in an older jurisdiction where the city is charging about $7,000 per unit for water and sewer—so roughly a $1M fee. At the same time, we’re bringing the main to the site, installing all laterals, and handling all on-site infrastructure. Based on public records, the sewer system is operating at around 50% capacity, and the fees from this one project would represent a large portion of their annual water improvement budget. So it’s hard to see how the fee is tied to actual impact versus funding broader system upgrades. On top of that, they’re requiring roughly 1,000 SF of open space per unit plus additional private open space. This equates out to over 3A on a 6A site, obviously this significantly impacts density and overall feasibility. I have built in 5 different jurisdictions near by and they all have different requirements compared to this project. but similar requirements to each other: Water/sewer would be approx $42K and the open space requirement 200-300 sf per unit. I feel that my project is right in line with the City goals stated in the comprehensive plan, but the development requirements would prevent almost any multi-family project from getting built. In your experience, how do you actually get a city to move on issues like this? Push for a development agreement, challenge the fee structure and nexus, or leaning into the economic impact and negotiate ----------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Difficult Office Conversions | 26 mars 2026 | 00:05:35 | |
On today's show we are analyzing an office to residential conversion project in Washington DC that was reported in the Wall Street Journal. The developer bought it at a great price of $25.53 per square foot, far below replacement cost. But the geometry of the building is not ideal. The usable area is far below the total unless major modifications are made to the building's interior. The biggest question is whether the market will realistically absorb a large number of units in that location, given the lack of community amenities like schools, groceries, health care. It's in the tourist and business core of Washington DC. ---------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| What Does Cape Coral Teach Us? | 25 mars 2026 | 00:06:11 | |
We have a new sponsor on the Real Estate Espresso podcast. If you’ve been listening to the show for a while, you’ll know that we have rarely had any sponsored content at all. That’s intentional. We’ve had plenty of offers to sponsor the show. Our sponsor is The Cost Seg Guys. If you own investment real estate and haven’t looked seriously at cost segregation, you could be leaving significant tax savings on the table. The Cost Seg Guys help investors accelerate depreciation, improve near-term cash flow, and make more efficient use of capital, all without changing the underlying asset. In a business where preserving cash matters, that’s worth paying attention to. If you’re interested in learning more, send an email to podcast@victorjm.com and put Cost Seg in the title and see whether your property qualifies. I can tell you from first hand experience, that cost segregation can be a low cost high value exercise. Send an email to podcast@victorjm.com and put Cost Seg in the title. ------------ Today we’re taking a hard look at the current state of real estate inventory in Cape Coral, Florida, and more importantly, what those numbers actually mean for investors. We looked at Cape Coral specifically last year as a bell-weather for markets across the sunbelt. At the time, there was a huge spike in inventory. It’s time for an update. Because when people hear that inventory is falling, the natural instinct is to think the market is tightening and prices are about to run. That is not always true. Sometimes falling inventory means homes are selling. Sometimes it means sellers are simply giving up and pulling properties off the market. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| The Lasting Impact of the Persian Gulf War | 24 mars 2026 | 00:06:00 | |
On today’s show, we’re talking about the lasting impact of war in the Persian Gulf on oil prices, and more importantly, the cascading effects on real estate here in the United States. When conflict broke out in the Persian Gulf, the first reaction in financial markets was almost automatic. Traders bid up the price of oil. That response is understandable. A large portion of the world’s seaborne crude passes through the Strait of Hormuz, and any threat to supply got reflected in price almost instantly. But here’s where we need to separate headlines from economic reality. A spike in oil prices does not affect every form of energy equally. In the United States, natural gas is largely a domestic market. It has its own supply dynamics, its own pipeline network, and its own storage system. So even if crude oil jumps dramatically because of geopolitical tensions, natural gas in the U.S. may hardly move. The US exports about 20% of its natural gas production. That percentage is limited by the capacity of the existing LNG plants. When all the LNG plants under construction are completed, the percentage of US production available for export might increase to 30 and maybe eventually 40%. But that is years and possibly decades away. So where will we actually see the impact? We’ll see it first in transportation. Diesel prices matter enormously. Diesel is the fuel of the real economy. It moves construction materials, food, appliances, furniture, HVAC equipment, steel, lumber, concrete additives, and labor crews. If diesel rises meaningfully, the cost of moving goods rises with it. That affects construction sites, distributors, warehouse operators, and every supplier feeding construction. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| The Corner Pharmacy Is Gone | 23 mars 2026 | 00:05:44 | |
If you've driven through any American town or suburb lately, chances are you've noticed a vacant Walgreens. Or a shuttered CVS. Or a boarded-up Rite Aid. These aren't isolated closures. This is a structural, sector-wide contraction that is reshaping the retail landscape in ways we haven't seen before. Here's the scale of what's happened. Walgreens has closed 1,200 stores over the past three years. CVS has shuttered more than 1,170 locations since 2022. And Rite Aid — a 63-year-old chain that once operated nearly 2,400 stores — went through bankruptcy twice and closed its last location in late 2025. It's gone. Entirely. In total, roughly 7,000 pharmacies across the country have closed since 2022. One in three pharmacies that existed in 2010 no longer exists today. Nearly 50 million Americans now live in what researchers are calling a pharmacy desert. So what does the industry say to do with them? --------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Debt Free Industrial with Joel Friedland | 22 mars 2026 | 00:11:48 | |
Joel Friedland is based in Chicago where he has a sizeable portfolio of industrial properties, virtually all of them are debt free. This is a choice, not an outcome. Today's conversation contains several counter-intuitive revelations. To connect with Joel visit https://www.britproperties.com/ ----------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Important Tax Deadlines with Joel Landon | 22 mars 2026 | 00:17:01 | |
Joel Landon is based in Salt Lake City and he is with Heritage IRA. On today's show we are talking about the opportunity to reduce your 2025 tax obligation by taking action before April 15. Joel walks us through some of the types of opportunities that still exist to turn back the clock to 2025 and still influence the outcome. To connect with Joel and to learn more, visit heritageira.com ---------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Who Benefits From The Persian Gulf War? | 20 mars 2026 | 00:04:37 | |
Today we’re talking about the war in the Persian Gulf, and why a market like Lake Charles, Louisiana could be a real beneficiary, even if the war were to end today. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important energy chokepoints in the world. A meaningful share of global oil and gas moves through that corridor. When conflict disrupts flows through that region, the world starts looking for stable, dependable alternatives. The war is also widening the pricing gap between U.S. natural gas and gas in Europe and Asia. Scott makes the point very clearly. If you’re a chemical manufacturer deciding where to build, and gas is $14 in Germany but $3 or $4 in Louisiana or Texas, that’s not a hard decision. That makes Louisiana more attractive not only for LNG, but for petrochemical and energy-intensive manufacturing investment as well. Louisiana is already a major energy state, and several LNG projects in Calcasieu Parish have either advanced or received major commitments recently, including Woodside’s Louisiana LNG project in 2025, while other Louisiana-area projects have also moved ahead. Just last week, Venture Global announced final investment decision for its CP2 project which is an $8.5B expansion of its LNG plant located south of Lake Charles on the Gulf coast. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Two Minutes of Due Diligence | 19 mars 2026 | 00:04:45 | |
On today show, we are talking about performing even the most basic of due diligence when it comes to potential suppliers, customers, tenants, lenders, brokers. It is sad to say, but there are large ecosystems of fraudulent players out there. Due diligence is both an art and a science. In fact, I have an upcoming episode where I interview a specialist in due diligence. On that show, we will dive into some of the more sophisticated techniques. But on today’s show, we are focussing on even the most simple forms of due diligence that are so easy to perform, and quite frankly expose those individuals with a questionable history. ---------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| When Is Regulation Confiscation? | 18 mars 2026 | 00:06:00 | |
Today we're looking at New York City, and specifically at the combined impact of two policies associated with Mayor Mamdani's housing agenda, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments and a proposed 9.5% increase in property taxes. Now separately, each of these policies is a political choice. Together, they become something more serious. They become a stress test of whether private ownership still means private ownership, or whether ownership has been reduced to a set of obligations without the corresponding rights. This is not just an economic question. It is also a constitutional one. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| My AI Agent Hacked A Website | 17 mars 2026 | 00:05:53 | |
As part of my ongoing research for the podcast, I’ve been using AI to help streamline information gathering. That, in itself, is not too controversial. If you’re tracking multiple markets, multiple asset classes, and multiple sources of institutional research, there’s nothing unreasonable about wanting a faster way to collect reports, summarize themes, and identify what’s changed. I installed an autonomous AI agent on my computer. I asked the agent to locate and download any new research reports from the major brokerages, CBRE, JLL, Marcus & Millichap, Colliers, and others. In my mind, that was a simple productivity task. Go find the latest market reports, download them, organize them, and save me the repetitive work. I asked it to perform this task every Sunday morning so that I would have a fresh download of reports to choose from each week. Some of the websites accepted normal interaction. Some did not. A number of them rejected queries that appeared to come from automated sources. In some cases, even with valid login credentials, the websites still resisted the activity. And this is where the experience changed. The agent became more persistent than I was comfortable with. It interpreted the blocked access not as a signal to stop, but as a problem to solve. It began trying alternate paths to achieve the objective. I didn't compromise the website and I didn't get access to files that I could not otherwise get through a browser interface. I’m not going to get into methods, because that’s not the point, and frankly that’s where the ethical and legal lines become very important. But in that moment, I realized something profound. Without intending to, I had placed myself in the role of someone effectively attempting to circumvent the security controls of a brokerage website. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Asking Better Strategic Questions | 16 mars 2026 | 00:04:54 | |
Today, I want to talk about the right questions to be asking when it comes to adopting AI in your business. There’s a lot of noise around AI right now. Most of the conversation is centered on fear. People are asking whether AI will replace jobs, reduce headcount, or make certain roles obsolete. Those questions may be understandable, but they’re not the most useful strategic questions. In many cases, they’re the wrong questions. If the only thing you ask is, “How many fewer people do we need?”, you’re already thinking too small. That’s a cost-cutting mindset. It assumes the opportunity is limited to doing the same work with fewer resources. But the better question is, “What can we do now that was previously impossible?” That’s the real opportunity. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Master Planned Communities with Tom Staub | 16 mars 2026 | 00:12:22 | |
Tom Staub is based in Austin Texas where he develops master planned communities through central and south-east Texas. On today's show we are talking about the attraction and challenges of land development. To connect with Tom, visit https://redoakvc.com/ ----------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Looking Into The Future with Robby Butler | 15 mars 2026 | 00:17:50 | |
Robby Butler is Managing Director at Y Street Capital. He's based in St. Louis plays a key role in our company. On today's show we are talking about how real estate trends are affecting long term strategies of investing. To connect with Robby , visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/robby-butler/ or at https://ystreetcapital.com --------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Stagflation Will Be Back | 13 mars 2026 | 00:06:12 | |
On today’s show we are talking about a parallel between present day circumstances and 1973. The mid 1970’s were characterized by the simultaneous surge in inflation and economic contraction. These were events that were up until that point considered to be mutually exclusive. The embargo didn't just cause a temporary blip; it changed the structural behavior of the U.S. economy. Even after the embargo ended in 1974, inflation expectations remained high. As prices rose, workers demanded higher wages to keep up. Employers then raised prices again to cover the higher wages, creating a self-reinforcing loop of inflation. If the oil supply remains constricted for more than a few weeks, I predict that stagflation will be upon us. It’s a remake of the same movie with different actors. | |||
| How Many More Data Centers Do We Need? | 12 mars 2026 | 00:05:26 | |
When I first started my training in electrical engineering I was using a large mainframe computer at the university. Most other students had to book time in one of the terminal rooms to gain access to the computer. They were limited to 60 minutes at a time. I purchased my own terminal which I had in my bedroom and got a second phone line and I had unlimited access to the computer. I also purchased one of the first personal computers. It had a tiny screen and it broke the link that tied me to the university mainframe. Fast forward to today and we all know how the distributed nature of computing has pushed the majority of processing into the palm of your hand. That doesn’t mean data centers have disappeared. Today those traditional computing data centres provide a lot of the backbone that cannot practically processed on a personal device. If you look at the state of AI today, the vast majority of the computing is being done in a data center. I believe the Apple strategy is worth further examination because if Apple is correct, the demand for data centres will be reduced, but not eliminated. ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||