Explore every episode of the podcast The Real Estate Espresso Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vertical Integration Is Back | 30 Apr 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 Apr 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:** | |||
| When Staff Have No Place To Live | 20 Apr 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:** | |||
| Davos Economist's Forecasts | 20 Jan 2026 | 00:06:25 | |
Every year at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, a panel of economists gives their economic forecast for the upcoming year. This was no exception. On today's show we're summarizing the results of those panel discussions. -------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| What Can Government Do? | 28 Jul 2023 | 00:05:54 | |
On today’s show we are taking a snapshot look at how one state is trying to address housing affordability. Home pricing follows the laws of supply and demand. Sellers put their home on the market and buyers place an offer. That price might be low than asking price, higher than asking price, or at the asking price. It’s a full contact negotiation. There is nothing compelling a buyer to pay a particular price. If the buyer and seller can’t come to terms, then no deal gets done. This is the classic process of price discovery. Some jurisdictions have been addressing affordability by applying downward pressure on landlords and developers. Those greedy landlords are to blame for the lack of affordability. I’m thinking of places like California that have imposed state level and even municipal level price controls on rental housing. The effect of these measures is to discourage landlords from entering the market. The net result is fewer landlords, fewer rental properties and therefore higher rental rates. The state of Utah on the other hand has been growing rapidly and has experienced net migration growth for 31 out of the last 32 years. Utah also has the highest birth rate in the nation and is one of a very states that is growing organically. The state has also taken a very enlightened approach to encouraging new product to enter the market. The first step to encouraging growth is to remove the bureaucratic obstacles to growth. The legislature has implemented 10 initiatives aimed at reducing bureaucracy and encouraging development. ---------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| The Fed Rate Increase | 27 Jul 2023 | 00:05:44 | |
On today’s show we are taking a look at interest rates. Yesterday the Federal Reserve increased the Federal Funds rate to a range between 5.25%-5.5%. This clearly sets the stage for short term interest rates to increase. The yield on the 10 year treasury decreased from 3.91% to 3.86% following the Fed announcement. The yield on the 30 day Tbill is currently 5.46%. This is matching the Fed funds rate. Back in October of 2022 the 30 day T-Bill yield was ranging between 2.85% and 3.75% as the Fed was aggressively increasing rates during that period. The yield on the 10 year Treasury at that time was 4.25%. The interest rate that most investor care about is linked to the yield on the 10 year Treasury. Today we have an interest rate inversion where the market is clearly signalling to the Fed that they don’t believe them. The real question is what’s next? We are seeing deflationary prices. We have a globally synchronized economic cycle. The Fed says it is raising rates, and the European Central Bank says it is raising rates. But as we have discussed on this show before, we have not seen a dramatic rise in bond rates over the past 8-9 months. Since most long term lending is indexed to the yield on the 10-year or the 30 year bond, these numbers have hardly moved since October. If you listen to the rhetoric from the Fed Chairman, you would think they have tremendous influence over the market. The market sets the rates, not the Fed Open Market Committee. In Europe, we are seeing demand for credit falling. This is not being driven by rate increases. The reason we know that is that rates have hardly increased. So that cannot be the reason. Businesses are not going to stop borrowing money for a couple of percentage points if they have things to do that will drive business growth. We went from 0% to 2% in Europe. That’s not enough to choke off business activity. There must be another explanation. These are deflation and recessionary markers that are consistent with an economic cycle. Rates rise when there is a competition for money. Rates fall when there is a lack of demand for money. When we talk about money markets, this is an accurate term in the true sense of the word “market”. Just like the price of tomatoes or gold or oil, if demand goes up and exceeds supply, the price goes up. If demand falls, then prices fall. It’s the same thing with money. If demand for money goes up, then interest rates rise. Regardless what the Fed says about rates, we see supply and demand forces are dominating the cost of money over the longer term. | |||
| Is AI Useful Or to Be Feared? | 27 Jul 2023 | 00:05:25 | |
On today’s show we are not talking about real estate, but instead about a major shift that is taking place in society. We have an unstated assumption in our world that more is better. We want more money, a bigger house, a faster car, a bigger boat. As investors we want more units, more mobile home parks, a higher rate of return, a longer vacation. Marketers want more content, more more more. We are literally carpet bombing people with advertising. To what end? That is the same impetus that drove fossil fuel extraction. It is the same impetus that drove the building of entire cities in China that remain empty with no inhabitants. It is the same impetus that created the Netflix library with more streaming content than you could ever watch in your lifetime. We are mechanizing art. We won’t have the time to absorb it all. We are going to need AI to summarize the crap created by AI for us. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Housing Is A Right? | 25 Jul 2023 | 00:06:48 | |
Tenants can hardly be blamed for being confused. Many have never owned a home and they have no idea what it costs to own and maintain a property. With the rise in interest rates, home affordability has become even more expensive. Inflation has affected many of the maintenance and repair costs. Air conditioners have gone up between 15%-25% in the past year. If your air conditioner fails, you will feel the pinch. That means your replacement budget just took a substantial hit as well. ----------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Demand Versus Utilization | 24 Jul 2023 | 00:05:21 | |
On today’s show we are looking at a fundamental economic concept, called the law of supply and demand. I have been a huge believer in the law of supply and demand as one of those fundamentals that must be respected. I treat it like a law of physics similar to gravity.You can try to bend the laws of physics, but gravity will usually win that battle. Suppliers, often struggle with assessing demand, simply based on customer orders. One of the largest contributors to that confusion is the buffering of demand and supply chain inventories. The larger the buffer, the larger, the potential for confusion. Over the past several decades, businesses all over the world, have aimed to reduce inventories, in order to reduce the cost of carrying that inventory. it takes a lot of working capital to carry inventory on a large scale. The law of supply and demand is fundamentally rooted in the distinction between demand and utilization. I am making the distinction between demand and utilization. They are different. | |||
| Short Term Rentals with Shawn Moore | 23 Jul 2023 | 00:13:21 | |
Shawn Moore is based in Park City Utah where he specializes in short term rentals. On today's show we are talking about the state of the short term rental market and how it is changing and "growing up". To learn more or to connect with Shawn, visit https://vodyssey.com -------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Sara Martin | 22 Jul 2023 | 00:13:40 | |
Sara Martin is an architect and project manager with HED specializing in design of data centers for high capacity computing installations. On today's show we are talking about the data center industry and the characteristics of a modern data center. To learn more you can visit hed.design or connect with Sara directly on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-martin-7b61b546/ ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Why We Don't Have Hyperinflation (yet) | 21 Jul 2023 | 00:05:30 | |
On today’s show, we are looking at different types of money printing to understand the impact that money supply has on consumer price inflation. Have you wondered why we don’t have hyperinflation with the tens of trillions of dollars that are loaned into existence through the banking system? There is one school of thought that says all forms of inflation are rooted in debasement of the currency. That theory says that inflation is a monetary phenomenon that is the result of inflation of the money supply. The price increase we see is a symptom of the inflation and not the inflation per se. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| AMA - Minimum Underwriting Standards | 20 Jul 2023 | 00:05:23 | |
Today’s show is another AMA episode (Ask Me Anything) Allan asks: I have been listening to your show for about two years now and love the depth and variety of what you share. I’m amazed at how much you can pack into just a few minutes. My question is, what are your minimum deal standards when you consider a new development deal? I’m finding that the numbers are more difficult to make work in the current environment with the rise in interest rates? Have you altered your standards to make projects work? ---------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Intensification is Eco Friendly | 19 Jul 2023 | 00:05:41 | |
On today’s show we are talking about how maturing cities handle growth and development. There are two costs associated with growth. There is the initial cost, and then there is the lifecycle cost. Buildings and neighbourhoods go through cycles of development, stagnation, decline and renewal. Cities therefore go through cycles as well. When a city is growing it costs money to build roads and schools and infrastructure like water treatment and sewage treatment. These costs are initial costs that are often paid for by developers that are responsible for the growth. For the first number of years, that new infrastructure is very low maintenance. It’s new and pristine and the cost of maintaining it is effectively zero. But eventually, those roads will need to be repaved, and the sidewalks repaired. Landscaping will need a refresh. The schools that were new and filled to capacity will eventually be under-utilized as families move out of those mature neighborhoods. The cost of maintaining the roads and the schools remains constant over time. It’s much cheaper to re-use existing infrastructure through the process of urban renewal instead of letting major regions of the city decay into an urban wasteland. Intensification is the word that best encapsulates the eco-friendly aspect of urban renewal. The problem with infill projects is that they’re small. They’re too small for large scale home builders. You can’t mobilize an entire framing crew to move from one property to the next in an infill setting. There is simply not enough work to make the process efficient. Just like an assembly line is more efficient at making cars than building them one at a time, a residential subdivision is the assembly line equivalent when it comes to home building. But we’re trading one form of efficiency for another. Efficiency for the builders is coming at the expense of efficiency for the city. The life cycle cost for the cities is actually more important. Intensification in cities is environmentally friendlier than gobbling up more agricultural land and allowing cities to expand outward meanwhile land in the core lies under-utilized. ----------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| This Year In Davos | 19 Jan 2026 | 00:05:56 | |
Each year, the World Economic Forum convenes political leaders, central bankers, corporate executives, and institutional investors to take the pulse of the global economy. The headlines that come out of Davos often feel abstract, even theatrical. But buried beneath the sound bites are themes that matter deeply to real estate investors, especially those who think like capital allocators rather than speculators. This year’s forum is dominated by a sober tone. Gone was the optimism of a rapid post-pandemic recovery. In its place was a recognition that the world is settling into a period of structural change rather than cyclical volatility. That distinction matters, because structural change reshapes how capital flows, how risk is priced, and where real assets fit in a portfolio. ----------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Are Your Tenants Losing Their Jobs? | 18 Jul 2023 | 00:06:43 | |
On today's show we are announcing the contest winners. Chris De Celle David Ortiz Emilio Tucker Emails have been sent to each of you to get your mailing details. Congratulations to our winners. On today show, we are talking about an impending surge in unemployment. This is not on many economists radar and certainly we don’t have government talking about it. Certainly the mainstream media has published lots of stories about how artificial intelligence could replace some jobs in the future. But I’m here to tell you that the future is now. If your tenant has a steady job in customer service, there is a 90% chance that they will lose their job within the next 3-18 months. That’s right, 80-90% of customer service jobs will disappear. The reason for that prediction is the Pareto principle. The Pareto principle is often called the 80/20 rule. I'm going to give a real life example where that has already happened. | |||
| Some numbers Are Not Adjusted | 17 Jul 2023 | 00:05:26 | |
On today’s show we are looking at one of the most convincing economic indicators in advance of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. We hear politicians talking about how the economy is strong and how unemployment is near record lows. Inflation is coming down, but core inflation remains elevated. Maybe there will be a mild recession or a soft landing in the fourth quarter of this year. For now, we have a hot economy. The consumer is driving the economy. Airlines are reporting record profits. For the first five months of this year, the congressional budget office has been reporting falling revenue. The treasury took in 1.693T in individual income taxes up to June 2023 compared with the same period last year which was 2.135T. That’s a short fall of 442B in individual income tax receipts compared with the same period last year. This is a 21% reduction in income tax receipts compared with last year. How can the economy be growing with a 21% reduction in income tax receipts? ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce | |||
| Left Field Investing with Jim Pfeifer | 16 Jul 2023 | 00:11:48 | |
Jmi Pfeifer is the founder of Left Field Investing an online investment club with about 1,800 members. On today's show we are talking about how the community operates. To connect or to learn more, visit leftfieldinvesting,com -------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@Victorjm.com | |||
| Building In Difficult Communities with Leandro Tyberg and Arturo Sneider | 15 Jul 2023 | 00:12:43 | |
Leandro and Arturo are principals at Primestor, a Culver City development company specializing in building in some difficult parts of South Los Angeles. I love what these two guys are doing. You can connect with them at primestor.com ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Evaluating Two Vastly Different Proposals | 14 Jul 2023 | 00:06:07 | |
On today’s show we are talking about how to evaluate a proposal from a consultant. We are going to look at two proposals from different geotechnical engineers. These two proposals differ significantly in both price and scope. One proposal is nearly double the price of the other. How would you evaluate which quote to accept? Which proposal is better? Let’s start with even asking the question: Why do you need a geotechnical engineer? What do they do, and why do you even need to spend money on this? The geotechnical engineer does an analysis of the soil stability on your development site. They determine what it will take for your building to stay standing over the lifecycle of the building. --------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| How Governments Lie About The Economy | 13 Jul 2023 | 00:06:26 | |
On today’s show we are talking about some of the tricks that bureaucrats use to manipulate the inflation metrics that are being used to decide monetary policy. The cost of money affects the cost of virtually everything we buy. So the power to manipulate the economy and affect the fortunes of an entire population is in the hands of a handful of people who quite frankly have not earned the right to wield so much power. But before we talk about the manipulations we need to define a few terms so that the incentive for the manipulation is clearly visible. Let’s start with the gross domestic product. You calculate the GDP by adding up all of the economic activity and that gives you the gross domestic product. If the amount of economic activity has grown, by say, 2%, then the economy grew by 2%. But wait a minute, we know that there is this thing called inflation. So in fact we need to subtract the rate of inflation from the GDP metric in order to get the real GDP metric that has been adjusted for inflation. In our example, if the economy grew in nominal terms by 2%, but inflation was running at 1%, then we would need to subtract the 1% inflation rate from the nominal GDP in order to get the real GDP. So getting an accurate measurement of inflation is critical to getting an accurate measurement of GDP. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied | 12 Jul 2023 | 00:05:18 | |
On today’s show we are taking a look at a looming problem that threatens the functioning of the entire legal system in North America. Justice delayed is justice denied. The rule of law depends upon having a functioning legal system. In the absence of a working legal system, criminals will increasingly take their chances that the statute of limitations will prevail and they will get away with offences that in a different environment would result in litigation, judgements, and possibly even criminal convictions. There is a shortage of judges across both the US and Canada. The net result is that civil and criminal cases are going into a queue that is measured in years. ---------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| AMA - Developing Near Wetlands | 11 Jul 2023 | 00:06:33 | |
This question comes from Elizabeth who asks: I’m looking at a property which borders on an environmentally protected wetland area. Of the acreage, about 80% is outside the environmentally protected zone. So I should be able to develop on the part that is not environmentally protected. What should I look out for when considering this property? ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| What Are The Numbers Telling You? | 10 Jul 2023 | 00:05:47 | |
On today’s show we are taking a look at the weeks ahead. We are expecting a number of announcements including the upcoming interest rate policy when the federal reserve meets near the end of July. The latest numbers coming out of Washington suggest a robust economy. At least that is the official narrative. Yet there are so many other metrics pointing in the opposite direction. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce | |||
| Property Management Software with Vikas Gupta | 09 Jul 2023 | 00:11:53 | |
Vikas Gupta is based in Pasadena California with a software startup called Azibo. Azibo is a software company that specializes in serving smaller independent landlords with a property management system that is highly integrated, but still easy for smaller landlords to use. To learn more or to connect, visit azibo.com ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Distressed Notes with Scott Carson | 18 Jan 2026 | 00:11:44 | |
Scott Carson is based in Austin Texas. From there he invests in distressed debt on a nationwide basis. The idea is that you can purchase distressed debt at a discount, work with the borrower to modify it and then season the modified debt for 12 months. After that the loan is a performing loan which can be sold. Money is made between the purchase price of the distressed loan and the sale price of the performing loan. To connect with Scott, visit https://weclosenotes.com/ ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Insurance Industry Explained with Calvin Roberts | 08 Jul 2023 | 00:14:30 | |
Calvin Roberts might be the youngest insurance brokerage principal I've ever met. But he is clearly one of the most knowledgeable. On today's show we are talking about the massive increases in insurance premiums and explaining the underlying factors. To learn more or to connect with Calvin, visit falconinsagency.com. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Building Inside Out | 07 Jul 2023 | 00:05:15 | |
On today’s show we are talking about the architecture of the future. We are all accustomed to seeing the usual rectangular buildings with the vertical walls and 90 degree angles everywhere. Architects made them more interesting by articulating the facade with indentations and projections. Changing the materials on the exterior creates a sense of form, superimposed on what is still a rectangle. I know what you’re thinking, any other shape is simply too costly to create. Standard materials can’t be used and it requires a tremendous amount of customization to create any other shape. All of this translates into extraordinary cost. With all of the emphasis on affordability, who needs a building shaped like a dolphin anyway? Ok, it doesn’t need to be a dolphin, but who needs a curved wall anyway? It’s going to make decorating the interior space difficult. Artwork won’t hang nicely on the walls. Our entire world is centred around flat surfaces. Even if it were practical to create irregular shapes in a building, would you really want that anyway? What about those really tall narrow buildings that rise hundreds of feet into the air? When the buildings are that thin, how do they stay standing? Why don’t they fail in a wind storm? On today’s show we’re going to answer these questions and more, with the answer coming from the world of crustaceans. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| 2,000 Episodes and a Thought Experiment | 06 Jul 2023 | 00:05:58 | |
Today is a milestone for the Real Estate Espresso Podcast. This is the 2000th episode of the podcast. It seems like yesterday that the podcast was a concept, an idea. I had been experimenting with various ways of communicating and had been a guest on numerous shows. Publishing a show for 2,000 days in a row has definitely been a project. In fact, of the 2M podcasts out there, 90% quit after 3 episodes, and another 90% of the remainder quit by episode 20. So to help celebrate 2,000 episodes, we’re going to be holding a little contest. A few lucky winners will be getting some podcast SWAG. We’re talking coffee mugs. I realize that some of you like a tall coffee and not just an espresso. So in about the time it takes you drink your morning coffee, you can share those few minutes with the real estate espresso podcast. To enter the content, send an email to podcast@victorjm.com and put the number 2,000 in the subject line. The drawing will be held on July 14. To all of those who enter, best of luck and thank you for celebrating 2,000 episodes with me. On today’s show, I’m going to take you through a little bit of a thought experiment. We know what has happened as a result of the rapid rise in interest rates and how it has affected the housing market. We know that supply of homes for sale has declined as a result of the so-called lock in effect. If interest rates fall, will we see a deluge of houses come onto the market for sale? -------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| AMA - Should I Buy That Brownfield Site? | 05 Jul 2023 | 00:06:37 | |
Today’s question comes from Matt who asks: I have a property that we are considering buying that is in a hot neighborhood. The rents in the area are $2,500 a month for a 2BR apartment which is strong for the city as a whole. The city is a rustbelt city that has seen a lot of growth The subject property was an industrial site that likely has contamination. The phase 1 indicates there is lead in the ground and there are likely petroleum products in the ground as well. The seller is pushing for a closing of 30 days after completion of the environmental phase 2. The existing building is about 19,000 SF of structure above ground and we could ultimately build about 27 apartments in the existing structure. The land is $500,000 and it would likely require about $500,000 in environmental remediation costs. It’s likely that the site would qualify for 100% of the site remediation to be government funded. What do you think about this deal? -------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| The Acute Labor Shortage In Construction | 04 Jul 2023 | 00:05:32 | |
On today show, we are looking at the market for construction workers. With the rising interest rates, there has been a significant reduction in the number of construction jobs underway compared with the same period Last year. It’s no secret that there is a shortage of workers in construction jobs. According to a report in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, many builders in Florida are experiencing an acute shortage of workers. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Why Is Unemployment So Low? | 03 Jul 2023 | 00:05:58 | |
On this podcast we keep trying to make sense out of this economy. It is confusing and there are numerous contradictory signals. On today’s show we are taking a look at why there appears to be a labor shortage. We keep hearing about the so-called labor shortage and politicians and the Fed keep pointing to the historically low unemployment rate. So where did all the people go? There was not a labor shortage before the pandemic, although we did have historically low unemployment even back in 2019. -------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Stewart Heath | 02 Jul 2023 | 00:13:05 | |
Stewart Heath is based in the Huntsville market where he invests in stabilized commercial assets that have a customer facing component. On today's show we are talking about the opportunity that is coming in the world of commercial real estate, as well as some of the risks and pitfalls. Stewart can be found at harvardgracecapital.com ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Book Of The Month - The Wim Hof Method | 01 Jul 2023 | 00:06:33 | |
Our book this month is The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential, by Wim Hof. Wim is famous. He has broken more than 26 world records. Some people call him the Ice Man. In this book, Wim takes the reader through his personal life journey of accidental discovery. I’ve taken several training courses on the Wim Hof method. Each and every time I come away with a deep sense of calm that is unlike any other. A key element of the Wim Hof method is exposure to cold. I know what you’re thinking. That sounds uncomfortable. The second major component of the Wim Hof method is breathing. I’m not talking about the routine shallow breathing that we are accustomed to. Wim teaches deep breathing, utilizing our full lung capacity. The cycles of deep breathing will leave you feeling lightheaded and cause tingling in your hands and feet. But there is nothing wrong. You are merely pushing out the carbon dioxide from the blood stream and maximizing the oxygen saturation. The combination of these two unlocks capability within the body that most never knew was there. Definitely immerse yourself in the Wim Hof Method. | |||
| Why Are Adult Kids Still Living At Home? | 30 Jun 2023 | 00:05:59 | |
On today’s show we’re talking about household formation and why some adult children are living at home for so much longer than in generations past. It’s not secret that home affordability is a problem for many who are newly independent young adults. There are a few paths: 1) After kids leave home they get a job, the best job you can get, and hope to save money from left over after they’ve paid rent, the car, student loan, and the latest meal from door dash. 2) Get a high earning job, rent a modest apartment and save up their pennies until they can afford a downpayment for a home. 3) Get a loan for the downpayment from their parents 4) Save most of their salary while living at home until they can afford a downpayment. It seems like an increasing proportion of young adults are relying on methods #3 and #4. | |||
| A Project That Went Nowhere So Far | 29 Jun 2023 | 00:05:17 | |
On today’s show we are talking about a project that so far has gone nowhere. It’s not a large project, and we did not have anything invested in it besides some time. The subject property was part of a development in the province of Quebec. The owners of the land had got the property zoned for residential and developed the half of the land and sold half of the project for single family homes. Half of the road was built and homes were built on portion that was developed. It’s not entirely clear why the other half was not build. Maybe the owner ran out of funds. Who knows. The other half of the property which comprises about 18 acres was left undeveloped. Naturally, the property taxes on residential land are higher than the taxes on agricultural land. The owner of the property was tired of paying the higher property taxes on the land that was basically doing nothing. So he downzoned the undeveloped 18 acre portion back to agricultural. The next generation were left owning this land and they recognized that the value of the land would be enhanced considerably if it were zoned residential. So we entered into a purchase agreement with the current owners that was contingent on getting the land rezoned back to residential. | |||
| Remote Property Management with Christina Kovacs | 17 Jan 2026 | 00:14:12 | |
Christina Kovacs is based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She is a multi-family apartment investor with assets across the midwest. On today's show we are talking about working with third party management at a distance and how to work with remote managers. To connect with Christina, visit https://www.christinakovacs.com/ ------------ **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Are You Confused? | 28 Jun 2023 | 00:05:21 | |
Norway raised their interest rates by 50 basis points and announced another raise in August. Switzerland raise their benchmark rate by 25 basis points. The UK raised it’s benchmark rate by 50 basis points up to 5%. China lowered its rate because they see ahead what is going on in the real economy. If you’re confused by all of this seemingly contradictory data, you’re probably not alone. It is confusing. The root of the uncertainty and the apparent contradictions can be found by looking deeper at the data. There is one thing that is the master resource that cannot fool anybody about what is happening in the economy. The economy and energy are inextricably intertwined. If the real economy is growing, then so too is energy consumption. If the economy is shrinking, then energy demand will fall. ---------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Travel is Changing | 27 Jun 2023 | 00:05:31 | |
On today’s show we are taking a look at what is happening in the world of travel and tourism. These changes could have an impact on the world of hospitality as a result, and I believe an impact to where you might choose to invest. The so-called revenge travel wave from the pandemic is largely over. Travel patterns are starting to normalize. They’re not reverting to pre-pandemic, since you can never truly go backwards. You can only go forward to a new normal. Here are a few things I’m observing in the world of travel. There is pent up demand for cruise ship travel. Back in 2019 there were 29.7 million cruise ship passengers. That went to essentially zero during the pandemic. Even in the second quarter of 2023, cruise lines were rebuilding, and getting back to pre-pandemic levels. Carnival Cruise line reported their latest financial results for 2Q2023. They reported record bookings and record deposits for future sailings. How will this affect the world of travel and tourism? | |||
| The Lock In Effect | 26 Jun 2023 | 00:05:33 | |
On today show we’re taking a look at a major shift in the rental housing market. This change is a direct result of the rapid increase in interest rates. A lot has been written in recent months about the so-called lock in effect. I recently attended a talk by Dr. Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. He was speaking at a real estate meet up in Silicon Valley last week, where he shared a tremendous amount of data that the chamber Fannie Mae uses to understand what’s happening in the housing market. And I talked, Dr. Duncan shared that 90% of existing residential mortgages in the United States are more than 100 basis points below current interest rates. Furthermore, 70% of residential mortgages are 200 basis points low current mortgage interest rates. These people sell their homes and buy a replacement home, their housing cost will go up dramatically just due to interest rates. Financially, these people cannot afford to sell. They are locked in to their current low interest rate mortgage. This is going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on new supply entering the market. This is exactly what we’re saying in the current market. There are very few homes for sale. Prices have stabilized after falling in the fourth quarter of last year. In many markets, we are seeing prices rising again due to the shortage and supply combined with an excess of demand. of course it makes no sense to look at the averages because the averages obscure what is happening in the real economy. We see that homes at the affordable end of the spectrum are continuing to fly off the shelf. Homes at the luxury end of the spectrum are taking longer to sell. Buyers last year were cancelling contracts with new home builders over rising interest rates. Today builders are seeing an increase in demand for new homes. However, the demand for new homes is overwhelmingly at the affordable end of the spectrum. Let’s go back and ask the question why do people sell their homes? People sell their homes when they want to move or they feel that the need to move. Older adults are sometimes ageing out of their homes. Sometimes people move for employment reasons. Sometimes they move for lifestyle choices, so what happens if someone needs to move but does not want to sell their house? They are locked in. I expect a large percentage of these homes to show up in the rental market. This is likely to translate into a supply surge of rental properties in the market. The forecast surge in demand for rental properties due to higher borrowing costs is likely to be satisfied by the unexpected supply of rental properties. The rental market vacancy statistics that are maintained by the large national brokerages tend to focus on the larger scale commercial rental properties. Individual single-family homes in the rental market tend to fall below the radar. This could result in market vacancy metrics that are inaccurate over the coming months. | |||
| Navigating Current Market Conditions with Ken McElroy | 25 Jun 2023 | 00:07:48 | |
Ken McElroy is based in Scottsdale Arizona. I caught up with Ken and his sons in Belize this month where we were speaking at the Investor Summit on Sand. On today's show we are talking about the key constraints in the current environment. To connect with Ken, visit KenMcElroy.com where he shares tons of content and a very widely followed podcast and Youtube Channel. ----------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Improvements Through Design with Alan Stewart | 24 Jun 2023 | 00:10:50 | |
Alan Stewart is based in Grapevine Texas where he has built a sizeable portfolio of rental apartments. On today's show we are talking about making improvements that don't necessarily have to cost extra. To learn more or to connect with Alan, visit his website at sapientcg.com -------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Short Term Rental - The Morning After | 23 Jun 2023 | 00:05:33 | |
Investing is not easy. It is an active business that requires continuous improvement of systems and processes. It also comes with risks that you need to understand and quantify On today’s show we are talking about one of the biggest risks to a short term rental property. Last week Dallas City Council voted to outlaw short term rentals in residential zones. You wake up the next morning and realize that you are potentially out of business. Naturally, there is a lineup of lawsuits arrayed against the city. --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| The Future of Lumber | 22 Jun 2023 | 00:06:16 | |
On today's show we are taking a look at what is happening in the world of softwood lumber and lumber futures. The entire construction industry for new homes and for many multifamily apartment developments is heavily influenced by lumber futures pricing. There's a fundamental change taking place in the way that lumber futures are sold. But first we need to look at the two different types of futures contracts. The first type of futures contract is to purchase a single railcar worth of softwood lumber. That futures contract is an obligation to take delivery of a railcar worth of lumber. The second type of contract is an option contract which gives the buyer the option but not the obligation to purchase a railcar worth of softwood lumber. This distinction is important since it would intuitively makes sense that you would pay a different price for the option versus the price you would pay to fulfill an order. Futures contracts are being cut in size by 75%. Builders have been struggling with gaining control over their cost structure over the past couple of years with the wild price swings we have experienced. By accessing the futures market, builders will be able to control their cost structure in ways that had been previously impossible. For those who are developing multi family apartments, this can be a game changer. The smaller options contract also means that the cost of hedging for a single project is much lower. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Crypto On Ice | 21 Jun 2023 | 00:06:08 | |
On today’s show we are looking at crypto currencies. It should come as no surprise that governments the world over are not enthusiastic about having a grass roots competitor to official currency of the nation. Since most of the world exists in the realm of fiat currencies, the most practical way into the world of crypto currencies is through a crypto exchange. Is it a coincidence that the SEC is targeting crypto exchanges? We don’t know for sure, but today’s show is going to zero in on that question and postulate why there seems to be a war on crypto from regulators. The SEC has targeted two of the largest crypto exchanges Binance and coinbase. Binance has 62.5% market share and coinbase has 5.4% market share. The government doesn’t want to call crypto a currency. Legal tender is the legal tender of the United States or the European Union or whatever jurisdiction. If crypto currencies are not money, then what are they? Now I’m not a lawyer, nor am I a securities lawyer. So I’m not qualified to comment on the merits of the case on either side. But it is clear that the SEC is arguing that securities laws apply to both Binance and Coinbase. If these are indeed securities, then securities laws would indeed apply. So why is all of this happening, and why is it happening now? ---------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Fertility and Migration | 20 Jun 2023 | 00:05:50 | |
On today’s show we are talking about demographics and how this affects real estate on a global basis. Most western economies have declining birth rates. The population of the world is growing. On today's show we are looking at whether investing strategy is influenced by fertility rates and migration patterns. ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@vjctorjm.com | |||
| The Fed's Last and Final Rate Increase | 19 Jun 2023 | 00:05:51 | |
Oh today’s show we are talking about the current macro economic climate and provide a forecast for interest rates for the second half of this year. The fact is that we live in an interconnected world and the attempts by central bankers to look at the economic conditions within a nation as a closed system is extremely naive. We have Germany in recession having experienced two consecutive quarters of economic decline. New Zealand is now officially in recession. The biggest news in the past week is that China announced a drop in interest rates and is launching a massive public infrastructure spending program aimed at stimulating its flagging economy. As the largest manufacturing economy in the world, China’s manufacturing is a bellwether for global consumption. The promised economic jolt from China reopening from the COVID pandemic lockdowns failed to materialize. It was an economic whimper. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| What Amenities Matter Most? | 16 Jan 2026 | 00:05:42 | |
Today, I want to talk about amenities. Not in the abstract, not as a checklist, and not as a race to add more stuff, but as a lens into tenant psychology, capital allocation, and disciplined product design. Greystar recently published their latest amenities and apartment features market study, based on year-over-year survey data from 2023 to 2024. And while it’s tempting to read this kind of report as a menu of “what to add,” that’s exactly the wrong way to use it. This data is not a prescription. It’s a diagnostic. The folks at Greystar are the largest owner and operator of apartments across the US. So with 100,000 units in almost every state they can speak on the topic with some level of authority. ------------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** | |||
| Russell Gray | 18 Jun 2023 | 00:14:35 | |
Russell Gray is the co-host of the Real Estate Guys Radio show, now in its 26th year. On today's show we are talking about the current monetary environment and the risks inherent in today's FIAT currency based system. To connect with Russ or to learn more about the upcoming 22nd annual Investor Summit at Sea, send an email to summit@realestateguysradio.com, or visit realestateguysradio.com ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||
| Property Management Changes with Chad Zdenek | 17 Jun 2023 | 00:15:15 | |
On today's show we are talking with Chad Zdenek who is based in Los Angeles. Chad has a side hustle as the host of at documentary TV series called "Inside Mighty Machines". By day, he owns and operates a portfolio of multi family apartments. On today's show we are talking about making changes to property management and the challenges inherent in making such a change. To learn more or to connect with Chad, visit csqproperties.com ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com | |||