The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

The UK is past the deadline for leaving the EU with no deal that has been accepted by the British parliament.  The entire Brexit situation is incredibly complex. Prime minister may has set a new deadline for leaving the European Union by May 22. If the departure is delayed beyond that date, Britain would need to participate in the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. The prime mini...

On today’s show we’re talking about how a remodel can destroy the value of a property. The TV Reno Shows are sometimes bringing people into the remodelling business that only see one thing. They say, I can make this house nicer too. They become inspired to replicate what they see on TV. They believe they have a design sensibility. Of course, everyone thinks they have good taste and believe that th...

On today’s show we’re examining the idea of seeing over the horizon.  The horizon is the distance that you can see before the curvature of the earth obscures what is just a bit further away.  Generally speaking For an observer standing on the ground with h = 2 metres (6 ft 7 in), the horizon is at a distance of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi). You can’t see over the horizon. But that’s not the onl...

This month’s book is a 600 page classic called “The Creature From Jekyll Island”. The subtitle is “A Second Look at the Federal Reserve”, by G. Edward Griffin. The subtitle really tells the story of what the book is about.  The fact is, very few people really know what the federal reserve is. Most think it is an arm of the US government. The fact is the Federal Reserve Bank is neither federal...

Joe Quirk is one of the founders of SeaSteading.org and the author of the new book "Seasteading". I got spend time with Joe over the past few weeks and learned more about his project. The first fully autonomous seastead is now floating 12 miles off the coast of Thailand. This idea is groundbreaking and is at the frontier of human and societal exploration. While it's not mainstream yet, the concept...

On today's show we're getting George's perspective on two of the latest stories in the news. 

Jonny asks: "I invest in single family rentals in several different US markets. Most are midwestern conservative and stable environments with steadily growing populations and economies - there's modest appreciation, but solid and dependable cash flow. The outlier is Chicago. I enjoy the very strong cash flow I receive from Section 8 tenants, but the impending pension crisis presents a precarious s...

We’ve all heard about the benefits of diversification. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You might have heard a family member preach about it. On the other hand, if your eggs are in one basket and guarded really well, then you will have a greater amount of control over your investments. I had an in depth conversation with an investor this week who had made the decision to diversify his holdin...

Last week the federal Reserve announced its interest rate guidance for the current period and for the remainder of the year. Back in December the federal Reserve increased short term interest rates by 1/4 of one Percent. At the same time chairman Powell also forecast three rate increases for 2019. In a stunning reversal, the federal Reserve is holding rates steady and is forecasting no further inc...

Today’s episode is the story that started for me back in 1974. For two years in a row in 1974 in 1975 I visited Caracas Venezuela. I was 11 years old and I was struck by the huge contrasts in the city of Caracas.  The city is in the centre of a valley surrounded virtually on all sides by tall steep hills.  In the centre of the valley floor was a bustling modern city with freeways, and ta...

The more you know about your potential customers, the better you can target your offer to the needs of your customers.  People make a number of life decisions that alter their demand for housing. Housing is so much more than a dry roof over your head. Children grow up and move out on their own. Some will move to be walking distance from a university. Maybe they lose their employment and move...

Todays' episode is a discussion on whether to build versus buy.

Sep is a multifamily real estate investor who has made an unusual transition from multifamily to portfolios of single family homes. When I first heard about the transition, I was a little skeptical. But the rationale for the shift makes sense and is sound.  Sep has dealt first hand with the difficulties of managing economically challenged properties in rough neighborhoods. That learning has s...

I’m coming to you on location from the 17th annual investor summit at sea. This annual event is like no other. Every night, I’m seated with a new group of investors at my dinner table. One of the frequent questions that I ask people at my table is “What are your goals?” The typical story goes something like this. They have a full-time job. They like what I do, but I’m ready to change careers in fa...

Back in November, Californians voted on a proposition to eliminate the current state wide rent control legislation that was enacted in 1995. California’s rent-control regime is governed by a state law called the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. It prevents cities and counties from imposing rent control on single-family homes or apartments built after 1995, among other prohibitions. The law also f...

I'm coming to you live from The Investor Summit at Sea. This is an event like no other. It's here that you have the opportunity to learn from some of the biggest brains on the planet. 

On today’s show I want to share a perspective on the world of investing. My mother started an investment holding company back in 1976. She had a portfolio of investments, largely in the stock market. When my mother passed away in 1981, I was 18 years old, I had the task of taking over that investment holding company.  At the time, the conventional wisdom was that you could routinely earn an a...

This question has been asked so many times by audience members, I'm not going to attribute it to a single person. It's a great question, and the answer is highly situation dependent.  I’ve experienced situations where raising money has been easy, and other times when it has been very time consuming.  The main issue is whether the venture is going to be appealing to the sources of debt fi...

Quentin D'Souza is a Toronto based investor who runs one of the local Real Estate Investment clubs there. You can reach Quentin at durhamrei.com.  One of his specialties is legal secondary units. These in-law suites are a great way to multiply the revenue and increase the overall value of a property for minimal investment. It's particularly attractive in a high priced markets like Toronto. &n...

This segment was part of a live meetup in which I shared several real life examples of design decisions that were made to reduce cost without having an impact on quality.   

Today’s show is a personal story of an inner struggle. I’m in the middle of a project and I’m in the process of updating the financial projections based on a revised construction budget, new information about the debt structure, and a more accurate view of the schedule. In the process of updating the spreadsheet I discovered that there were a number of places where numbers had been hard coded into...

If you’re a business owner, would you like to know which country your business is licensed to conduct business in? If you conduct business in multiple countries, would you like to know the rules of engagement for continuing to do so? If you set up your head office in a global financial center hoping and expecting it would act as a gateway to conducting business across an entire continent, would yo...

On today’s show Patrick asks “How important is making site visits prior to purchasing a property?” The simple answer is “It depends”. Certainly, you need to get a lot of information about a property before you buy. Some of it requires a site visit. That doesn’t mean it has to be you to go to the property. But you do need the information one way or another.  When I perform due diligence on a p...

Today’s show is a fascinating story about industry insiders who are challenging the state of the banking industry.  Last week I published an episode called "Not worth a Continental". If you have not listened to that episode, I suggest you stop today’s show and go listen to that earlier episode first. Today’s show will make so much more sense if you do. The players in the story are James McAnd...

When I was 10 years old, I made my first investment. I didn’t know it at the time. Apparently I had $10,000 kicking around that my grandmother had put in my account. My uncle who owned a seat on the NY Stock exchange was an aggressive trader and a very wealthy man. He lived on 5th Avenue next to the Italian consulate overlooking Central Park. It was as good an address as you could possibly have in...