The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

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. Hal...

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 conf...

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 ne...

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 treme...

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 Me...

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

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...

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...

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...

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

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...

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...

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 mor...

We have all experienced entering a search query only to receive a long list of unrelated products that happen to match one of the keywords in the search.  Incorporating artificial intelligence into the customer experience will transform search. You might be wondering how this will affect real estate investors. I’m glad you asked.  Imagine you have a portfolio of rental properties and the client is...

Today's question comes from Adam who writes: Hello Victor, Thank you for the wonderful podcast.  I am a daily listener and I regularly recommend the Real Espresso Podcast to others. Today you ended your podcast (S6 E166 Cand the Banks Survive Another Rate Increase?) with words "before it all comes crashing down".  I know many are like me wondering what this crash will look like in ou...

On today’s show we are talking about the coming financial crisis. You might be wondering how I can say that. We are not seeing more bank failures since the failure of First republic Bank.  We are seeing signs of it creeping into the news headlines. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal has zero’d in on the looming crisis in commercial real estate and the associated credit crunch. Today the Federal Reser...

This question comes from Paul who writes: I have booked a strong capital gain as a passive investor in a syndication. The sponsor of the deal is asking all investors to come along for the ride in a 1031 exchange. The sponsor seemed to do a good job on this first project. However, the proposed replacement property is in Houston and I don’t have a good feeling about the fundamentals of this replacem...

On today’s show we’re talking about my personal experience with the media. I also want to be careful to make sure this does not come across as sounding like a bunch of conspiracy theories.  There is an accepted social norm called social proof. This is based on the idea that if you say you are great, that is not as powerful as having someone else say you are great.  That is why reviews for a hotel...

Andrew Abernathey is based in Phoenix Arizona where he develops storage facilities in Arizona and California. Working closely with a family office, Andrew and his team at Abernathey Holdings are scaling up aggressively. To learn more or to connect with Andrew, visit Abernatheyholdings.com --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Anna Kelly is based in Lancaster Pennsylvania and she invests in several markets across the SE USA including multi family apartments and short term rentals. She has established herself as a leader in the space. On today's show we are talking about risk, and some of the lessons of the past three years. To learn more or to connect with Anna, visit reimom.com ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce em...

Today's question comes from Christian who asks: I’m small time RE investor and about to do my first long distance flip. Is it worth hiring a project management company? It is a flat fee and they would help with design, compare costs, negotiate with contractors, and management. The project budget is $50k-$100k and the cost is $7k for the PM. Is it worth it? ------------- Host: Victor Menasce em...

On today’s show we are going through a thought experiment about the risk of large global divisions and how that might affect your real estate development project. To walk through the process, we are going to use an example of a small construction project for a single family home. The home is already under construction and the foundation has been poured and the wood framing is 80% complete. The pro...

The Wall Street Journal finally reported on something that investors and lenders have known for more than nine months.  The rapid rise in interest rates has created a structural problem for commercial real estate.  The issue goes far beyond the headline that nearly $1.5T in commercial real estate debt is vulnerable to default in the next three years.  The punch line of the article is that lenders...

How do you know if a project bid is good? On today’s show we are talking about how to value engineer a project. We’re going to look at a project that has a firm bid on it. Overall, the construction bid seemed to be fairly reasonable in terms of total price per square foot. Having said that, there could still be problems in the bid. Some line items might be too high and others might be too low. One...

On today’s show we are looking at the design of industrial warehouse buildings. Building designs are changing from a functional perspective and this is important when you consider investment in industrial buildings. When we hear about warehouses, people tend to talk in terms of square feet and rent per SF. But these facilities are not universally interchangeable. Operators think in terms of volume...