The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

On today’s show we are going to take a fresh look a money. It used to be the case that a nickel was a nickel was a nickel. It was made of nickel. It was worth 5 cents and you could buy bubble-gum with it or take a short bus ride. But today we are taking a dive into the various new types of currency that are in existence or being proposed. These are new types of currency are all different. First of...

On today’s show we are taking a look at what is happening with construction materials and how this might affect construction projects that you have in your current plans for this year. In the past two months we have seen lumber prices fall from their peak in March of $1,450 per 1,000 board feet to a new low of $667 per 1,000 board feet. Prices had dropped in April and then jumped back up to approx...

On today’s show we are talking about resilience in our daily lives. This past weekend my home city of Ottawa Canada has a line of summer thunderstorms come through the region. It was a few degrees warmer than usual and a bit on the humid side. By mid afternoon the sky had darkened . Then all the cell phones started chiming a severe storm alert in unison. Then suddenly this wall of wind hit thrashi...

Brandon Schwab is based in Chicago where he specializes in boutique assisted living. We too are developers of boutique assisted living and it was good to compare notes. It seems that parts of the US are significantly under-served with this class of product. To learn more or to connect with Brandon, visit BrandonSchwab.com and you can set up a time to speak with him directly. ------------------- Ho...

Tom Dunkel is based in Wayne Pennsylvania where he specializes in self storage turnarounds along the East coast of the US. This is an asset class that requires strong systems and his background in corporate mergers and acquisitions has proven to be a distinct advantage. To connect with Tom or to learn more, visit belrosestoragegroup.com. There is a free e-book on how to conduct due diligence avail...

On today’s show we are taking a look at how to fight inflation and the various efforts underway in Washington and other capitals around the world. Yesterday the national association of realtors published statistics for home sales in the month of April. Sales in April slid 2.4% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million in April. It showed the third month of decline in a row fo...

On today’s show we are looking at what is looming as a water crisis in parts of the United States. It should not be a surprise to anyone that building a city in a desert is a bad idea. We all need water to live and water shortages will forever alter the usefulness and value of real estate. Many cities and towns in Arizona rely on groundwater for their primary drinking water. Some private wells com...

Earlier this week we looked at the difference between an owner occupant versus an institutional owner. We asked if is it true that homes cost the same to operated regardless whether the owner is an individual or a corporate investor? We concluded that the costs were the same. On today’s show we’re asking whether institutions are driving the market and pushing people out of home ownership? Is the l...

A number of people exited the workforce during the pandemic. That reduction in workforce participation is largely credited with the worker shortage. Some people chose to retire altogether. We have seen a big reduction in the participation in the workforce. People concluded that they were tired of their old jobs, they liked the at-home environment, and they would retire early. The theory is that pe...

On today’s show we are talking about the merits of large scale landlords on the housing market. The affordable housing advocates are highly critical of institutional buyers removing inventory from the market by competing with buyers for single family homes. These big bad landlords are making huge profits on the back of these poor tenants. As interest rates increase, it is true that many first time...

Nathaniel comes from Los Angeles where he specializes in luxury properties in the celebrity segment of the market. On today's show we talk about how the celebrity segment of the market differs from other segments in the market. To connect with Nathaniel, please visit instagram and search for GetzelsGroup. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

RJ Burr is with Panther Exploration, an oil and gas exploration company based in Bowling Green Kentucky. The entire Burr family are deeply entrenched in the oil industry. Today's conversation centers around the prediction that oil prices are likely to remain elevated for a long time. To learn more about the oil industry and to connect with RJ at Panther Exploration, visit panex.us ----------------...

On today’s show we’re talking about market valuation and the narrative that investors attach to prices. The daily headlines are about the latest stock market bloodbath. We hear terms like bullish and bearish. Some people I know have earned the nickname perma-bear to somehow denote that they are biased towards pessimism. The first part of this year has resulted in a tremendous amount of paper wealt...

On today’s show we talking about the impact of energy policy on housing. The fact remains, the US has underinvested in oil and gas since 2015. Despite the high prices currently in the market, the number of new wells being drilled is not quite enough to keep production levels constant on a year over year basis. The US currently produces about 20% of the world’s LNG, and over the next 6-7 years that...

Today’s show is another AMA episode (Ask Me Anything). Today's question comes from John who asks: I have an acquaintance who has a land assembly under contract that has development potential. The assembly consists of two properties on a main street with close proximity to a river. The property will need to be rezoned and I’m being told that the property will sell to a backup offer with someone els...

On today’s show we’re talking about changing the use of real estate in the downtown core in many cities. It’s no secret that the world is swimming in excess office space since the start of the pandemic. I’ve been involved in direct discussions on several major office buildings that are candidates for conversion to apartments. A recent report from CBRE puts the amount of sublease space available fo...

On today's show we’re taking a look at the extent to which our housing market is completely addicted and driven by the availability of debt. There are some powerful lessons to be learned from the financial crisis of 2008. It was the near insolvency of thousands of banks and insurance companies that precipitated a massive lack of liquidity in the lending market. The unprecedented bailout of banks a...

Brian Scudamore is a living legend in the world of entrepreneurship. He's the founder of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, and WOW 1 Day Painting, and Shack Shine. His brands are world renowned in their segments. He has taken the ordinary and figured out how to create exceptional.  Brian recently wrote a new book called "BYOB, Build Your Own Business, Be Your Own Boss". It's a book designed to inspire those wi...

Kim Radaker Bays is based in Dallas Ft Worth where she runs the Exponential Property Group having invested in approximately 10,000 apartments since inception a little over a decade ago. On today's show we're talking about managing risk in today's rapidly changing environment. To connect with Kim visit https://exponentialpropertygroup.com/ or email invest@exppg.com.  -------------------- Host:...

On today’s show we are talking about how to design a product for the market when the spreadsheet is telling you otherwise. We’re developing a storage facility in a tertiary market up in the Rocky Mountains. Most of the existing storage facilities in town are older and date back to the 1980’s and 1990’s. The newest facility was built in 2019. The market has very high occupancy and we see demand in...

On today’s show we are talking a deeper look at the rising interest rate environment and making sense of the current market conditions. Yields on the 5 and 10 year treasury have advanced faster than the actual rate increase. Bond investors are clearly looking into the future and trying to telegraph the destination of the rate increases the Fed has planned over the next two years. The rise in rates...

When I was a teenager growing up, my parents used to listen to the nightly news on the radio at 6PM every day during our dinner hour. That was in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Inflation was out of control. There was fuel rationing across the US and lineups around the block to get fuel from the few gas stations that had any. I was accustomed to hearing news of labor unions going on strike in se...

You own a property that has been performing reasonably well for a number of years. But let’s face it, a few things have happened in the past 24 months. We’ve gone through a protracted pandemic, we have experienced supply chain disruptions, and a substantial period of very high inflation. It’s probably been a while since you refreshed the entire financial model for that property since you acquired...

On today’s show we are talking about how to time the market. This is a question that I often get from listeners. It’s also an argument that I hear from those who see value in staying invested in the stock market. They say that all you need to do is time the market. There are two aspects to timing the market. There is the month to month timing and then there is the real-time minute to minute market...

Given the momentous global geopolitical changes that have become apparent this year with the invasion of the Ukraine, I felt it was important to study these relationships so that I would see the world from a more informed perspective. I want to be clear, I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I don’t seek out doomsday scenarios. Our book this month is called “War Without Rules” by retired Brigadier Genera...