The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

On today's show George and I discuss the current climate for borrowing funds. His stance surprised me a bit. Check it out. 

Neal Bawa is a Silicon Valley based syndicator, and educator specializing in multi-family asset classes. On today's show we're talking about the state of the capital markets and where investing is heading in multi-family apartments.  You can reach Neal at http://multifamilyu.com.  

On today’s show we’re talking about stranded assets. These are assets that can’t be used at all. In some cases they’re merely under-utilized assets. You can find deeply discounted assets in today’s market. But only if you train yourself to look for them. Underpriced assets have a substantial sunk cost in them. The old school way of doing this was to go to the weekend garage sales and buy items of...

On today’s show we’re going to make an important distinction between two words that are often used interchangeably but have vastly different meanings. The two words are “pain” and “damage”. If you hit your thumb with a hammer by accident, you will experience pain. In fact, the pain will be so acute that you can think of little else for the next few minutes. Eventually the throbbing subsides and yo...

Love the show. I could use your advice. Last August I acquired a property in a tax auction at a bargain price in a class c neighborhood in a different state than where I live. This was my first venture into rehabbing a property and figured this might be a good way to learn with a fair amount of cushion for mistakes. I found a contractor on Craigslist who was willing to work in this address (severa...

Duane asks, Just curious. Have you ever come across something that looks like a great opportunity, but was way beyond your capabilities? Duane, This is a great question. The short answer is yes. That’s the only way to grow. But the further you are from your proven capabilities, the lower your chances of success are going to be. So if you know going into the venture that your chances of failure are...

I'm trying to narrow down to 1-2 focus markets for buy-and-hold SFR/small multi-family investments. I've come down to the following options and am curious about any feedback: 1. Huntsville, AL 2. Memphis, TN (high crime) 3. Charlotte, NC 4. Omaha, NE (steady but not super growth oriented) 5. Columbus, OH 6. Atlanta, GA (already overheated market) I like all of these markets from a population / job...

On today's show we're talking about developing resort properties using RV's and mobile homes with Shane Melanson. You can reach Shane at shanemelanson.com.

Dr. Tom Burns is the co-founder and partner at Presario Ventures, specializing in new construction apartments. He is also the author of the upcoming book "Why Doctors Don't Get Rich." You can connect with Tom and get a copy of his book at richdoctor.com.

On today’s show we’re talking about the merits and pitfalls of just accepting a contractor’s bid. When you’re experienced in construction, you get a feel for what items should cost for both materials and labor. But there are two distinct markets, the retail market and the developer or contractor market. In the retail market, there are businesses out there charging what I consider to be outrageous...

On today’s show we’re talking about Student housing. I’ve been a student housing investor since 2012. Historically, I’ve loved student housing. I got my start by owning property in the shadow of Temple University in Philadelphia. When you add together the revenue from each room in a student rental, it adds up to much more than the revenue from renting, say, a 3 bedroom apartment. Yes, the turnover...

On today’s show we’re taking a short trip through the history books to see what history might teach us about today. The year was 27 BC and Augustus was the emperor of Rome. Their money was the roman denarius, made of 98% pure silver. The pure coinage remained until 64AD when there was the Great Fire of Rome which destroyed close to 60,000 buildings, almost 90% of the dwellings in the city.  N...

On today’s show we’re talking about how your business can survive the Covid-19 outbreak. Of course the degree to which you take action is a function of the nature of your business and the assets in your portfolio. We remain in a period of unprecedented uncertainty. You don’t know if the businesses in your commercial space will survive. You don’t know if your tenants will lose their job and when th...

Maheen the Machine asks, Hello Victor, I trust you are safe and healthy! I have always had this belief that you collect gold for the day that the dollar loses most of it's value and then you "cash" it in??? Yet, I never hear the experts say to "sell" your gold. They always mention using gold as "insurance" but never go into detail or give examples. You interviewed Russell Gray and he is amazing. W...

Mark Victor Hansen is the best selling author of all time and is famous for the "Chicken Soup" series of books along with his partner Jack Canfield. Mark has a newly launched book called "Ask" which talks about the transformative power of simply asking. Mark and Nicky are also hosting a huge virtual summit this week with notable people including John Maxwell, Ken Starr, Candace Owens, Ashar Alam,...

Damion Lupo specializes in self directed qualified retirement plans. Properly structured, these plans give the owner full check-book control and the possibility of taking advantage of some of the benefits of the CARES Act. Join me for a fascinating conversation with Damion Lupo.  

Today’s question comes from Sue in Pennsylvania. Sue asks, “I have a buyer who wants some debris removed from the property as a condition of closing. I’m worried that I won’t be able to get the debris removed from the property in time to close and that it might jeopardise the sale altogether. It doesn’t seem like a big deal that should hold up the closing and my attorney says the buyer is using it...

On today’s show I want to address something that has been on the mind of many investors I’ve spoken with in the past week. We’re talking about the frustration be feeling stalled, of deals falling apart, of delays as a result of the current market conditions and the pandemic induced delays. I’m hearing from a lot of driven type-A personalities that they feel like they’re failing. When you’re used t...

On today’s show we’re talking about a major change in the way realtors market properties. In particular, the National Association of Realtors are the defendants of a lawsuit brought by a consortium of agents called Top Agent Network in U.S. District Court for Northern California. Top Agent Network, a San Francisco-based, members-only platform for real-estate agents. The California Association of R...

Incredibly we have seen the stock market rebound in the past week in response to the Federal Reserve monetary stimulus and the government’s fiscal stimulus. But there are several characteristics about this market rally that are troubling. 1) The volume of shares being traded is way down. Not only that, the market index is being influenced by a smaller number of companies than perhaps at any time i...

Brian from Ottawa Canada asks. I'm wondering if there has been any discussion about the lack of government support for residential landlords? In this environment, it seems like we're one of the forgotten ones. Deferring mortgages seems to be a decent temporary measure but replacing rental income is far more important. Brian, this is a great question. Tenants and Residential landlords are both feel...

Steve Olson runs the Fourplex Investment Group (website fig.us). He has developed a strategy that is adding value to the market by building new product in areas where the land cost supports a rental rate to reliably recoup the investment, even in today's environment. I love this strategy. 

In this final segment of a four part series, Russ and I talk about how to value assets and in particular real estate. Today's final mind blowing segment will bring home the ideas that underpin how to think about investment.  You can hear more from Russ on The Real Estate Guys Radio show at realestateguysradio.com.

On today’s show we’re looking at how investors are investing today. There’s no question that we are living in uncertain times. The stock market is pushing valuations that can’t be supported by the current level of profitability in the economy. So what’s driving it? I feel like we need to go back to basics and talk about how investments are made, or at least how they should be made in my view. Mone...

On yesterday’s show I spoke about using the energy of the market to aid you in your quest. Use the energy of the market to your advantage as you evolve your investment strategy. On today’s show we’re going to look at a few asset types that we believe are eventually going to do well once through this period and once this pandemic recedes and we are into a recovery phase. My analysis of various segm...