The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

This question came up on Saturday where it was part of a lunch discussion with a group of investors over the weekend. This particular sponsor was trying to figure out how to work with a private lender who would be lending funds that the project sponsor would ultimately use to fund the earnest money deposit and the equity for the project. The lender wants a 10% rate of return on their money. He’s a...

JP Albano skipped over single family homes and small rentals and dove directly into the world of multi-family investing. His first investment was a 28 unit building.  You can connect with JP at jpalbano.com

Today's show is an extract from a talk that I gave at a thought leadership conference in Toronto on Jan 23. If you've ever want to know how the show is put together behind the scenes, this is the show for you. Enjoy...

Dr. Kevin Hsu from NYC asks I like your idea of buying on the line and moving the line. Does that concept ever apply to what the US government calls “opportunity zones” as well , those designated areas generally which are considered bad and in need of development , Rehabilitation. Supposedly they have significant tax incentives if selling after ten years? What are your thoughts on investing in Opp...

On today’s show I’m talking about a property that I placed an offer on, and ultimately lost. The West end of Ottawa Canada has extremely low inventory. Some realtors estimate that there are 75 potential buyers for every one seller. Inventory is less than 10 days. In fact, in my suburb of the city which represents a population of 90,000 people, there are only 16 homes listed for sale, 14 of them ar...

On today’s show we’re talking about how to save money by unbundling. There’s two ways to buy a service. You can pay an hourly rate, or you can pay a fixed price. It’s attractive for a buyer to pay a fixed price from a budgeting standpoint. If you are raising capital for a project, you need to know how much something is going to cost. You can’t simply write a blank check and hope that it will all w...

On today’s show, we’re talking about a global perspective of growth. The World Economic Forum opened this week in Davos Switzerland. The price of admission to that conference is high, but the networking is awesome. If you’re like me and have projects to get done, you’re probably limited to watching a handful of the video recordings. The International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook was part...

This question is from Carol in Toronto. My husband and I have been living in the same rental for 18 years. For the past 6 weeks, our stove has stopped working and the landlord has not fixed it. He claims he doesn’t have the money. My landlord has been increasingly elusive. We have some evidence that he’s trying to push us out so that he can get a new tenant and raise the rent. The property has oth...

On today's show, I'm talking about negotiation with George Ross. I love getting George's insight's. 

Roy Smoothe hails all the way from the UK, where he specializes in helping business and entrepreneurs with their brand image. You can learn more about Roy at RoySmoothe.com or at his music website success2music.com. Join me for this fascinating conversation about how to get noticed in today's noisy world. 

 On today’s show we’re talking about an innovation in creating more affordable housing. The city of Los Angeles has amended their definition of an accessory dwelling unit. The history of an accessory dwelling unit has has be the traditional in-law suite, or the nanny suite. This is sometimes an attic apartment, or a basement apartment. It’s usually attached to the principal home and forms par...

On today’s show, we are talking about solar energy. Let me be clear, I want solar to work. I have solar electric panels on both of my sailboats. I love the idea of getting energy for free. If solar energy is going to take hold on a large scale, it will be because it makes financial sense for all the stakeholders including consumers of electricity to make the investment. Governments in California d...

On today’s show, we’re talking about math errors that some contractors make. These are simple errors to make, but ones that can cost you money. There are many places where a contractor can hide expenses and it can be difficult for you to figure out where they are. When you are dealing with high quality contractors, they will be transparent in how their bid was put together. They will clearly show...

On today’s show we’re talking about what to do when the numbers don’t work. You look at a property, you think there’s a deal. But then you run the numbers and pretty quickly conclude that the margin is too thin to take the risk. At the same time, you see multiple examples of larger projects in the same area. If your costs are similar, then those other projects should not be getting built. They too...

On today’s show we’re talking about how to get construction quotes that make sense. It’s easy to be confused by multiple quotes. On today’s show we’re going to do a case study on a small commercial office build-out in an office. The scope of the work was to partition about 550 Square feet into three offices and a lunch room. There is the addition of a small sink a fridge and a dishwasher. The exis...

On today's show, I'm talking with Matt Shields about how he made the transition from single family investing to multi-family apartment buildings. Matt is based in Cleveland Ohio and is investing in multiple markets including Atlanta. 

On today's show I'm talking with Loe and Austin about the merits of purpose built townhouses for rent. This particular product offers some advantages and differentiation in the market when compared with large scale higher density multi-family complexes. Loe can be reached at loe@thesageoak.com and Austin can be reached at austin@angdevelopment.com

On today’s show we’re talking about the missing middle. Modern cities tend to get most new housing in either very low-density (usually suburban), or very high-density buildings. In many North American cities, most new units are either detached, semi-detached and townhouse units, or else condo apartments in high-density high-rise towers. The mid-density stuff in between tends to be harder to produc...

On today’s show we’re talking about one vision for retirement that a number of people are actively doing. For some people, the vision of retirement is that they will take time and travel the world. There’s no better way to do that than aboard a cruise ship. From the early 1970’s my parents traveled extensively on cruise ships. In fact my father spent no less than 800 days aboard a cruise ship. He...

On today’s show we’re talking about government over-reach which has been partially stopped in one instance. Municipal Governments all over North America are trying to implement rules to improve the quality of rental accommodations in their cities. One of the methods is called proactive enforcement. That’s code for inspections. The theory is that if landlords know their property will be inspected,...

For better or worse, we are addicted to growth. Our financial system that is heavily based on rising debt, virtually requires perpetual growth. When businesses shrink, bad things happen. Not only do people lose their jobs, businesses face problems meeting their debt obligations. If they shrink too much, then really bad things happen. When governments create conditions that are intended to help wor...

Dr. Kevin Hsu from NYC asks, “ I’m curious your opinion on something I heard Jeremy Roll and various other experts say on podcasts in 2019 - that the market is very hot in Multifamily in the past several years, cap rates getting compressed, and the best thing would be to wait on the sidelines for the correction and then jump in.” Kevin, that’s a great question. There are two schools of thought whe...

Sean Gray has a special message for those under 30, and in particular, those who are twenty-two without a clue. By getting in the right environment,  by hanging out with Robert Kiyosaki and Ken MacElroy, he's managed to develop skills that are unusual for someone so young. Sean is on a mission to help those young folks who are trying to figure out their path in life, and how to ask themselves...

My good friend Robert Helms of The Real Estate Guys Radio Show has just completed the second full year of operation at Mahogany Bay Village, a Hilton Curio Collection Resort. This is an extraordinary property with features and experiences that are unique in the world. Like me, Robert also is passionate about goal setting. He hosts the Create Your Future Retreat in Lake Las Vegas on Jan 17-18. You...

On today’s show we’re talking about one of the latest ideas in community design. It’s the 15 minute neighborhood. The idea behind the 15 minute neighborhood is that everything you need to live your daily life should be within 15 minutes walking distance of your home. That means a trip to the grocery store, a trip to the office, and a trip to the dry cleaner would all be within a 15 minute walk. Tr...