The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

If you have been following me for a while you will know that I come from an engineering and product design background. I view the world through the lens of product design where you are designing a specific product for a specific customer. If you buy a rental apartment building and decide you are going to lease it out to tenants, this is still a product designed with a specific customer in mind. It is human centred design. Our book ...

On today’s show we are talking about the softening of the residential housing market that is underway across both the US and Canada. 

The seasonally adjusted numbers are in for the month of June which now shows four months of steady decline compared with the previous months. Again, we need to remember that these are seasonally adjusted numbers. The June numbers are still about 2% higher than the same period in 2024. 

This is true for...

On today’s show we are unpacking the shocking GDP announcement that was published at 8:30 on Wednesday morning July 30. The market expected a 2.3% growth rate and the actual published number blew past the expectation with a 3% annualized growth rate in the second quarter. This is in stark contrast to the negative 0.5% growth rate in the first quarter.

So the obvious question is how did the economy swing from economic contraction in ...

On yesterday’s show we talked about building perimeter access. This is part of an entire building system for your residential apartments. 

The other main question is how to provide keys for your apartments. If you use a hotel key card system then you are sending an indirect message to your residents that you don’t expect them to stay for very long and that idea can get planted in a resident’s mind early in the process. They may not ...

On today’s show we are looking at one of the most over-looked aspects of real estate product design. The problem is that the architects don’t get involved. The electrical engineer and electricians don’t get involved, and the general contractor doesn’t get involved. These systems often end up as an oversight or an afterthought. 

Let’s start with building access. On today’s show we are going to only focus on securing the perimeter of ...

Marc Koran is based in Montreal, Quebec which is the headquarters of Campus Habitations. The first of several projects is in Mont Tremblant, a ski resort just North of Montreal. On today's show we are talking about the benefits of renting apartments to corporate clients and not just individual tenants. To connect with Marc and to learn more, visit https://www.campushabitations.com/ or connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www...

Patrick Grimes is based in Honolulu Hawaii where he is a principal at Passive Investing Mastery. On today's show we are talking about what true diversification looks like. As many of you know, our team develops senior housing and this coming week, I'll be part of a panel on senior housing. To connect with Patrick and to learn more about the panel discussion on Senior Housing, visit https://passiveinvestingmastery.com/.

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On today’s show we are talking about the conversion of office space. 

The problem with most office buildings is that they are the wrong shape to build apartments. Many office buildings are square in shape and most apartment buildings are rectangular, or L shaped, or U shaped. 

Apartment buildings need lots of windows. Living rooms need windows and bedrooms need windows. Offices do benefit from natural light, but in truth, a sunny sou...

On today’s show we are looking at what might become another tectonic force in the world of real estate investing. 

The White House provides a steady stream of topics that are worthy of discussing on any real estate podcast. This week is no exception. On Tuesday of this week, the President floated the idea that maybe houses will be exempted from capital gains tax. The thinking is that this would stimulate the real estate market. 

A ch...

On today’s show we are looking at the impact of data centres on the local economy where these are located. We are looking at the energy component, and the technology life cycle. 

You have no doubt heard the statement that “energy is the economy.” It is true that for every unit of GDP there is an equivalent unit of energy consumed somewhere in the world. 

But in this instance, energy is the lifeblood of the AI industry. In addition to...

On today’s show we are talking about changes in lending policies and how these are affecting commercial real estate loans. 

But first. I’d like to give the listeners to the podcast the opportunity to be among the first to get visibility of an exciting new project that will form part of our industrial portfolio. The project is located on a 21 acre parcel in Bradenton Florida. This is an area that has an acute shortage of property tha...

On today’s show we are talking about math. Yes, I know, not everyone likes math. We are going to be talking about the concept behind the time value of money and the different measures that are used to describe the time value of money. 

So when we are talking about time value of money, we can talk about the present value, the future value, and rates of return as all related by the same types of mathematical operations. 

A lot of inves...

Zach Westerfield is based in Forsyth Georgia where he specializes in renovating historic properties. The economics of these projects are impossible without the inclusion of either Federal or State tax credits that are confined to specific historic districts and properties that meet the historic designation criteria. This is a fascinating segment that is often overlooked. To connect with Zach, visit southvp.com

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**Real Es...

Jace Graham is with Rising Phoenix Capital where he invests in oil and gas leases. This is the real estate end of the oil industry which is entirely based on royalties.

To learn more, visit https://www.laplatapeakfund.com/

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I’d like to give the listeners to the podcast the opportunity to be among the first to get visibility of an exciting new project that will form part of our industrial portfolio. The project is located on a 21 acre parcel in Bradenton Florida. This is an area that has an acute shortage of property that is even zoned for industrial uses. The project is not open yet for investment. This is an opportunity for interested parties to lear...

On today’s show we are talking about how some trade measures make no sense whatsoever.

If you have children who grow into adults, you know that if those children become overly dependent on their parents, they ultimately fail to launch. These are the children in their 30’s and 40’s still living at home with their parents and having their parents subsidize their lifestyle. There is no incentive for them to figure out how to become...

We keep hearing the refrain that there’s billions of dollars sitting on the sidelines for commercial real estate. Well if that’s true, then why is it so hard to raise capital in the current environment? Every investor and every developer I speak with is saying that investors are sitting on their wallets. 

There is a substantial amount of dry powder available for commercial real estate investment across various firms, with London-bas...

If you’ve been listening to this show for a while you will know that I’m a proponent of the law of supply and demand. To me, the law of supply and demand is a little like gravity. If you choose to try and fool gravity, you’re probably going to end up on the losing end of that bargain. It’s the same with supply and demand. 

On today’s show we are looking at three forms of downward pressure being exerted in the student housing arena. ...

On today’s show we are talking about access to US Federal low income housing tax credits. This is something that frankly has not made headlines. 

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is the primary federal program for encouraging the development and preservation of affordable rental housing in the United States. Here's how bonding capacity links to LIHTC and how recent legislation has changed the requirements.

The Ac...