The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

Fortunes are changing in the market, just like at the casino. The key is to recognize the difference between investing and gambling. Sales are slowing and the days on market are extending to more normal levels.

Today's episode is full of surprises. In truth, this is a small sampling of the myriad of surprises we routinely in experience in the world of development projects.

I was reminded today why I invest in real estate. Analysts downgraded their estimate for Facebook's earnings, and the stock took a 24% hit overnight. As a small investor in the stock market you have no control. But as a real estate investor, one who focuses on value-added opportunities, I feel a tremendous level of control. The fundamentals of profitability seem to be missing when it comes to valuation of many companies listed on the NYSE. Real estate isn't perfect, but I have much more control.

In June, Chinese investors sold more US real estate than they purchased for the first time in 10 years. This reversal marks a huge shift in a growing trend of Chinese money buying marquis assets across the country over the past 5 years.

Today's episode was recorded in front of a live studio audience at Podcast Movement 2018 conference in Philadelphia. In today's talk I outline the deliberate thinking that is behind the design of the podcast, and the daily commitment to value that most precious commodity, your time as a listener of the show.

Recessions occur when producers expand in anticipation of continued growth in demand. They over estimate the true demand and by the time they realize their mistake, it's too late and they're sitting on excess inventory. How many places in the economy do you see this happening?

Today I'm taking you on a walking tour of several landmark properties in Manhattan and sharing some of the history behind those buildings. My mother was an architect on two of those projects and I give you a behind the scenes look (via audio) at what those buildings entailed.

Yes, this time the Province of British Columbia is giving condominium corporations the power to ban short term rentals in their bilaws and fine owners or residents up to $1,000 per day. The City of Los Angeles just passed a new motion that limits owners from renting their property for more than 120 days a year, and New York City increased their budget for enforcement and will hire 50 more employees to crack down on illegal short term rentals.

Earlier this week I spoke with George Ross about the current news cycle which is very focused on the outcome of the Helsinki Summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. George has a very clear way of looking at a situation and separating what actually happened from interpretation.

This is one of the most complex areas of property ownership, and one where common sense doesn't apply. There are so many special cases that the same water will change ownership depending on what happens to it along its journey from the sky into the ground.