The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

On today's show we are talking about a new development project in Spokane. We believe it's important to design products that are differentiated in the market. We will be hosting a webinar on September 19 and would invite you to attend. To register for the webinar, click on the link below. If you can't attend at the specific time, we will send you a recording of the webinar. https://event.webinarjam.com/register/11/8y93rf9 ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are talking about buildings that are built so fast that they cannot possibly be structurally sound.  Guess what? They’re not. These buildings have been called Tofu Dreg buildings.  It’s not unusual in China to see 30 story buildings being erected in a fraction of the time we see in North America. Sometimes in only a couple of months. That’s incredibly fast. These buildings are clearly visible during construction. There is a concrete slab being poured on top of a grid of concrete columns. Many of them don’t have proper shear walls.  Observing virtually anything in China is very impressive. They throw armies of people at solving virtually any problem. I’ve witnessed this first hand on visits to China. Many of the projects are built by very low paid migrant workers.  The problem with using this approach in construction is that these buildings are structurally unsound. Concrete requires time to cure and harden. Concrete buildings have forces to contend with apart from just gravity. The lateral loads on a building due to the wind can cause them to collapse like a house of cards.  The number of high rise building failures in China is alarming. We are talking about buildings that are less than 20 years old. These buildings should not be failing, not even after 50 or 100 years.  ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Kent Ritter is based in Indianapolis where he has built a portfolio of multifamily apartments. His firm Hudson investing is undertaking its first development project in a suburb or Indianapolis and on today's show we are talking about the transition to new development and some of the nuances of making that shift. You can connect with Kent at kentritter.com ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Ben Fraser is based in Kansas City and is involved in multiple asset classes. On today's show we're talking about industrial and understanding some of the nuances of that segment. To connect with Ben and to learn more, visit aspenfunds.us ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are looking at a headline article in the WSJ.  The topic is banking. Think about it. Every bank’s risk management department would have stress tested the existing loan portfolio. They would have looked at the maturity dates of each loan, and forecast what would happen to those loans if they were refinanced at today’s rates. We have not seen a massive wave of defaults yet. Yes, a few hotels have fallen over, and a bunch of corporate debt has caused bankruptcies. Trucking company “Yellow” is a great example of a company that fell into a debt trap. The SF Hilton is another.  By and large the banks are still showing strong balance sheets. But the signs are clear that they are not writing new loans. They want to write new loans. That’s how banks make money. They just can’t.  That’s why Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase was quoted as saying “All loans are bad”. This is not an issue of a few mid-sized banks. This is every single bank. We had more than a decade of low interest rates being “normalized”. Doubling and in some cases tripling the cost of capital in less than a year is inflicting massive pain across the entire debt based economy.  The Wall Street Journal article totally misses the essence of problem. The article is shrouded in sanitized language. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

 On today’s show, we are talking about some of the dynamics that are showing up in the small investor segment of the real estate market. We are starting to see anecdotal boots on the ground evidence of properties being offered for sale that in my opinion are experiencing negative cash flow. In many major cities a small but significant percentage of condominiums, between 20-25% of new construction condos are owned by smaller individual investors who in turn put these properties into the rental market. Overwhelmingly these smaller condo units are investor owned. You often see the smaller lower cost units in condo buildings being purchased by investors, typically in preconstruction, prior to the building even breaking ground. In my home city these smaller units were really designed to maximize the revenue per square foot. These are small units! Many are between 400SF-500SF. These studio apartments are often very difficult to furnish. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today's show we are going to talk about the world of exempt market securities. But before we do, then let me make it clear. I am not a lawyer, nor am I a securities lawyer. The purpose of today’s show is not to provide legal advice, but merely to arm you with perhaps enough knowledge to ask questions of your legal advisory team. The reason we are even covering this today is because I get frequent questions from both newer and seasoned investors on the various types of securities offerings, and why one might be different than another. --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are talking about the difference between two types of inflation. Economists have terminology for inflation that is used to describe the nature of the inflation. The first is cyclical inflation. This type of inflation is caused by a short term economic disruption, for example a supply shock. Once that supply shortage is resolved, prices tend to normalize and the inflation essentially disappears. Some economists use the term transitory to describe a cyclical inflation.  The second type of inflation is called secular. This is a deeper and more systemic type of inflation that tends to persist because it is being driven by multiple factors including the so-called wage price spiral.  Once you have secular inflation, it is much more difficult to eliminate from the economy.  It appears as though we have a cyclical inflation happening right now. The supply shock that occurred during the pandemic has subsided. Inventories are bloated and prices are falling as suppliers compete more aggressively for customer’s business.  Secular inflation is when inflation expectations become anchored. The factors influencing inflation become systemic and entrenched.  On today’s show I’m going to make a case that even though we are in a disinflationary period, and parts of the world are experiencing deflation, the disinflation we are experiencing is a result of a cyclical downturn against the backdrop of a longer secular cycle.  ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today's show we’re taking a look at the big picture of the housing market in both the United States and Canada and asking the simple question. Is this a healthy housing market? If so, then why and if not, why not? -------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Ross Hamilton is the founder of Connected Investor, which was sold to First American Title a little over a year ago. On today's show we are talking about some of the technology innovations that are coming to the world of real estate transactions. To connect with Ross, you can email him directly at ross@successcap.com. His charity is savinghomes.org which is doing amazing work to help people out of distress situations. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com