The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

Where is the line between break and enter, theft, and a tenant being evicted unlawfully?  Well, that is now being finally clarified in a couple of states. If someone breaks into your house and starts stealing your stuff, then you would do the natural thing and call the police to have the crooks arrested. But when the police show up, if those people claim to be a tenant, the police will probably tell the owner to have them evicted through civil litigation in the court system. In many states, this process can take upwards of years.  The state of Florida just passed legislation that restores property rights to property owners.  ----------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are talking about flooding. When it rains you have to think about where the water is going to go. We’ve all heard the advice about how to always pitch your tent in a high location and to avoid the low spots where water will flow in the event of a rainstorm. The same advice applies to construction. Except the construction itself can be a source of problems when it comes to storm water management. Storm water management is governed by a set of principles, that is to say the laws of physics and often further constrained by regulations from multiple jurisdictions. The basic principle behind most of the regulations is that Mother Nature was perfect in her design of our planet and that it is the alterations caused by humans that are responsible for messing things up. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today's show we are jumping into the realm of Artificial Intelligence and George is answer a question that was composed by an AI bot. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Today's show is an extract from a longer talk given by Dr. Chris Martenson at the Ottawa Real Estate Investors Organization on March 13. Chris is the founder of Peak Prosperity. You will find lots of amazing content on a wide spectrum of topics at the Peak Prosperity website. To learn more and to connect with Chris visit peakprosperity.com --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are talking about how education is changing, and in particular what that means for owners of student housing.  When you make an investment in student housing you are making a few fundamental assumptions. The enrolment in the institution will grow or at least remain constant.  Students will still need to come to campus to attend classes. Foreign students entering the country will generally need more student housing than local students who might be able to live at home with parents.  The demand for student housing will grow over time, or at least remain constant. If the demand drops, then you can expect vacancy to increase in the local market and for rental rates to drop. Students will make housing decisions based on lowest price.  When you make an investment in student housing you want these assumptions to hold true for longer than your forecast holding period for your investment.  ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are making sense out of the latest results from the Federal Open Market Committee’s two day meeting which concluded on Wednesday of this week with J Powell’s press conference on Wednesday afternoon. I watched the press conference in its entirety. Chair Powell didn’t field too many difficult questions.  There were a couple of things in the press conference that I thought were noteworthy. The mainstream media keep talking about 3 rate cuts this year. But I didn’t hear that in his talk. What I did pay attention to was his target for interest rates in the next month, and by the end of the year. 

Earlier this week, the National Association of Realtors announced a settlement agreement to the class action lawsuit that was widely publicized late last year. On today's show we are talking about the implications of the settlement. Sadly, the likely result is that it will harm the very people the lawsuit was designed to help. For commercial transactions, there is no impact. The practices in residential real estate are being brought into line with what is already the practice in the world of commercial. Commercial real estate puts the burden of risk on the buyer and this is understood. ------------

On today's show we are looking at what investors are predicting for the coming year. Data from Colliers and CBRE form the basis of today's show. The CBRE investor sentiment survey indicates what investors think will happen this coming year. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

On today’s show we are talking about market fundamentals. Our listeners are real estate investors. But that means they’re investors first. The investor mindset is based on fundamentals.  When we assign value to a corporation, that translates into a share price if that stock is publicly traded. All other things being equal, the stock will trade at a multiple of net earnings.  The conventional wisdom is that in times of economic boom, net earnings tend to swell and the share price of the company will increase to reflect the higher earnings of the company.  In times of recession, revenues fall, and earnings usually take an even bigger hit. The share price of those publicly traded companies get punished accordingly.  So we have a strange situation going on in Japan at the moment. The economy is clearly in recession, and has been for some time. We have a Japanese stock market index that is up by 30% over the past six months during a time when the economy is limping along. There’s nothing like a good old Wall Street style share buyback to wallpaper over weak corporate earnings.  ---------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com

Jon and Kevin Ratner form part of the Forest City legacy and are currently leading a new venture called The Max Collaborative. They've taken their decades of experience running a public real estate development company and translated into unique product offerings with energy efficiency, design and sustainability as underpinning qualities. To connect with Jon and Kevin, visit themaxcollaborative.com ---------- Host: Victor Menasce email: podcast@victorjm.com