Hi Victor, How does an investor or property owner identify the best use and development potential or highest long-term cash flow opportunity for a particular property? Last year, we purchased a 2 acre piece of land with over 400 feet of commercial road frontage in one of the fastest growing areas in the country. Comps in the area show anywhere from $8.00 per sq foot (for vacant parcels with less road frontage) and up to $30.00 per sq foot on outparcels for a nearby Publix grocery store currently under construction opening this Summer. Certainly not a primary or even secondary market… but perhaps tertiary since it’s outside of Mobile, AL in the path of growth! Nevertheless, the opportunities are vast and perhaps endless. In what direction should we look to best determine the land’s most lucrative use? --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show I’m going to share what I learned in my meeting with the Mayor. This was a quick trip down to Lake Charles Louisiana for the sole purpose of having lunch with Mayor Nic Hunter and the City Administrator. Three other team members came to the meeting from Dallas and Houston. We had two bankers travel several hours from Baton Rouge and New Orleans. This one hour lunch meeting involved a lot of travel for a lot of people. Much as we have been making do over the past two years with zoom meetings, we have also experienced incredible delays with city officials taking a long time to respond to simple queries. It has become clear to me that the act of jumping on a plane to meet someone face to face has the human effect of elevating you in importance. When they know that you traveled an entire day for the sole purpose of meeting with them, they will meet with you. You will become elevated in their priority. The Mayor needed to go to the State legislature to argue for additional money for storm recovery. The would have impacted our meeting. But because he knew we were all traveling from out of town to meet with him, he re-arranged his schedule and turned an afternoon meeting into a lunch meeting. We became a priority to him. For those of you who know me, you know that I have a technology background. I am an early adopter of new technologies and am an advocate of technologies. I regularly spend half of my day or more in zoom meetings. I’m here to tell you that traveling to meet people face to face will be the new super power in 2022 and beyond. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today’s question comes from Aaron in Dallas I’m 32 years old and currently working as a physician assistant in the emergency room, but I have been wanting to do real estate investing full-time for the past three years. I have saved a few hundred thousand and want to invest it real estate and be an active full time investor however I know that a lot of this industry takes experience since deals are hard to come by which has led me too seek an internship with a seasoned real estate investing organization. Currently I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am even up for moving if it would be strategic to have a “boots on the ground” representative in a specific market for an investment company.  I have a great deal of respect for you and this may be a stretch but would even be curious about what you look for in an intern. Any words of wisdom or guidance would be greatly appreciated! -------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re talking about overshoot. Overshoot is a phenomenon that exists in all kinds of systems. Overshoot exists in physics. Overshoot exists in individual behaviour. Overshoot therefore exists in markets. What is this overshoot that we’re talking about? Imagine if you were driving down the highway at high speed and the sign for your turnoff was only visible after your exit. Most people would miss their exit. That’s why there are plenty of signs leading up to your exit, telling you to prepare to get off the highway. Then the designers of the highway add a special lane to help you slow down for your exit so that your exit is nice and orderly. If there were no signs, then the exit would be chaotic. People would slam on the brakes. They would try and back up into oncoming traffic to get off the highway. Or if they get off at the next exit, they’ve clearly got some ground to make up. They overshot the exit. Overshoot happens because of momentum, and because the signs appear too late. So what does this have to do with real estate? Overshoot can happen in real estate markets too. There is a shortage of supply in the market. So builders construct lots of new houses. They continue to sell well. Builders keep building and building and building. By the time the signs start to appear that the market is over-supplied, the market is already over-supplied. The greater the lag time between the decision to start construction and the market data, the greater the amount of overshoot. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On January 31, the European Supervisory Authority which oversee the European Banking Authority, The European Insurance and Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority issued a position paper. The body issued a Joint European Supervisory Authority response to the European Commission’s February 2021 Call for Advice on digital finance and related issues. This 109 page document outlines how the regulator is concerned with the rapidly evolving picture of distributed financial services. The regulator is used to financial transactions flowing through a manageable number of relatively centralized institutions like banks, brokerage houses, and publicly listed stock exchanges. In the 109 page document, they don’t do much except wring their hands in worry over something that has been rapidly becoming mainstream over the past five years. So what does this all mean? It means that the EU is playing catch-up, as are governments the world over. We have seen governments very slow to respond to technology. It’s taken nearly three decades since the advent of the internet for governments to even figure out how to get major platforms to collect sales taxes. It’s easy to assume that new technologies that are not covered by regulations will be exempt from regulation.

Jerome Myers is based in Greensboro North Carolina where he coaches students from across the country in how to grow their real estate investment business. To connect with Jerome, visit JeromeMyers.co ---------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Preston Walls grew up in a real estate family. Today, he builds medium sized apartment buildings in the heart of Seattle. Preston takes a hyper-local perspective to real estate and continues to thrive in an otherwise difficult market. To connect with Preston visits WallsPropertyGroupRE.com. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re going to look at the insanity of cause and effect relationships that are being promoted in our economic system. I’m an engineer by training. When you look at systems in the physical world, they follow the laws of physics. Galileo understood these principles at an early age when he dropped two cannon balls of different weights from the leaning tower of Pisa. To everyone’s shock and amazement, both cannon balls landed at the same time. Back in those days, Galileo experienced political pressure and division. But the physics didn’t care about the established power structure in the community.

I’ve had a number of podcast guests and listeners ask about what it takes to be a guest on this show. On today’s show we’re going to look at two aspects of podcast recording. What I’m going to talk about is equally applicable to a radio show or even video. We are talking about audio quality. I’m often approached by real estate investors to be a potential guest on this show. I would say that I average about 2-3 requests per day to be a guest on the show. I reject the vast majority because I don’t think they would be a good fit for you, the listener. Our listeners are sophisticated investors. Many of you are experienced apartment investors. Some own thousands of units. We have listeners who are investment bankers. We have lenders. We have people who are architects and engineers who work for some of the major commercial builders around the nation. You are not a rookie audience. We are not the “We buy houses” crowd who are out there sending thousands of mailers hoping to close a tiny percentage of distressed home owners. In order to be a guest, you have to have a message that is relevant to our listeners. That’s a given. Next you have to be able to deliver quality audio. On today’s show we’re going take a deep look at audio quality. I want you to hear the difference between a professionally recorded and edited show, versus one that has been thrown together. When you are listening to a show with high production values, you don’t notice the audio quality. It is effortless to listen to even in a wide range of environments. -------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re taking a look at housing sentiment. The folks at Fannie Mae conduct some of the best research in the nation. The just published their housing sentiment survey for January 2022 and the results show some interesting feelings about real estate. The survey consisted of 1006 households from Jan 3 to Jan 24. The home sentiment purchase index has a number of components. They look at questions like Is it a good time to buy? Is it a good time to sell? Will home prices go up, down or stay the same? The survey looks at job security and whether people are concerned about Respondents also predicted their expectation for home price increases and rental price increases. --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

This question comes from Jen in Bulgaria. She asks, I’m preparing to close on a house purchase that forms part of an attached dwelling. The basement apartment is a separate apartment and the lady who lives in the basement has been there nearly 50 years. The attic space which forms part of the main house is a third level. Legally, the attic space is written in the deed as a shared space. This means that the basement apartment has a partial claim to the attic space which is not truly connected to the basement. Think of it almost like an easement. We want full access to the attic space for living space and don’t want the risk of the lady in the basement making a claim to it. Would you take the risk of asking her to sign a release? She is probably unaware that she even has a theoretical claim to a fraction of the shared attic space. The lady in the basement is probably interested in selling her flat in a couple of years. How would you handle the situation? ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re talking about a relatively new environmental standard that is increasingly being referenced by government in order to qualify for certain incentives. That standard is called the 2020 Enterprise Green Communities. This standard is being adopted if you want to take advantage of affordable housing credits or affordable housing funding in most states of the country. ------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Our guest today hails all the way from Austin Texas where his team invests in commercial office, retail, and shopping centers on a national basis. On today's show we're talking about the focus for thriving in the current pandemic-adjusted market conditions. To connect with Ben or to learn more, visit hjhinvestments.com.  ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today's show I'm speaking with Las Vegas financing broker Beau Eckstein about the Commercial PACE program which provides leading specific to energy efficient buildings. To learn more or to connect with Beau, visit beaueckstein.com. ------------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re taking a look at Canada. There was a recent prediction of market collapse of 10%-20%. The prediction came from Canada’s top bank regulator. We also have bureaucrats and politicians out there blaming house flippers for the run up in property prices. So we’re going to take a deeper look at how real estate markets work and see if we agree with the head banking regulator. While the example we’re looking at is in Canada, the same thinking can be applied to your local market conditions. --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re talking about the shift that is taking place in the world of banking. The landscape in banking varies widely in the US. There are a handful of big banks and still a whole lot of smaller banks. Banking in the US has undergone a tremendous amount of consolidation. Before the financial crisis in 2008, there were over 10,000 banks. Over the past decade, that number dwindled to about 6,000. As of today, the FDIC lists 4,982 banks in total. Many of these are small community banks with only a handful of physical branches. Some were forced into consolidation after the banking regulator determined that the weaker banks were too thinly capitalized in their stress tests. There is a difference between banks. Many depositors choose their bank based on convenience to the closest physical branch. Some depositors choose their bank based on incentives like a free toaster to open an account. Others choose the bank based on the fees charged on each account. We like to use smaller community banks for borrowing against local real estate projects. The executive team and loan committee understand the local market better than the large national banks. These smaller banks have a bit more latitude in their lending criteria. When you deal with a large national bank like Wells Fargo or Chase you are just a number and their policies are often dictated by market conditions in other cities that don’t actually apply in your city. But I’m also here to tell you thank banking is about to undergo another major transformation. Some banks choose to grow organically. Others choose to grow through acquisition. TD, which is a Canadian bank is increasingly a major player in the US market. Most American clients don’t even know that TD stands for Toronto Dominion Bank. TD announced in their latest investor disclosures that they plan to hire 2,000 software developers this year. That’s on top of the 350 software developers that were hired in 2021. When you consider the full cost of investment in that large a software development team, you are looking at more than $500M dollars per year. TD is consciously making a decision to add $500M in operating expense to annual budget. Said differently, they’re choosing to remove $500M in profit from the bottom line return to shareholders on an annual basis. That’s a massive investment. What will they be doing with all these software developers? Listen to find out.

On today’s show we’re talking about how demand patterns will change in the wake of the pandemic. How will our world be different post-pandemic. Will people want to dine out the way they did before? I just spent a month in Mexico at a resort with incredibly beautiful restaurants. I have to say, I really enjoyed eating out in restaurants after nearly two years of not experiencing restaurants. Like anything, there will be a transition. But transitions always come in waves. Transitions are started by the innovators. These are the folks who are blazing a trail before anyone else is even aware that an option exists. These are next followed by the early adopters. These folks love to try things that are new. The next major group are the early majority, followed by the late majority, and then finally the laggards. This adoption curve applies to virtually anything. It applied historically to the radio, then television, video tape recorders, digital cameras, cell phones. It applied to travel by steam ship, air travel and it will apply to space travel. The adoption curve applied to buying groceries online. It applies to electric cars. The adoption curve applies to working from home. The adoption curve applied to using credit cards for purchases. Today that same curve will apply to changes in the way people travel. The way people choose to live. When you look at the adoption curve, it looks like a letter S. Adoption is slow at first and then accelerates through the middle, and then finally takes a long long time to reach the remaining holdouts in the population. I still know a few people who don’t own a cell phone. But not many. The question is whether you are dealing with a fad or a trend? A fad will achieve market prominence and then fade. Are electric cars a fad or a trend? Are Cruise ships a fad or a trend? How are these trends or fads related? Is your real estate capable of providing rapid charging for electric vehicles? Do your buildings have secure e-commerce delivery lockers? Homes in the old days used to have a locker for milk delivery next to the front door. Fascinating that the same concept is being reincarnated a few decades later. ------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re taking a deep look at the book “Rocket Fuel” by Gino Wickman and Mark Winters. In addition to being book of the month, this is a book that we use deeply within the operation of our business. We hold regular weekly and quarterly meetings. The conduct of those meetings is framed through the teachings of this book, along with two other books. Not only that, we have undertaken a book study within the leadership team of our assisted living business. The various construction managers, regional executive directors for each site, and the CEO of our operations company are all participating in the book study. The way we conduct the book study is by reviewing one chapter each week together on a 30-45 minute zoom call. Each of the members of the team shares what they internalized from that chapter and how the teachings of that chapter apply to our business. If you haven’t undertaken a book study, this is another way to consume content that involves internalizing the book’s contents in a meaningful way. So let’s dig into the book Rocket Fuel. The title might seem a little obscure. The idea behind the title is that rocket fuel is made up of two vastly different elements, hydrogen and oxygen. By themselves, hydrogen and oxygen don’t have huge energy potential. But in combination, the results are extraordinary. So what does this obscure analogy have to do with business? In companies that have visionary leadership, many of them fail because they lack the leadership to execute. At the other end of the spectrum, companies that focus on execution alone and lack vision also underperform. Those companies that achieve escape velocity are those that have a visionary leader, and an integrator. These are different skills and the magical pairing of these two attributes in two top leaders are the key to enable breakthrough performance. --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

The day was Black Monday, October 19, 1987. I remember it well. I was 24 years old and I was responsible for the management of the investment holding company that my mother had left behind when she died. I was only 18 years old at the time of my mother’s death. I knew very little about investing back in those days. I studied a lot and fortunately during those five years from 1982 through to 1987, the market conditions were very forgiving and it was had to make mistakes. But October 19 and the days that followed were very scary for a young 24 year old fund manager. --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today's show we're talking about how the rising price of energy could impact real estate investors. I love George's wisdom and perspective.  ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Ryan Barone is based in NY where he is specialized in developing software to help landlords and tenants with the application process. He is the CEO of RentRedi.com. Today's conversation is filled with insights on the tenant application process.  ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today's show we are looking at two real estate portfolio failures where the principals naively thought they were getting good legal advice. Sadly, I see these situations very frequently.  ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today is another AMA episode (Ask Me Anything). Keeler writes: Hello, what are your thoughts are with 3D printed concrete houses? I have dreamt about starting a company and mass-producing rentals and for-sale homes ever since being in the trades. Building custom homes, schools, apartments over the last 5 years I've seen how slow buildings take to be built, especially when there are better and faster options. I believe that they are going to take the market by storm. At least in the warmer climates, they are quicker turnaround, durable, slick, different, and cheaper to make than the wood-framed houses with fewer people involved. Do you think the average purchasing public, renters, investors, or developers might turn their nose at such an idea as a concrete house built in a couple of weeks? Any considerations that you may be a roadblock? -------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re answering a second part to the short term rental question from the students at Virginia Commonwealth University and their Professor Joe Ridpath. It is true that short term rentals are attracting attention from amateur investors. The promise of a higher average rent compared with the traditional unfurnished lease makes for a stronger business case. But as with anything in the economy, you need look at the business case through the lens of supply and demand. ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re going to pick apart the Wall Street narrative. In the world of stock investing, there are two schools of thought. There is a portion of the market that buys a stock on the basis of fundamentals. Fundamentals means, is the valuation for the company cheap or expensive based on its ability to generate earnings. What are the earnings multiples? In essence, what is the cap rate? ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today’s show is answering a question for the students at Virginia Commonwealth University and their professor Josh Ridpath who has been using the Real Estate Espresso Podcast for course content in their program. Professor Ridpath writes: “My students found your content on the inflationary pressures of the shipping bottlenecks and increased prices for packaging eye-opening. Among my students, several of them only thought of real estate investing through the lens of Airbnb. I don’t have much experience in short-term rentals. Still, I thought it might make an interesting episode to make a quick comparison between the breakdown of income and expenses for a single-family home used as a traditional rental vs. a short-term rental. A lot of them only see the higher revenue on a nightly basis and have no basis for things like vacancy, management fees, and cleaning that isn’t typical in a traditional rental. Thanks for all of the great content.” ------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected] 

Jacob Garza hails all the way from San Antonio, Texas where he owns and manages a portfolio of approximately 2,800 apartments. Jacob got his start as a founder of a property management software company before selling the company and transitioning into owning apartments. You can learn more and connect with Jacob at [email protected] or you can visit his website at reepequity.com. ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Jenny Blake is the author of the upcoming book "Free Time: Lose the busywork, love your business". On today's show we're talking about a few of the central ideas in the book and about some of the factors that are limiting for business owners. Loved this conversation with Jenny Blake.  To order an advanced copy visit http://itsfreetime.com/book ----------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today is another AMA Episode (Ask Me Anything). Today's question comes from Joe who writes. "I live outside Boulder Colorado near the small town of Superior/Louisville.  We had just experienced a devastating fire that destroyed over 900 homes.  This comes at a time when inventory, for sale and for rentals, is at an all time low with massive demand (~0.3 months supply in Boulder County).  As a Realtor and landlord in the area, I am seeing my colleagues raising rents over 30% and removing homes previously listed on the market only to put them back up at 20% higher values a few days later. I understand the relisting homes at a higher price, as an agent we need to do what's best for our clients but as a landlord I am debating with myself on what our responsibilities to the local community to try and maintain a reasonable increase in rent and not try to gouge people in this hard time. I'd love to hear your thoughts on how we as investors can approach the unique surge in an already tight real estate market. Thanks for all your work on the podcast my wife and I listen every morning as part of our routine!" ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today’s question comes from Evan who writes. I have 3 rental properties and a primary residence that we'd be looking to retain and rent. Like a lot of people we're looking for a bigger house and bigger yard out in a charming suburb. I don't really know how to think about it though. It's much easier to crunch numbers on rental properties than it is a primary residence. On the one hand you have to live somewhere and real estate can be a great asset class and store of wealth, on the other hand it's a big expense and generally cash-flow negative. How do you look at buying a primary residence? Is this crazy housing boom we're in now a good time to buy? Is it only going to get crazier? ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re going to look at what’s happening in monetary policy and how that will affect the stock market in the coming weeks and months, and how this could affect investment psychology and some of the factors that could even trigger a recession. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today is another AMA episode (ask Me Anything). Today’s question comes from Anna who asks, “Thank you so much for all of your production and insight into real estate investing. You are highly regarded in the real estate investing realm. I have been trying to get into real estate investing for the past 2 years and seeking to do exactly what you did (make a hard left turn from my current career to full time real estate investing). I know you discuss the importance of the following 3 principals for getting into real estate investing: the right knowledge, the right mindset, and the right environment. I feel like I have grown a lot in gaining the right knowledge and mindset, but I feel like I have had trouble getting into the right environment. I know of real estate investing associations, but unfortunately I have found them to yield little fruit, maybe because everyone seems to have jumped on the real estate investing train and trying to rub elbows with the right people is like trying to find a needle in the hay stack. Maybe you could explain your personal experience with how to get into the right environment and how your experience in the mid 2000s compares to today. Any suggestions for how you would coach yourself today to solve the right environment principal?” --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

We are continuing our series on the evolution of the internet with Web 3.0. Every Monday in the month of January we are covering a different aspect of the new distributed internet, which most people associate with crypto-currencies like Bitcoin. On today’s show we’re talking about virtual land on the internet. There are a number of startups that are creating virtual worlds. There is a big bet being made that virtual reality will move out of the early adopter phase into becoming more mainstream. Facebook is placing a large bet on these virtual worlds, and they even changed the name of the company to Meta to reflect their bet on the metaverse. The internet has evolved from text to images to video. But video is not the end of the line. There is a far more immersive experience possible, whether it’s a real live video connection, like we experience today on zoom, or a virtual reality platform. The Meta product is called the Sandbox. All of the items inside a metaverse like land, furniture, avatars, clothing, artwork are made up of tokens. In the language of web 3.0, these are called non-fungible tokens or NFT’s. The first of these worlds is a game called Horizon Worlds. Some skeptics think there is no intrinsic value in these virtual systems. But that ignore the economic value of the entire gaming industry. The gaming industry is well established and clearly worth millions. Most of the advanced games on consoles like the Xbox or the Playstation have some version of an immersive virtual reality experience. But the spoils go to the platform owners and the software developers. These are relatively closed systems and the concentration of wealth is in the hands of a few. Web 3.0 hopes to democratize that. I personally have my doubts that it will happen. There needs to be interoperability between different platforms. You need to know that you own your avatar, and your tokens not the platform. Today the largest truly decentralized metaverse is on a platform called Decentraland. This is a virtual world with avatars that you can use to explore the locations. You can buy real estate in these worlds and you can resell the real estate. Like in the real world, you can visit places. ------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Yep, I'm going to be out of circulation for a few days. I've tested positive and am in an isolation area at a resort in Mexico. 

Dr. Neel Chadha is barely 30 years old, works full time in his medical practice and has developed his first senior housing facility as a side hustle. On today's show we're talking about his journey as a first time developer, and as a first time operator of a senior housing facility with several areas of specialty including assisted living and dementia care. This conversation is packed with powerful lessons.  ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today’s show is a search of quality real estate news in the mainstream media. I suppose it’s also a critique of the Wall Street Journal. I’ve been reading the Wall Street Journal since I was a teenager. Yes, I know that sounds completely weird. As a teenager, I would go to the news stand and purchase the physical paper. Even if I was traveling in Europe as a kid, I would buy both the FT and the WSJ and the differences between the US edition and the European edition of the WSJ were readily apparent. I would also regularly buy the Sunday edition of the NY Times. I loved the fact that the NY Times Sunday edition was so thick it would take me an entire week to go through it. But today, much as I appreciate some of the reporting in the WSJ, I have to give them a failing grade for their real estate section. I went in search of more mainstream publications hoping to find something meaningful on real estate. Forbes Magazine, owned by publisher and libertarian Steve Forbes, sadly had little more to offer. Their real estate page was filled with stories of luxury properties. One article talked about exploring Paradise Valley, Arizona’s most expensive zip code. I know that the Forbes Council on Real Estate has some esteemed members. But somehow the access to this talent has not translated into meaningful content in the publication. The Financial Times doesn’t have a real estate section at all. Their reporting of economic and stock market news rivals the quality of the WSJ. But again, no commercial real estate news. Even Bloomberg News doesn’t cover real estate. The latter is not that surprising because Bloomberg has its roots on Wall Street having developed the industry’s fastest trading terminals for market traders.

The 0Micron variant is not serious enough to bring the world to a halt. That is, except for one thing. Because this virus, barely more virulent than the common cold has been sequenced, it carries with it the dreaded Covid-19 brand name and therefore this is a disease that must be stopped at all costs. The problem is that it can’t be stopped. The World Health Organization came out publicly and stated yesterday that they expect 50% of Europeans to become infected with Covid-19 over the next several weeks. It’s actually astounding that the WHO is so far behind in reporting what has been evident for more than a month. Over the next two months we will continue to experience supply chain shortages across a wide array of products. China has shut down major regions to limit the spread of the disease as they prepare to host the winter Olympics. Further supply chain disruptions will result from China’s attempt to create a Covid free environment for the Olympics. This means that we will see rising prices as customers compete and bid up the price for increasingly scarce supply. But at the same time we will see a decline in GDP. This gives rise to the so-called stagflation that rarely occurs, but is theoretically possible whenever there is an artificial constraint on economic output that hampers the functioning of a free market economy. We are certain to see Q1 as a quarter of economic contraction. The big question is whether this will persist beyond first quarter. If you remember earlier last week I went out on a limb to predict that we are likely to witness the current outbreak of 0micron as the end of the pandemic within a matter of weeks. I predicted that the pandemic as we know it will be behind us by the end of February. I am standing by that prediction. But that doesn’t mean we won’t experience economic hardship during the next two-three months. ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re talking about the importance of market segmentation. Because real estate is not easily moved, the supply and demand picture is hyper local. That means each real estate product has a radius where the demand is real. Outside of that radius and the demand could fall off significantly. In real estate we tend to segment the market according to asset class. We look at demand for residential, for apartments, for office space, for retail space and so on. But that’s far too simplistic an approach. The analysts quote the market vacancy rate. But frankly that’s a useless metric. How does that break down when you compare new construction, versus older properties? How does vacancy compare in 1BR apartments versus 3BR apartments? How is the vacancy in studio apartments? What is the vacancy in short term rentals? The generalization provides zero insight to the specific question you are interested in answering. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today is another AMA episode (Ask Me Anything). Today's question comes from Kevin who writes: "Your podcast has been great. It has really challenged my thinking in a lot of ways. I particularly call back to (and continually share) the podcast you did talking about opening a restaurant and how much thought you put into the dishes. This way of thinking is a lifestyle and something so much more than dishes, its about details mattering in everything you do and sending a message to those around you that they matter. Thanks for that insight. If I can add, you are an investor in multiple countries and I aspire to do the same. I am wondering how you think about currency and functioning in multiple countries. Do you try to hold fiat in multiple countries or do you pull your profits home to your home currency? Do you try to time exchange rates? Do you try to hold foreign profits in something like gold or do you find safety being diversified in multiple fiats?" ----------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we are continuing our series on blockchain in real estate. There are dozens of articles on new blockchain startups to watch. Some are focused on crypto currency. A few are focused on real estate. Many of these companies seem to exist for the simple reason that they are a blockchain solution. When it comes to looking at any company, I always ask the same three questions. What problem is being solved that doesn’t have a good solution today? Is this a problem that people are willing to spend money to have solved? Are they willing to buy the solution from you? On today’s show we are going to look at several of the real estate blockchain startups through the lens of these three questions. ------------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Kent Ritter is based in Indianapolis, Indiana where he invests in medium sized multi-family apartment assets. This is a different take on value add investing where Kent is successfully bucking the conventional wisdom. To connect with Kent or to learn more, visit kentritter.com. ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we’re taking a closer look at modular construction and we’re going to be live on location at a modular construction plant. Modular construction comes in two principal methods. The first is where the manufacturer complete entire modules of the buildings. These modules are fully finished. They are fully painted, with flooring, utilities, and even the appliance fully installed and strapped in place to prevent them from shifting during transportation. Since these boxes can often be transported hundreds of miles from the factory to the final construction site, they have to be of extremely high build quality and extremely rigid so they don’t have lots of cracks in the finishes happen during transportation. The site work for these projects consists of the foundation and the rough-in of the utilities to a single connection point through a centralized utilities duct. The extra lengths of pipe and wires are all coiled up to enable the plumbers and electricians to complete the final utility connections in the basement level. The cost of modular box construction is usually on par with stick build. The savings come from the fact that the work performed in the factory environment is much more efficient from a labor standpoint. They don’t need licensed or unionized trades for the factory work, and the most expensive trades like plumbers and electricians are only needed for the final service connections. The total cost of construction involves adding together the site work with the factory construction and the much higher transportation cost for the finished boxes. These will be wide loads and will often require a carefully planned route with special permits and sometimes police escort. You will require heavy cranes on site for the final assembly of the modules. The second form of modular construction consists of panels. These panels can be flat packed on a flatbed truck on put in a shipping container. Transportation is much simpler. But understand that this form of assembly is much further from completion. You’re basically accelerating the framing portion of the construction. Everything else, the utilities rough in, mechanical systems like heating, ventilation and air conditioning all need to be installed onsite. The construction follows the usual permit process with all of the inspections happening onsite with the building inspector. There will be a foundation inspection, framing inspection, a rough-in inspection, insulation inspection and so on. The main benefit for panel construction is by saving time onsite. You get a much higher quality assembly. You don’t need very heavy equipment. Most of the onsite assembly can be done with a boom truck or even a forklift. This can be particularly important if you’re trying to build new construction in the winter months. If it’s -20 degrees outside, you can’t always count on the framing crew to be super careful with their measurements, ensuring the proper spacing of fasteners. You tend to get a bit of chain saw carpentry happening. When measurements are not accurate, then you will have gaps in the building envelope because things don’t fit together properly and the insulation of your property will be compromised. On today’s show we’re onsite with Dylan Sliter at Deka Pro Panels in Almonte Ontario. I’ll warn you in advance that we are in a very noisy factory environment with plenty of pneumatic tools firing in the background. So the audio quality is not the best. But we will be doing a small walking tour of the factory environment. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show we are looking in detail at the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve board of governors meeting to try and make sense of what the guidance means for us as real estate investors and developers. ---------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show I’m going to answer a question that I’ve received from several of our listeners in recent weeks. I’m not going to attribute the question to any one person. The basic gist of the question is “How do you do it?” How do you come up with so much highly varied content on a daily basis? A lot of the content has been clearly researched and was not just off the cuff verbal opinions. So the basic question is how do I come up with this wide array of content? ------------------ Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

Today is another AMA episode (Ask Me Anything). Today’s question comes Karen. I have a property that has a proposed road allowance on the city plan. The city has not yet forced the road to be built, nor have they expropriated the land for the road. I want to consider subdividing my property for a small residential subdivision and to get the property rezoned for residential from agricultural. I’m concerned that agricultural land will be worth less than residential land in the event of an expropriation. Residential lots that are builder ready are selling for $150,000 a lot in my area. What would be the best way to preserve the value of my property? How would you advise me to proceed? --------------- Host: Victor Menasce email: [email protected]

On today’s show I’m going out on a limb to give you information about the pandemic that is not making headlines. This will help you with your business planning for 2022. I want to be clear that I’m not a doctor and I’m not providing medical advice. I’m merely reporting the results of scientific studies that have been released for publication and are currently undergoing peer review. Once complete the peer review process, this information would be officially published whereas today it’s available as a pre print paper. You can draw your own conclusions about what this might mean for the course of this pandemic. There are numerous public health and governmental bodies sounding the alarm over 0Micron. This pandemic has taught us that anything is possible. First of all, the 0Micron variant is vastly more transmissible than its predecessors. You have been hearing that in the news for weeks. But the good news is that it is producing much less severe disease than it’s predecessors. We also know that if you have antibodies to one of the previous variants, you are not protected from catching 0Micron. The big question is whether antibodies from 0Micron will protect you from Delta, and that is what this study looks at. It was conducted by the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban South Africa. A number of institutions participated in the study. I’ve included the link to the paper in the show notes. https://www.ahri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/MEDRXIV-2021-268439v1-Sigal_corr.pdf We have already seen that the existing vaccines do not provide any antibody immunity against the 0Micron variant which is why many people who have been fully vaccinated are getting 0Micron. What they did is that they took samples from newly infected people at the onset of symptoms when the number of antibodies to protect against the virus is low because they have not yet been developed by the body’s immune system. We are not talking about Tcell immunity, but antibody immunity. The researchers measured the immunity from the initial sample against 0Micron and against Delta and then compared with a second sample taken 14 days after the onset of symptoms when presumably the body would have generated enough antibodies to fight off the disease. The question is whether the antibodies produced by 0Micron protect against Delta? That is what they looked at in this study.

On today’s show we are talking about the next great innovations in internet applications. In fact every Monday in the month of January we will be talking about some aspect of these new technologies. There is a disproportionate amount of venture capital being focused on blockchain technology. This is not only in Silicon Valley, but in Singapore, London, New York, Berlin, China and India. When we think of blockchain, images of crypto currencies like bitcoin and etherium come to mind. We’re not talking about digital money today. We’re going to look at how this next wave of digital applications are going to differ from the last generation. Today’s internet based applications are centrally hosted. There is a relationship between the host server and the client device which these days is usually a mobile device or a laptop computer. Most of the processing is happening in that centralized data Center. Applications like zoom which is in wide use are actually hosted by Amazon web services. These so-called Web 2.0 services have been concentrated In a handful of companies. We are talking about Google, Facebook, Amazon, Twitter. Microsoft continues to have a strong presence. The biggest difference between a centralized application and the blockchain is that the blockchain applications have their processing distributed among the clients. The idea behind this so-called Web 3.0 and the 2.0 is the centralized versus distributed processing. The hope and the promise of these distributed applications is that they don’t require a data Center in order to scale. It means that the adoption of new applications can be democratized.

Bob Couture lives in Los Angeles and invests in the North East. Not a typical situation. This is a fascinating story of remote investing with a twist. There are some excellent lessons on the importance of team in today's conversation. To learn more or to connect with Bob, he can be found at cp-propertygroup.com -------------- Host: Victor Menasce email:[email protected]