David from Pittsburgh asks a great question, challenging what is often considered conventional wisdom in the world of real estate education. Traditional real estate educators recommend starting in single family homes. I know why they do it. It creates an early success. It's relatively easy. But is it truly helpful?

WeWork has grown from a single location in NYC 8 years ago to now being the largest single occupant of office space in New York with over 5.3 million square feet of office space. They have a massive enterprise valuation at $20B and they have yet to turn a profit. Even though they're big, the same math rules apply that would apply to a small business. On today's episode, we dig into one area that I believe is a fatal flaw in their business model.

Today we’re talking about whether higher US interest rates cause other countries to have financial trouble, and ultimately trigger the next global financial crisis. Italy's yield on 10 year debt reached a new 4 year high this week. Pakistan has raised interest rates and signaled to the IMF that it will seek a bailout. China raised short term interest rates 5% yesterday. That's right, 5% in one day. What does all this mean?

Last week another podcast was advocating an approach that I consider to be truly dangerous. I'm not one to openly criticize others. But in this case, I felt strongly enough that novice investors should hear an alternate point of view.

News headlines grab attention, they shape public opinion, and they bias the reader who only reads the first paragraph of a story. The Wall Street Journal had a front page headline "U.S. Unemployment Rate Falls to Lowest Level Since 1969". But is that really the whole story? Listen and find out.

Todd Sulzinger is a corporate finance executive in Silicon Valley and part-time developer. He has an intriguing project near Carson City Nevada that shows just how diversified the real estate industry can be.

Marco Santarelli operates a turn-key investment business that spans 21 markets across the US. The focus is single family homes that provide both cash flow and growth. Check out this fascinating interview with my good friend Marco.

What? Really? That sounds like a tenuous link at best. Stay with me on this. I promise to bring these two together. Have a listen.

I’m continually bombarded with offers to participate in deals. The vast majority make no sense. What’s more difficult is learning to say no when something is attractive enough to meet our criteria. It’s a little like the chipmunk with an acorn in each hand, an acorn stuffed in each cheek, and there’s an acorn on the ground in front of them. In order to pick it up, the chipmunk needs to put one acorn down.

Construction projects rarely complete in linear fashion. Sometimes, 2% of the effort can take more than 10% of the time. Modeling and predicting this project characteristic is difficult. The delays don't follow normal planning rules. On today's show we dig into a few examples of non-linear schedule impacts.

The latest revision of the North American Free Trade Agreement strengthen's the local motor industry. It's an industrial win for North American content in cars.

We're starting a new feature on the podcast where on the first of each month we'll review a new book that will transform your life of your business. This month we're reviewing "Who" by Geoff Smart and Randy Street.

Coming to you live from Northern France today where we've been attending the sailing expo in La Rochelle. Today, I share who some of my coaches are and the reasons why you might want a coach to accelerate your business.

The regularly schedule interview this weekend isn't available due to a technical problem. Instead, today we're talking about the I Gap. This is the gap that exists between where you are now and becoming an effective real estate investor.

All of the hype around blockchain technology is centered around crypto-currencies. But in truth blockchain is even more useful to solve real world problems. We explore these on today's show.

On today's episode we discuss the impact of higher short term rates on several different aspects of the economy. There is not only a higher cost, but a real destruction of wealth.

Last year we saw the first test of Europe's new bank bailout system in which Santander acquired Banco Popular for just 1 Euro. Last week, The Royal Bank of Canada announced the first of a new security called a "Bail-In Bond". This bond can be converted in shareholder equity if the bank runs into trouble. What does this all mean?

How is it that McDonalds took 17 minutes to deliver an order for two salads that required no preparation? Listen to find out.

I discovered that my book Magnetic Capital is missing a chapter. In discussion with several investors and syndicators over recent months, many are having trouble connecting with high net worth individuals who could eventually develop into meaningful funding relationships. In today's episode I discuss the most critical first impression and what's important to have happen in the first 15 seconds.

George Ross wrote the textbook on negotiation. His book "Trump Style Negotiation" was the result of 37 years experience at the Trump Organization as a senior executive where he was responsible for major negotiations. Today he shares his perspective on the global trade negotiation.

Damion Lupo is the author of "The Qualified Retirement Plan" for Syndicators. He wrote the book to help educate the marketplace on what is possible for qualified retirement investments.

Sadly, digital marketing techniques become so over-used that they very quickly fall into the spam category. Most newsletters have crossed the road and are now firmly in the spam category. How do you communicate with your customers in an effective way? How do you remain present in peoples minds? Have a listen.

Today's episode is a continuation of yesterday. So if you missed yesterday’s show, I suggest you stop today’s episode and go listen to that one first. Today’s show will make so much more sense if you do. I outline a simple 3 step process for getting an invitation from your funding partner to send the executive summary of a project. You don't want to push it on them. They should ask you for it.

This past weekend I was at a syndication conference in Dallas. I met one syndicator after another who were having trouble raising funds. After digging into it, I realized what the problem was. Far too many people have taken internet marketing courses. The approach you would use to sell baseball caps online are not appropriate for a $5M capital raise.

The impact of Hurricane Florence on homeowners in the Carolinas is immense with over 250,000 homes suffering damage or flooding. Flooding is widespread as some areas experienced more than 30 inches of rain. Sadly, about 10% of homes were insured near the coast, and about 1-3% in inland areas. The insurance industry will come out of this storm with little in the way of claims compared with the actual damage.

The City of West Hollywood has stopped one of the world's most iconic and revered real estate firms from operating medium term corporate housing in a new apartment building that they just acquired for $188M. The city's ruling stands in stark contrast to their own publicly stated regulations.

Ryan Wright is the founder and CEO of dohardmoney.com. They specialize in commercial asset based lending for real estate investors. In today's episode he is discussing their lending criteria, and how they decide which projects they undertake.

Our guest today specializes in designing and building secondary suites. These apartments can really make the difference between a home owner affording a home in an expensive area or not.

Adam from California asks a great question. What is your guidance for storing purchases of gold, silver and other precious metals? On today's show we talk about the different forms of precious metals investment and the benefits of one over the other.

Most people know that Lehman brothers collapsed very quickly. But they don't really know why. Today, we unravel the sorted mystery and look for other places where similar conditions might exist in the banking world.

Nela from California asks a great question. "Famous entrepreneurs like Donald Trump and Elon Musk are said to sleep less than the recommended 8 hours per night. How many hours do you sleep each night?" A discussion about sleep is really a discussion about how to manage your life when you're awake.

Traditionally, central bankers have used higher interest rates as a tool to cool an economy when it becomes overheated. They're trying to engineer the so-called soft landing and prevent the deep recessions that are reactions to oversupply. But these are not the only tools at their disposal. Central Bankers can also use regulation to provide finer control over the economy. While I'm not a fan of regulation, the impacts can be more surgical than the broadly based sledgehammer of higher interest rates.

Charlie Cichetti is a world leading specialist in energy efficient building design. His consulting firm based in Atlanta Georgia works on some of the most notable marquis properties in the US. Our conversation today went deep into some of the reasons why designing energy efficient buildings is important, and in particular how to create buildings that take human health into account.

Richard Wilson is the founder and CEO of the Family Office Club. They have 20 events each year and specialize in everything having to do with family offices. Listen to this very informative conversation about high net worth money management.

Adam asks a great question My grandmother taught me about the “pay yourself first” philosophy. What are your thoughts on this approach to allotting money for investment purposes? This is such a great question. In truth, it doesn't really mean "pay yourself first". It means establishing your values and priorities and using that framework to make monetary decisions.

The US Federal Reserve met in Jackson Hole Wyoming last week. At that meeting Fed chairman Powell said that they were going to keep rates low as long as possible. They were looking beyond inflation for signs of excess, and so far they can't find any. The Bank of Canada also announced yesterday that they were keeping their rate fixed at 1.5% while they wait to see how the renewed North American Free Trade Agreement talks play out. The result of the negotiation could impact inflation and the balance of trade between the two nations.

Adam asks whether Wholesaling can be a sustainable business, or whether it is simply a tool in the toolbox?

Today's episode dives deep into why family offices exist and what problems they can solve for families with wealth. It may seem like the family is simply being lazy and they would rather enjoy their money than manage it. But that's not necessarily the case. Family offices serve a very important function in preserving intergenerational wealth.

On today's show we're talking about how to get advice. There is no shortage of opinions. But are those opinions actually worth anything? What are those opinions based on?

Scott Smith is an asset protection attorney based in Austin Texas. He is a real estate investor and he also works with his clients to educate them on the types of structures that minimize risk from frivolous law suits. You can learn more from Scott at www.royallegalsolutions.com/espresso where he has put together a special offer for Real Estate Espresso podcast listeners.

John Lee Dumas and his partner Kate Erickson launched the Entrepreneurs on Fire Podcast 5 years ago. More than 2,000 episodes later, and over 65 million downloads, he has one of the most successful business podcasts in existence. Today's episode is a glimpse of a mastermind call I had with John and Kate a few weeks ago. I believe it's vitally important to surround yourself with the very best people on the planet and learn from them. Enjoy....

Sometimes the best clean tech involves using less energy. On today's episode we examine 3 things that can save major expense in an office building.

Adam asks a great question. He asks if clean energy is worth investing in? It's a complex question which requires an understanding of the linkage between energy consumption and economic output. It also requires and understanding of energy density. The short answer is yes, it is worth investing in, but which one specifically?

Big data refers to the mining of gazillions of unstructured data looking for trends and in some cases specific information that can give a business advantage. It's simultaneously an opportunity for business and a massive invasion of privacy for private citizens. What does it mean for you?

Today is another AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode. Michael asks about a specific building that appears to be at a discount to the market when compared with similar properties that have sold in the area. This is a very common situation, and requires a structured way of analyzing in order to make a decision.

On today's show we're talking about how a 1% increase in total investment can create a true market differentiator that will keep clients engaged. The fact is, most real estate investors don't know how to design a world class Internet distribution network. Let's keep it a secret. Shhh!

Matthew Mesick and Ricardo Rodriguez are the principals at Park Place Property Group in Chicago where they perform full gut renovations of homes in high value neighborhoods in the city. It's an aggressive strategy that is paying off for the young company.

NFL Legend Keith Elias is my guest today. He was a star running back for the NY Giants and the Indianapolis Colts. After the NFL he went into real estate working with developers to raise capital for development projects. Today, he's back in the NFL coaching players transitioning in and out of the league. His life lessons are extremely powerful. Don't miss this episode.