The Real Estate Espresso Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The Ideal One Bedroom Apartment Dec 20, 2025

Show notes

On today’s show we are talking about the design of an ideal one bedroom apartment. Architects can lead a project down a dead end path. If left to their own devices, architects can design what they think the market wants, but it’s only from a perspective.

The design process needs to be constrained to fit the needs of the market from a product definition point of view. It usually starts with design thinking about what the market demands with a knowledge of the competition and what the competition is building.

At the same time the project needs to meet the cost, lifestyle, function, zoning, building code, and affordability in the market. Finally, the product has to meet the constructibility criteria for the local trades in the market. You might have an idea to build apartments that have plenty of space. In a competitive market, you don’t want to build the exact same thing as everyone else.

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**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
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Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
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Investing in Shrinking Population Dec 18, 2025

Show notes

We are accustomed to the idea of growth. We love it when the wind is at our back and progress is effortless. We have experienced a lifetime of growth. If a growing market is an underlying assumption, then most people are unaware that they are operating with the assumption of growth. Growth becomes a law of nature, a little like gravity.

What would change in your strategy if you needed to win in a shrinking market?

Canada experienced the first major drop in population this past quarter.

Outside of a slight drop during the height of the pandemic, this quarter is the first time that Canada’s population has declined in at least the past eight decades.

The trend is not limited to Canada. The US administration has set much more stringent immigration policies over the past year. The policies continue to evolve with citizens from a total of 39 countries now barred from entering the US, even as visitors. This is largely a reaction to the near open-doors policy of the previous administration.

The US and Canada are not a strangers to shrinking population. Internal migration has caused population to shrink. The gains in the sunbelt have been at the expense of loss in the rust belt.

Detroit has lost more than 50% of its population since the 1970’s.

Cleveland has lost 60% of its population since the 1950’s.

Immigration is the pathway to maintaining population and to maintaining economic growth. I’m hopeful that these reductions are a short term reaction to periods of excessive growth and that both countries the US and Canada return to a more normalized immigration policy that recognizes the significant necessity and long term benefit that comes from a functioning immigration policy.

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Real Estate Espresso Podcast: Spotify: The Real Estate Espresso Podcast
Website: www.victorjm.com
LinkedIn: Victor Menasce
YouTube: The Real Estate Espresso Podcast
Facebook: www.facebook.com/realestateespresso
Email: podcast@victorjm.com

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Instagram: @ystreetcapital

When A Bad Deal Crosses Your Desk Dec 18, 2025

Show notes

On today’s show we are going to do a walk-through of a property offering memorandum in Arizona. Let me be clear, I’m not here to disparage any property. I’m simply going to share our perspective of how we would look at the property.

The property in question is a conversion of a 1960’s vintage motel in Tempe Arizona. The original property had 140 motel rooms with a two story structure. The centre courtyard has amenities including a swimming pool. All of the parking is surface parking around the perimeter of the property.

When we look at a property, we are looking at the submarket and the specifics of the deal.

This particular property is located in an area that I would consider to be a lower income area.

Apartments in these neighborhoods have been the subject of ICE raids resulting in deportations. If residents fear being discovered, they will often leave and the question becomes who will rent these apartments?

This particular property is being advertised as newly renovated. But the truth is, the physical layout of the units means the bedrooms do not have windows. They are tucked at the back of the old motel room design. If they were built today, they would not pass the building code as a legal bedroom.

The financial model that accompanied the glossy package showed some stellar returns. But unfortunately some of the financial metrics did not seem credible when viewed through our lens.

There is no way in our opinion that a 70 year old motel converted to apartments would value at over $500 per SF in the open market.

The sad part is that these types of listings are out there. I never want to see an investor lose money. I don’t want to see a property fall into disrepair and become blight within the community. But things do get old. Once they’re functionally obsolete, the right solution is to demolish and rebuild. Extending the life beyond the useful life is rarely the right answer.

I’ve had to demolish properties in Philadelphia. It’s sad when that happens.

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Where Are Your Customers Hanging Out? Dec 17, 2025

Show notes

On today’s show we are talking about the street level process for getting a property leased up. Marketing is all about generating interest. Sales is about generating revenue.

We have an industrial outdoor storage project that was built in central Florida to meet the needs of contractors who have equipment and materials that need storage. These are businesses that have valuable equipment like excavators that you can’t just park in your driveway. The HOA won’t allow it. These contractors have trailers full of battery powered tools that need a secure place to charge overnight.

Many landscaping companies purchase composite decking materials for each job because they don’t have the space to store materials. They have to charge more, and they lose some bids because their prices are not competitive.

If they purchased materials by the truckload, they could get a 15-20% discount on those materials. In the landscaping business that kind of discount can make the difference between getting the job or not. It can make the difference between a profitable season and a break-even season. Not every customer will want the colors you chose. But if you have a few standard colors that are widely popular, you can win more bids for the modest cost of renting additional outdoor storage space.

This is a relationship-driven outreach, not a passive listing exercise. The contractors who will sign leases are often busy doing project work, not browsing general property sites. To lease to these clients you need to target where they are, speak their language, and make the transaction clear and simple.

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What Housing Crisis? Dec 16, 2025

Show notes

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On today’s show we are talking about the myth of the housing crisis.

But first, I’d like to invite you to a webinar next week on December 16 where I will be demonstrating the use of our new AI tool which we affectionately call VictorAI. This is our own custom language model which is built on top of ChatGPT. We trained VictorAI with the contents of the Real Estate Espresso podcast and my book Magnetic Capital. It’s the difference between going to a family doctor versus going to a specialist. The specialist is always going to give you a more precise answer. Click on the link in the show notes and we will talk to you on December 16 at 2PM.

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Yes, there is a problem with affordability in the US. But affordability is not limited to housing. It is broadly based. Inflation has impacted virtually all aspects of daily life. The problem is that the US dollar has been devalued and that incomes have not kept pace with the devaluation of the currency.

The problem is not a result of greedy landlords jacking up the rent above what ordinary people can afford. When landlords price their properties above market, they experience extended vacancy. A vacant property is losing money and will ultimately result in bankruptcy for the landlord.

The crisis of affordability is the result of inflation which has eroded the purchasing power of ordinary citizens across the board. It’s reflected in record levels of student debt, crushing levels of consumer debt, falling levels of home ownership, rising levels of automotive debt, and it’s affected the ability to afford basic groceries.

The solution is not rent control, any more than price controls at the grocery store will improve the affordability of groceries. We have had a succession of governments on both sides of the political spectrum who have been using devaluation of the currency as a way to fund excess government spending.

George Ross on Negotiating Leverage Dec 14, 2025

Show notes

On today's show I'm speaking with George Ross about negotiating when there is a power imbalance and when a completed negotiation gets re-opened.

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Land Development with Brandon Cobb Dec 13, 2025

Show notes

Brandon Cobb is based in Nashville, Tennessee where he specializes in land development. On today's show we are talking about navigating the curveballs that municipalities throw our way.

To connect with Brandon and to learn more visit https://www.hbgcapital.net/, or if you want to learn more about land development, visit https://learnlanddevelopment.com/

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What Falling Gasoline Prices Tell Us? Dec 13, 2025

Show notes

On today’s show we are talking about something that has happened in the macro economy that is not getting much attention.

But first, I’d like to invite you to a live demonstration of our new custom language model which we are affectionately calling VictorAI. This is our own custom language model which is built on top of ChatGPT. We trained VictorAI with the contents of the Real Estate Espresso podcast and my book Magnetic Capital. It’s the difference between going to a family doctor versus going to a specialist. The specialist is always going to give you a more precise answer. Click on the link in the show notes and we will talk to you on December 16.

On today’s show we are talking about something that has happened in the macro economy that is not getting much attention. You have probably noticed that prices at the gasoline pump have been falling. That is usually welcome news for consumers.

Politicians will probably be quick to take credit for this. Prices in the oil futures market are set by a combination of supply and demand. The futures price for crude oil is what gets the most attention. Today the WTI intermediate price for January delivery is $57.44 per barrel compared with $72 at the start of this year.

Whenever something happens you have ask yourself whether you are looking at the cause or the effect. Falling prices at the pump are effect and not cause. The cause is further upstream in the economy.

Falling gasoline consumption reflects falling demand which reflects economic weakness. You’re not going to get any politician to come out an use the word recession. That’s going to guarantee a loss during the midterm elections which are now only a year away. Instead, they will trumpet a victory of lower gasoline prices at the pump which are helping ordinary households.

The American consumer has suffered very real loss of purchasing power since the pandemic. Most of this has been the result of the handling of the pandemic and the government response to the pandemic. Labor shortages in the wake of the pandemic did not translate into greater purchasing power for the average consumer.

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Why Is Apartment Vacancy So High? Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

On today’s show we are taking a look at the latest market report from data analytics firm ALN. This report is hot off the press this week and shows an continuation of an over-heated apartment market across much of the US.

Here are the individual market stats across the US.

http://public.alndata.com/newsletters/2025/December/aln/marketstats.pdf

When you look at the individual market numbers, I’m left with a pit in the bottom of my stomach.

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The New Fed Could Be The Old Fed Dec 11, 2025

Show notes

I’d like to invite you to a webinar next week on December 16 where I will be demonstrating the use of our new AI tool which we affectionately call VictorAI. This is our own custom language model which is built on top of ChatGPT. We trained VictorAI with the contents of the Real Estate Espresso podcast and my book Magnetic Capital. It’s the difference between going to a family doctor versus going to a specialist. The specialist is always going to give you a more precise answer. Click on the link in the show notes and we will talk to you on December 16. at 2PM EST.

On today’s show we are talking about what is happening at the Federal Reserve and I’m going to share some perspectives that are different from what you might be hearing in the mainstream media.

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