On today show, we are talking about performing even the most basic of due diligence when it comes to potential suppliers, customers, tenants, lenders, brokers.

It is sad to say, but there are large ecosystems of fraudulent players out there.

Due diligence is both an art and a science. In fact, I have an upcoming episode where I interview a specialist in due diligence. On that show, we will dive into some of the more sophisticated techniques.

But on today’s show, we are focussing on even the most simple forms of due diligence that are so easy to perform, and quite frankly expose those individuals with a questionable history.

----------

**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

Today we're looking at New York City, and specifically at the combined impact of two policies associated with Mayor Mamdani's housing agenda, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized apartments and a proposed 9.5% increase in property taxes.

Now separately, each of these policies is a political choice. Together, they become something more serious. They become a stress test of whether private ownership still means private ownership, or whether ownership has been reduced to a set of obligations without the corresponding rights.

This is not just an economic question. It is also a constitutional one.

-------------

**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

As part of my ongoing research for the podcast, I’ve been using AI to help streamline information gathering. That, in itself, is not too controversial. If you’re tracking multiple markets, multiple asset classes, and multiple sources of institutional research, there’s nothing unreasonable about wanting a faster way to collect reports, summarize themes, and identify what’s changed.

I installed an autonomous AI agent on my computer.

I asked the agent to locate and download any new research reports from the major brokerages, CBRE, JLL, Marcus & Millichap, Colliers, and others. In my mind, that was a simple productivity task. Go find the latest market reports, download them, organize them, and save me the repetitive work. I asked it to perform this task every Sunday morning so that I would have a fresh download of reports to choose from each week.

Some of the websites accepted normal interaction. Some did not. A number of them rejected queries that appeared to come from automated sources. In some cases, even with valid login credentials, the websites still resisted the activity.

And this is where the experience changed.

The agent became more persistent than I was comfortable with. It interpreted the blocked access not as a signal to stop, but as a problem to solve. It began trying alternate paths to achieve the objective. I didn't compromise the website and I didn't get access to files that I could not otherwise get through a browser interface.

I’m not going to get into methods, because that’s not the point, and frankly that’s where the ethical and legal lines become very important. But in that moment, I realized something profound. Without intending to, I had placed myself in the role of someone effectively attempting to circumvent the security controls of a brokerage website.

-------------

**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

Today, I want to talk about the right questions to be asking when it comes to adopting AI in your business.

There’s a lot of noise around AI right now. Most of the conversation is centered on fear. People are asking whether AI will replace jobs, reduce headcount, or make certain roles obsolete. Those questions may be understandable, but they’re not the most useful strategic questions.

In many cases, they’re the wrong questions.

If the only thing you ask is, “How many fewer people do we need?”, you’re already thinking too small. That’s a cost-cutting mindset. It assumes the opportunity is limited to doing the same work with fewer resources.

But the better question is, “What can we do now that was previously impossible?”

That’s the real opportunity.

------------

**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

Tom Staub is based in Austin Texas where he develops master planned communities through central and south-east Texas. On today's show we are talking about the attraction and challenges of land development.

To connect with Tom, visit https://redoakvc.com/

-----------

**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

Robby Butler is Managing Director at Y Street Capital. He's based in St. Louis plays a key role in our company. On today's show we are talking about how real estate trends are affecting long term strategies of investing.

To connect with Robby , visit https://www.linkedin.com/in/robby-butler/ or at https://ystreetcapital.com

---------------

**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

On today’s show we are talking about a parallel between present day circumstances and 1973. The mid 1970’s were characterized by the simultaneous surge in inflation and economic contraction. These were events that were up until that point considered to be mutually exclusive.

The embargo didn't just cause a temporary blip; it changed the structural behavior of the U.S. economy. Even after the embargo ended in 1974, inflation expectations remained high.

As prices rose, workers demanded higher wages to keep up. Employers then raised prices again to cover the higher wages, creating a self-reinforcing loop of inflation.

If the oil supply remains constricted for more than a few weeks, I predict that stagflation will be upon us. It’s a remake of the same movie with different actors.

When I first started my training in electrical engineering I was using a large mainframe computer at the university. Most other students had to book time in one of the terminal rooms to gain access to the computer. They were limited to 60 minutes at a time. I purchased my own terminal which I had in my bedroom and got a second phone line and I had unlimited access to the computer.

I also purchased one of the first personal computers. It had a tiny screen and it broke the link that tied me to the university mainframe. Fast forward to today and we all know how the distributed nature of computing has pushed the majority of processing into the palm of your hand.

That doesn’t mean data centers have disappeared. Today those traditional computing data centres provide a lot of the backbone that cannot practically processed on a personal device.

If you look at the state of AI today, the vast majority of the computing is being done in a data center.

I believe the Apple strategy is worth further examination because if Apple is correct, the demand for data centres will be reduced, but not eliminated.

------------

**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)