The housing market is going to change again. I don’t mean the actual market. I’m talking about the rules and initiatives from the US federal government.

The person to watch is Bill Pulte, the current director of the Federal Housing Finance Authority. This agency oversees lending agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If the last name sounds familiar, it’s because Bill is the grandson of William Pulte, founder of the Pulte Group, the third largest home builder in the US. Prior to joining the administration, Bill sat on the board at Pulte Group and founded Pulte Capital Partners, an investment firm focused on building and housing-related businesses.

Over the next few weeks, the administration is evaluating over 50 initiatives aimed at improving home ownership affordability.

So for the next few weeks, we can anticipate changing rules. That means nobody who is paying attention should be making any big decisions until the new rules are clear. But then investors are also accustomed to working in a relatively stable environment where the rules don’t change every year, or every month, or every week.

---------

**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)

ATTEND George's Online Birthday

If you can't attend in person and would like to wish George Happy Birthday, send an email to podcast@victorjm.com and put George in the subject line. I'll make sure he gets your best wishes.

Today’s show is dedicated to my friend and advisor George Ross. If you’ve been listening to this show for a while, you’ll know that George has been a frequent guest on the show.

I’ve known George for 16 years and we’ve been spending time together monthly since that time.

I’d like to invite you to a virtual online birthday party for George. I’m hoping for a huge turnout and for all of you to get some first hand wisdom from George in that session.

George is 98 years young. His actual birthday was earlier this week. The get together this month is going to be a surprise for George.

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

**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)

Owen Reimer is based in Steinbach Manitoba, a small town in Manitoba. Like many communities, there is a shortage of housing and a shortage of new housing in particular. On today's show we are talking about how to maintain costs under control.

To connect with Owen, visit https://www.stoneshorecapital.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)

Colton Pace is based in Austin Texas where he is the founder of OwnWell, a the largest company in the US by volume that specializes in lowering property tax bills. On today's show we are talking about the process of challenging property tax assessments.

To connect with Colton, visit https://www.ownwell.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)

The Republican party is known for being conservative, fiscally conservative, socially conservative, religiously conservative, and so on. The latest salvo from the White House is to ban large institutional investors from gobbling up single family homes.

Conservative values are based on free markets. The solution to the cost of housing is not to artificially reduce demand. Imagine for a moment that government stepped in to reduce the cost of a burger at McDonalds by barring people above a specific income level from buying a Big Mac. The assumption is that the price of housing or a Big Mac is based on supply and demand. By crushing demand, houses will become more affordable all of a sudden?

The problem is that the input costs for a Big Mac have gone up and McDonalds is not going to sell burgers at a loss. The same is true in housing. Builders want to build affordable homes. But their input costs are preventing that from happening.

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

**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)

Every year in early January the global tech industry converges on Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. I’ve attended this conference religiously in the past, and less frequently now that my focus is on real estate rather than technology.

This year, as with last year, the central theme to CES is AI. Virtually everything being showcased at CES is AI enabled in some way.

On yesterday’s show we talked about some announcements at the show that pertain to the construction side of real estate investing. On today’s show we are talking about some of the innovations in the Smart Buildings arena.

To be clear, many of the products present at this year’s show didn’t wait for a trade show to be announced or deployed in the market. In fact, our team has been designing and deploying AI enabled security cameras for several months. This includes facial recognition for building entry systems.

A lot of building management systems are using AI to predict weather, energy pricing, and usage patterns to reduce energy consumption and save on utilities.

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

**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)

Every year in early January the global tech industry converges on Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. I’ve attended this conference religiously in the past, and less frequently now that my focus is on real estate rather than technology.

This year, as with last year, the central theme to CES is AI. Virtually everything being showcased at CES is AI enabled in some way. There are also some clear differences and advances compared with last year. We’re going to be doing mini series on the podcast looking at some of the biggest advances and what will be the impact on real estate investing.

CES this year, particularly from the major heavy equipment manufacturers, made significant announcements focused on embedding AI and autonomy directly into construction equipment and the entire job site workflow. The theme has shifted from "automation is coming" to "AI is the new operating system for construction."

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

**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)

This is the first in a regular monthly feature on the podcast where we choose a particular architectural award winning project and see why it was award winning. What made it stand out? On today's show we are looking at an adaptive re-use project in Basel Switzerland which converted a wine storage warehouse into apartments. Here is a PHOTO of the project.

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

**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)