In this episode Tom K Wilson interviews Founder and CEO of Beacon Economics Christopher Thornberg about the Global macro economy, US Economy, and California real estate markets. Tune in to find out why Dr. Thornberg believes the next recession won’t happen until another 3 – 5 years from now.

Christopher Thornberg is Founding Partner of Beacon Economics, LLC and widely considered to be one of the nation’s leading economists. He is also the Director of the Center for Economic Forecasting and Development at the UC Riverside School of Business Administration and an Adjunct Professor at the School. An expert in economic forecasting, regional economics, labor markets, economic policy, and industry and real estate analysis, he was one of the earliest and most adamant predictors of the sub-prime mortgage market collapse and of the global economic recession that followed. In 2015, Dr. Thornberg was named to California State Treasurer John Chiang’s Council of Economic Advisors. He also serves on the advisory boards of Paulson & Co. Inc., one of Wall Street’s leading hedge funds, and of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Southern California’s largest not-‐for-‐profit business federation. Between 2008 and 2012 he served as a chief economic advisor to the California State Controller’s Office and was Chair of then State Controller John Chiang’s Council of Economic Advisors. Dr. Thornberg holds a Ph.D in Business Economics from The Anderson School at UCLA, and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

In this episode, Tom interviews Helen about value-add multifamily investments, the numbers of analyzing multifamily investments, and the difference between strategies to invest for equity and cash-flow.

Tom discusses with Tim about transferring skillsets from other careers (such as engineering) to real estate investing. Tim shares his expertise on commercial deal analysis, commercial lease fundamentals, and his thoughts on the market going forward.

About the guests:

Helen Chong CCIM, GRI, ABR®, ASP®, e-PRO®, SFR® is the Principal Broker of Haylen Group. With a UCLA degree in Economics, Helen has been in the real estate industry since 2004 with experience as a mortgage broker, rehabber, apartment owner, trust deed note investor, and realtor. She is deeply involved in negotiation during acquisition of her own properties and has bought properties as little as 30 cents on a dollar and received rate of return as much as 50%. Her investment philosophy focuses on adding values on distressed properties. Helen is a mother of three and a wife of an honorable veteran who fought in Iraq three times.

Tim Tran CCIM, CIPS is the Founder and President of The Ivy Group. Tim spent eight years as a high technology consultant before pursuing his passion and career in commercial real estate in 1999. He has a proven track record of negotiating, managing and closing commercial real estate projects in both public and private sectors. Tim specializes in a variety of sales/purchases/joint venture activities including office, retail, medical, apartment, hotel/motel, warehouse, mixed-use, mini-storages and vacant land.

In this episode Tom K Wilson interviews entrepreneur, investor, and $15B international developer Beth Clifford about the pros and cons of investing in hospitality. Beth discusses how transferrable skillsets from her tech career apply to her real estate business. Beth truly believes that the best way to learn something is by doing. As an owner of over 15 companies, Beth covers how to select mentors and an A team, and how to create work-life balance.

About Beth Clifford

Beth has been involved in entrepreneurial business strategy and implementation for forty years. Just one in her impressive catalog of accomplishments was developing a software team who created the first automated credit scoring system in the United States, that went on to be the backbone of what Americans today know as the FICO score!

After 14 years in the technology industry, Beth shifted her focus to construction and real estate development. This was a move in pursuit of her long-time love of building that was instilled in her during summer vacations as a girl with her grandfather, a home builder in New England. Since then, Beth’s experiences in development have spanned the United States and beyond, from small historical preservation projects, residential neighborhood developments, semiconductor and biopharmaceutical developments, and hospitality projects.

Steve Fithian serves as Senior Advisor and Managing Director for SVN | Trinity Advisors. With over 25 years of commercial real estate experience, Fithian specializes in selling and overseeing investment property sales that include multifamily, mini-warehouse, office, retail, undeveloped land and finished lots. He also organizes, manages, and acts as the general partner in property partnerships.

Fithian also is a member of the Texas Association of REALTORS where he was appointed a member of the 2004 Regulatory & Private Property Rights Task Force. In addition, he is a member and former chairman of the Society of Commercial REALTORS in Fort Worth. In 2008, he received the Charles D. Tandy Commercial REALTOR of the Year Award, which is given by the Society of Commercial REALTORS to the REALTOR who best exemplifies the highest professional standards for the commercial real estate. In 2002, he was awarded the William C. Jennings Award for Commercial Transaction of the Year in Texas by the Texas Association of REALTORS. Fithian has also received several sales awards from SVN including Partner’s Circle awards in 2005, 2006, and 2014, and the Achiever’s Award in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

In this segment, Steve and Tom speak about what drew them to investing in real estate in the Dallas Fort Worth Area. They also discuss the Houston economy and trends of an economy that is impacted by a hurricane.

Steve Fithian serves as Senior Advisor and Managing Director for SVN | Trinity Advisors. With over 25 years of commercial real estate experience, Fithian specializes in selling and overseeing investment property sales that include multifamily, mini-warehouse, office, retail, undeveloped land and finished lots. He also organizes, manages, and acts as the general partner in property partnerships.

Fithian holds the designation of Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) and is the former chairperson of the North Texas Chapter CCIM Membership Committee. In 2011, he was named a counselor to the Society of Exchange Counselors. The Society of Exchange Counselors is a marketing group consisting of approximately 100 investment brokers from various parts of the country who have proven their skills at solving clients’ problems.

In this segment, Steve and Tom discuss the industrial asset class of commercial real estate and why it is flourishing today given global economic and e-commerce trends. Steve also talks about the pros and cons of single tenant vs. multi-tenant industrial buildings.

Rick is the Executive Managing Partner of Colliers International’s San Francisco Peninsula Office and has been in the commercial real estate industry for 35 years – 27 years in commercial brokerage and 8 years in development. Rick’s diverse background and real estate experience includes leasing and sales, land acquisition and securing entitlements for in-fill developments. While in the development business, Rick was instrumental in fueling the growth of a local development company and acquired sites valued in excess of $85 million. He has consistently been a top producer and has received numerous production awards from Colliers International. On this program, Rick talks about the pros and cons of the various commercial asset types, and about their market cycle behaviors.

After a fifteen year career with IBM took the plunge, Richard Smith became credentialed as an Enrolled Agent and opened his own accounting firm. The firm has flourished and grown over the span of 30 years into a two-office enterprise. Four decade real estate investor and tax expert Richard Smith shares his takeaways on the new 2018 tax bill.

Highlights:

Realtors and brokers get a NEW 20% deduction for non-service pass-through entities (under a certain income)! NAR lobbied for realtors to be included in this category with the argument that they are product salespeople, not service providers.

Rental owners can now depreciate most rental improvements 100% in the FIRST year! The new tax bill says any improvements with under a 20-year life span, so your HVAC, roof, carpets...everything except the bones!

This week Bruce Norris is joined by Tom K. Wilson. Tom is a 5-decade real estate investor who transitioned from a 30-year engineering career, managing some of Silicon Valley’s pioneering high tech companies to a full-time investor in 2000. Since then he has bought and sold over 4,000 units and over 400 million of real estate in 8 states, including 9 apartment buildings, 11 commercial properties, 3 condo conversion projects, 15 syndications, and has flipped over 650 houses. One of his companies, Wilson Investment Properties, provides high quality commercial syndications to other investors. Tom and his wife of 50 years have lived in Silicon Valley for 49 years, where they are active in their community church and charitable organizations. Tom is a frequent speaker at investment clubs and expos. He has a weekly radio show on real estate investing and often provides investment education to other investors.

Madeline Schnapp was Director of MacroEconomic Research at TrimTabs Investment Research, a premier provider of financial research to the institutional investment community. Prior to TrimTabs, Madeline was Director of Market Research at O'Reilly Media, a leading publisher of information about the high technology sector. As Director of Economic Research for PropertyRadar, Madeline analyzes and conducts research on California property trends. In addition to analysis, Madeline is responsible for tracking emerging property trends and developing forecasts on the real estate market. Madeline commentary and forecasts can be found in the PropertyRadar reports, blog posts, news articles, and via presentations to real estate and investor groups throughout California. Madeline is also a student of inflation, and shares her insights in this week's interview.

Adiel Gorel is the CEO of ICG, a prominent real estate investment firm located in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since 1983 he has successfully been assisting thousands of investors with purchasing U.S. properties.

Adiel has personally invested in hundreds of properties for his own portfolio and was involved in the purchase of over 5,500 properties for ICG’s investors in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Oklahoma City, and Salt Lake City, to name just a few.

Adiel discusses the criteria he uses to select the metros that he invests in and the direction of the U.S. economy.