Real Estate Addicts

Matt shares his experience as a seasoned real estate developer on what it’s like to do deals across the country in many of America’s gateway cities with a focus on sustainable urban infill projects. Gerding Edlen’s Boston developments have been resoundingly successful and include buildings such as 319A Street, The Troy and most recently the Eddy in E. Boston. Matt explains why Green is not just a color in your Crayola box anymore and why Gerding Edlen is committed to both sustainability and building equitable cities. He shares the details on Gerding Edlen’s story from a merchant developer to a true investment manager who has raised over $1.5 billion in the past ten years building an incredibly successful development business that is known across the country.

Real Estate Addicts hosts Marc, Dan & Ray respond to a broad range of listener questions and offer our best tips and advice. What are the strategies and approaches you should consider when your approaching the neighborhood during the community process, what are the biggest things a Realtor can do to add value for a developer client, views on coop versus condos, criteria for buying your first multi family investment property, we explore ranges for cost per sf to build, what profit range do you target and how do you calculate that, partnerships and joint ventures, discuss how we track project budgets, how accurate are appraisals, affordable value add improvements for rental properties, and we conclude with a discussion of what we’d like to see more of and see less of in real estate development.

Justin Silverio, founder of Open Letter Marketing LLC joins REA to discus how he’s developed an expertise in direct to seller marketing to find his most profitable deals and help others do the same. Justin explains how he’s tested and proven his strategies over the years and offers his secrets on which approaches work best. We drill down into the details like how long does it take to see results? How much does a marketing campaign typically cost? What is the response rate and conversion rate for direct marketing? What is ringless voicemail & are there any other innovative approaches buyers can employ to reach sellers directly? Finally, Justin indulges the hosts with some “role-play” on what a typical first call with a potential seller might sound like and the most important parts of the script to keep nearby.

Architect Dartagnan Brown, founder of Embarc joins REA and discusses how his firm has become one of the preeminent architectural design firms for multi-family private developers in New England. Dartagnan brings us through his incredible personal journey escaping hostile foreign governments, finding his way to the United States and then shares his entrepreneurial story as founder of Embarc. We talk about the tension between traditional and contemporary design and what aesthetic Dartagnan appreciates most. The conversation continues comparing architecture in major cities around the country. Dartagnan explains what a massing study is and how architects provide developers value during the acquisition process by performing massing studies for their clients? What is a 40B project? What are the pros, cons and limitations of a 40B project? What is the difference between gross square footage and net square footage? How does a good architect add value by designing an efficient building? How does an architect who understands fundamentals of construction costs add value to their client? Finally, we have some fun with a new game called “over-rated, under-rated or appropriately rated” where we take Dartagnan temperature on new products, design elements and trends in architecture. We hope you enjoy & as always appreciate your rating, reviewing and sharing!

Zoning and land use attorney Marc LaCasse joins us to discus his 30+ year career in law and how he’s built an extremely successful boutique practice focused on real estate law and zoning in the City of Boston. We talk about how the permitting and entitlement process generally works around the country and Marc explains why the word “entitlement” isn’t often used in Boston. We debate the pros and cons of a vague and uncertain zoning process and the hosts take different sides on whether a more transparent process would be in developers favor. In addition, we discuss how zoning differs from state to state.

Our good friend Ricky Beliveau owner of Volnay Capital joins us on REA as we talk bout the business case for social media in real estate, scaling a real estate development business, outlook on the market, developing in less mature and tested markets, and we delve into failures, success and the role of luck and hard work in our careers.

Hosts Dan Rubin, Ray Hurteau (IG: @HRVHomes) and Marc Savatsky (IG: @Choose_Boston) take you back to how they each started their careers in real estate development, detail their first projects, share advice, warnings, and also their goals for the Real Estate Addicts Podcast.