E18: Real Estate Investing with Jeffrey Olin

There are many ways to get exposure to real estate. Our guest, Jeffrey Olin, President & CEO of Vision Capital – managing approximately $1 billion solely focused on real estate investments – tells us how. In this episode, Brian and Jeff provide an introduction to the real estate asset class (Real Estate 101), different real estate investing options, the challenges of owning real estate directly, public vs. private real estate investing, and much more. Jeffrey Olin is a co-founder, CEO and has been a portfolio manager at Vision Capital for over 14 years. Mr. Olin brings ten years of direct corporate real estate experience and fifteen years of senior level investment banking experience to Vision Capital. Between 2003 and 2007, Mr. Olin served as the Managing Partner, Ontario and Head of Investment Banking with Desjardins Securities, a $200 billion financial institution. Mr. Olin was previously a Managing Director with HSBC Securities and a Vice President with Canaccord Capital. As an investment banker, Mr. Olin was the Lead Manager and M&A advisor with direct responsibility for over 70 transactions representing over $5 billion in value. He has served as a key advisor to many of Canada’s leading corporate, institutional, and family-owned real estate enterprises on their global real estate investments. Prior to his investment banking career, Mr. Olin has ten years of direct real estate industry experience. Between 1985 and 1991, Mr. Olin was Vice President with Bramalea Limited in Dallas, Texas and Toronto, Canada. In addition, he worked with Olympia & York Developments Ltd., and the Parking Authority of Toronto. His experience in real estate includes acquisitions and dispositions, development, financing, leasing, operations, and planning and design. Mr. Olin has extensive corporate governance experience and expertise. He has served on the Board of Directors for numerous public companies as well as charitable and community boards. He has also acted as an expert witness on behalf of the Ontario Securities Commission and the Government of Canada Parliamentary Finance Committee. Mr. Olin is a graduate from the Kellogg Graduate School at Northwestern University in Chicago with an MBA. He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto. This Podcast was recorded on February 17, 2023. Timestamps: 0:00 Disclaimer & Intro 03:23 Real Estate 101 06:05 How big is the Real Estate market? 09:14 Why add Real Estate to your investment portfolio? 12:39 What are REITs? 16:38 Key terms for Real Estate Investors 21:33 Buying property vs. investing in public real estate 25:47 What are the biggest risks of Real Estate Investing? 28:59 How does Real Estate fair during inflation? 35:10 Why Vision was Founded 37:19 Public vs Private Real Estate Investing 43:57 Inefficiencies in the public markets 51:26 What does Vision hold? 56:11 What does the office building market look like? 1:03:06 Jeff’s advice for real estate investors 1:04:02 Final thoughts 1:05:02 Outro