Housing Matters Podcast

About Housing Matters Podcast

Housing Matters is a podcast dedicated to discussing the importance of housing and development in our State. Hosted by Matt Pouliot of Pouliot Real Estate, the podcast aims to educate and inform the public about the significance of housing initiatives, the intricacies of development, and how individuals can secure their dream homes. Through engaging conversations and expert insights, we aim to: ° Advocate for the importance of housing initiatives in fostering thriving communities ° Educate the public about the complexities of real estate development and its impact on local economies ° Empower individuals with knowledge and resources to navigate the housing market effectively ° Spark meaningful discussions on topics ranging from affordable housing solutions to the legal and regulatory challenges facing developers ° Cultivate a deeper understanding of the intricate connections between housing, quality of life, and economic opportunity

Publisher

Matt Pouliot

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Oct 2024

Latest episode

7 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

41 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Oct 2026

   41. Why Building Codes and Permits Make Homes Cost More with Maor Greenberg of Spacial

   Why does it take so long and cost so much to build a home in America? Maor Greenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of Spacial, says the most expensive thing in housing is time. In this episode of Housing Matters, I talk with Maor, a builder turned technology founder with nearly two decades of experience in architecture, real estate, and construction. We get into building codes, permit delays, and plan review, and what it would take to build more homes faster without giving up safety. Maor explains how Spacial turns an architect's design into a 3D model, adds the structural, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing layers, and produces a permit-ready plan set checked against building codes before it ever reaches a city. We also dig into the question everyone asks about AI in construction: what happens when it gets something wrong? He walks through how Spacial uses a physics engine, its own controlled data, and licensed engineer review to manage risk and liability. Along the way, we talk about why plan sets have grown from about 15 pages to more than 200, how state building codes differ from local ordinances and planning department rules, why permit and impact fees can top $200,000 in places like California, and why builders are often blamed for costs they do not control. I also share the story behind my company, Atlas, and the roadblocks innovative building materials face when they are not yet in the code book. If you care about housing affordability, the housing shortage, construction costs, or why good ideas stall at the permit counter, this conversation is for you. What you will learn: How building codes, permitting, and plan review affect housing costs and timelines Why construction is so fragmented and how coordination errors create expensive rework How permit-ready design automation works How AI, physics engines, and human engineers work together to reduce risk The difference between state building codes, local ordinances, and zoning Why new building materials and prefab construction struggle to get approved How permit and impact fees add to the price of a new home About our guest: Maor Greenberg is the CEO and Co-Founder of Spacial. He previously founded Greenberg Construction, Greenberg Design Gallery, and VRchitects, leading large teams and delivering thousands of residential and commercial projects. Spacial's mission is to automate and accelerate permit-ready design workflows across the AEC industry. Connect with Maor:Spacial: https://spacial.io/team/maor-greenbergSpacial Services: https://spacial.services/aboutLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maor-greenberg/ Housing Matters is the podcast that covers everything real estate, from buying your first home to building your investment portfolio. Hosted by Matt Pouliot of Pouliot Real Estate in Augusta, Maine. Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@housingmatterspodPouliot Real Estate: https://pouliotrealestate.com

2. 

   24 Sept 2026

   40. Can 3D Printing Fix the Housing Crisis? Francesco De Stefano of Caracol on Reshoring, Robots, and Building Closer to Home

   What if the framing for a house could be printed in a few hours instead of shipped from halfway around the world? On this episode of Housing Matters, I sit down with Francesco De Stefano, Co-Founder and CEO of Caracol, a leading industrial robotic advanced manufacturing company with offices in Milan, Austin, and Dubai and a presence in 50 countries. Caracol builds large format 3D printers: a printing head mounted on a robotic arm that can produce parts a meter and up from a single digital file. The same machine can print a roof truss one day and a boat propeller the next, with no tooling, less waste, and faster lead times. It is the technology behind Atlas, the company I co-founded to turn recycled plastic bottles into building components in Maine. We talk about Francesco's path from Boston Consulting Group to a garage near Lake Como, what large format additive manufacturing actually is in plain terms, and why the biggest barrier to scaling US manufacturing is manpower, not machines. We get into the modern sawmill model of printing building materials close to the end user, the COVID supply chain lesson, and why an Italian founder chose Austin, Texas as his second home base. Francesco also shares the story of how his team printed our house framing overnight after our supplier's facility caught fire, and we close with an honest conversation about persistence and knowing when not to quit after a decade of building a deep tech company. If you care about housing affordability, construction costs, or bringing manufacturing jobs back to Maine and the US, this episode matters. Learn more about Caracol at caracol-am.com or find Caracol AM on LinkedIn. Housing Matters is hosted by Matt Pouliot, CEO and Broker at Pouliot Real Estate in Augusta, Maine. Visit pouliotrealestate.com for more.

3. 

   19 Aug 2026

   39. Act Like It's a Crisis: Rick Bennett on Fixing Maine's Housing Shortage

   Everyone in Augusta calls it a housing crisis. Almost nobody acts like it is one. That gap between talk and urgency is at the center of my conversation with Rick Bennett, former President of the Maine Senate and current candidate for Governor of Maine. Rick and I served together in the Maine Legislature, and I have watched him do the work up close. But his housing story starts long before politics. Rick spent six years working in Maine's factory built housing industry back when the Oxford Hills had five factories and 1,200 people building homes for all of New England. Today one factory remains. Rick wants to change that, and in this episode he lays out how. We dig into his plan to revive manufactured and modular housing as a Maine heritage industry, including what Colorado did with about $40 million in ARPA funds to build a factory built housing ecosystem now producing 3,000 homes a year. For perspective, the entire state of Maine finished around 3,500 homes in 2025. One program in one state nearly matched us. We also get into the numbers behind Maine's supply problem: the 80,000 homes we need by 2032, the HARP home repair program helping 200 families a year while 2,000 sit on a waiting list, and the 18 month permitting timelines that stall projects before they start. Rick explains his statewide housing bottleneck audit and why he would look at the state's own delays before pointing fingers at towns. For first time homebuyers, Rick shares two proposals I found genuinely interesting: a state backed insurance program covering three quarters of a down payment, and a shared appreciation model that could bring a $2,000 monthly payment down to $1,200, with the state repaid when the home sells. We close on the topics that surround housing whether we like it or not: zoning and local control, code enforcement that varies from one zip code to the next, financial literacy in Maine schools, workforce training programs like JMG and Bridge Academy, and why Maine's electricity prices are quietly raising the cost of both housing and doing business here. Rick is a tenth generation Mainer from Oxford County, the son of a public school teacher and a retail sales clerk, and someone who has spent 40 years engaged with Maine's housing sector as a business leader and legislator. Wherever you land politically, this is a substantive conversation about what it would actually take to build our way out of this. Housing Matters is hosted by me, Matt Pouliot, CEO and Broker at Pouliot Real Estate in Augusta, Maine. From buying your first home to building your investment portfolio, if it's about real estate, it matters here.

Who has been a guest on Housing Matters Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Julie Rabinowitz
• Dave Hench
• Andrew Cramer
• Emily Mottram
• Steve Kautz

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 16 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

32

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

0

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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