Real Finds Podcast

About Real Finds Podcast

Real estate is more than just what we can see, touch, taste, and smell. Real estate drives culture. The Real Finds Podcast connects global trends to real estate decisions across Chicago and the Midwest. Hosted by Gordon Lamphere, a fourth-generation commercial real estate broker at Van Vlissingen & Co., each weekly episode explores how macroeconomic shifts in supply chains, interest rates, automation, public policy, and culture drive commercial real estate outcomes. Moreover, Gordon and his guests take high-level insights and apply them to better understand high-transaction markets, including: Chicago (downtown office, adaptive reuse), Elk Grove and O’Hare (industrial/logistics), Kenosha (SE Wisconsin distribution), Oak Brook and Schaumburg (suburban office), Naperville and the I-88 Corridor (flex and R&D), Bolingbrook and the I-55 Corridor (warehouse/fulfillment), and the collar counties: Lake, DuPage, Will, Kane, and McHenry. Guests include developers, investors, operators, and public-sector leaders shaping the built environment across the Greater Chicagoland Area and the Globe. 🎧 New episodes every Wednesday at 3 PM CT. Learn More About The Real Finds Podcast (https://www.vvco.com/real-finds-podcast/) Learn About Our Commercial Real Estate Services (https://www.vvco.com), Commercial Real Estate Agents (https://www.vvco.com/commercial-real-estate-agent-in-chicago/), & Team Of Property Managers (https://www.vvco.com/commercial-property-management-services/).

Publisher

Gordon Lamphere

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

11 Jan 2023

Latest episode

9 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

26 of 110 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   9 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT

   State Of The Market Chicagoland 2026 - Q3

   Host Gordon Lamphere, J.D., analyzes the Chicagoland commercial real estate market's Q3 2026 shifts, revealing key insights into office, industrial, multifamily, retail, and land sectors.

2. 

   29 Jul 2026

   Why Everything You Believe About Trade Deficits Is Wrong With Michael Klein

   Ask a room of economists almost any policy question and you get an argument. Ask whether broad based tariffs benefit a country and you get something rarer: near unanimity, left leaning and right leaning alike. Michael Klein has spent a decade building the site that puts findings like that in front of people who do not read journal articles, and in this conversation he walks through what the evidence actually says. On this episode of The Real Finds Podcast, Gordon Lamphere sits down with Professor Michael W. Klein, the William L. Clayton Professor of International Economic Affairs at The Fletcher School at Tufts University, former Chief Economist in the Office of International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury, and founder of EconoFact. Exchange rates, trade deficits, dollar dominance, Fed independence, affordability, and what all of it means for commercial real estate. What we cover: Why Milton Friedman called the exchange rate the most important price in an economy The iPhone counted as a $300 import from China while China added $5 of value Why a bilateral trade deficit resembles your relationship with your grocery store The student loan versus the Ferrari: when borrowing is a problem and when it is not Rare earths, semiconductors, and aluminum, where security concerns are legitimate One steel producing job, 80 steel using jobs, and the arithmetic of a tariff Whether dollar dominance is eroding, and why the Treasury market matters more Fed independence and what Kevin Warsh's first FOMC meeting signaled Housing supply, zoning, and why Western drought is about to hit food prices Why Klein thinks office to residential conversion mostly does not work Private credit as the opacity risk nobody has fully priced New episodes drop every Wednesday at 3 PM CT on YouTube and Spotify. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation. Learn more at vvco.com, email info@vvco.com (mailto:info@vvco.com), or call 847-846-6902. The Real Finds Podcast is hosted by Gordon Lamphere, J.D., a fourth-generation commercial real estate broker and Vice President of Sales and Leasing at Van Vlissingen and Co., Chicagoland's oldest private commercial real estate firm, founded in 1879. Recognized by independent industry publications among the region's top brokers, Gordon and his team close 100+ transactions annually across industrial, office, retail, medical office, land, and investment properties in Greater Chicagoland and Southeastern Wisconsin. Learn more at vvco.com or call 847-846-6902. Connect with Michael Klein: Website: https://econofact.org (https://econofact.org)Podcast: EconoFact Chats, https://econofact.org/podcast (https://econofact.org/podcast)Faculty page: https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/faculty/michael-klein (https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/faculty/michael-klein)LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-klein-59794310/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-klein-59794310/) Email: contact@econofact.org (mailto:contact@econofact.org) Timestamps:00:00 Introducing Professor Michael Klein00:58 A tannery, a Shakespeare class, and comparative advantage02:29 Why EconoFact exists05:24 The most important price in an economy07:42 What exchange rates mean for builders and investors10:23 Strong dollar or weak dollar12:10 Churning: hiring and firing at the same time13:56 The biggest misconception about trade deficits18:44 Aluminum, semiconductors, and rare earths21:45 Why tariffs did not move the trade deficit26:16 Are tariffs ever good policy28:32 Is dollar dominance actually at risk32:44 Federal Reserve independence and why it exists38:49 Affordability, inflation, and housing supply42:33 Real Finds Final Four43:31 What CRE is not talking about enough45:51 Ten years out and the limits of forecasting49:20 One minute of career advice50:18 Who should be our next guest51:46 How to reach Michael Klein52:46 Close #CommercialRealEstate #Economics #Tariffs #TradeDeficit #ExchangeRates #FederalReserve #Inflation #Housing #EconoFact #CRE #RealEstatePodcast #Chicagoland #VanVlissingen #TheRealFindsPodcast

3. 

   15 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Why Institutional Capital Is Wrong About Workforce Housing With Jon Siegel

   Host Gordon Lamphere interviews Jon Siegel, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of RailField Partners, about why institutional capital overlooks workforce housing opportunities.

Inside a recent episode

State Of The Market Chicagoland 2026 - Q3

Published 9 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] The macro story this quarter is about continuity, not change. And in this environment, continuity is itself a substantial amount of information. The cost pressures I've been naming all year, steel and aluminum tariffs, tightened immigration enforcement, workers getting pulled out of typical construction in the trades, elevated material pricing on everything with copper and conduit It did not moderate. They compounded, and Chicago's construction costs are still running well above the trend year over year. And the trades most exposed, electrical and mechanical, are now being actively bid away by data center projects, which we'll get into in terms of the land segment. […]

Who has been a guest on Real Finds Podcast

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

• Jon Siegel
• Carey Chronis
• Eugene Flotteron
• Chad Griffiths
• Daniel North

Reach and audience

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

YouTube views

4,303

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

12 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

13 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 74 / 100

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

Quality

92

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

71

Contact Real Finds Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

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

Questions about Real Finds Podcast