Today, I want to talk about amenities. Not in the abstract, not as a checklist, and not as a race to add more stuff, but as a lens into tenant psychology, capital allocation, and disciplined product design.

Greystar recently published their latest amenities and apartment features market study, based on year-over-year survey data from 2023 to 2024. And while it’s tempting to read this kind of report as a menu of “what to add,” that’s exactly the wrong way to use it.

This data is not a prescription. It’s a diagnostic.

The folks at Greystar are the largest owner and operator of apartments across the US. So with 100,000 units in almost every state they can speak on the topic with some level of authority.

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**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

When developers talk about underwriting, they often focus on the numbers and forget the product. Yet in real estate, the product is inseparable from the math. One of the most common strategic mistakes I see is the instinct to blend into the average of the market. It feels safe. It feels conservative. And it is often the most dangerous choices you can make. It’s a choice that is made even more compelling by the appraisers who look at your project and force you into the middle. Appraisers can’t make up the data and if there are no comparable 3BR apartments on the 9th floor with a 400 SF roof terrace, they end up discounting the value of a product that may well be differentiated in the market. Market positioning is not about being different for the sake of being different. It is about understanding where comparable projects truly sit in the competitive landscape, and then making an intentional decision about where you belong relative to them. The problem with “average” is that it usually represents a statistical midpoint, not a customer, and certainly not a clear value proposition.

------------

**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)

On today’s show we are talking about accelerating training by orders of magnitude and the impact that this can have on the global arms race for the best artificial intelligence.

The key to learning fast is intensity. If you follow the human paradigm the key to learning is practice and repetition across a wide range of conditions. The problem is that humans learn very slowly if you think about it.

Think about the experience required to become an expert at driving a car. The vast majority of miles driven are completely uneventful and contribute next to zero in terms of driving experience. The same boring freeway driving mile after mile doesn’t make you a better driver. When you do improve it is the result of exceptional conditions. It’s when a cyclist comes into your lane without checking over their shoulder. It’s when a driver opens the door to a parked vehicle and you need to swerve to avoid hitting them.

But still, these events are relatively infrequent.

The way to accelerate the learning process is the same way that pilots train. They use a simulator. The simulator can artificially generate exception events that are rare and difficult to recreate in the real world. Engine failure, hydraulic failure, fire, avionics failure, frozen pitot tube, ice build up on the wings. So many cases that a pilot needs to train on repetitively to handle the real world situations when they occur.

If you are a user of AI, you’re probably thinking about whether the tool is giving you good results or not. If the results are less than you would accept, then the natural reaction is to abandon the use of AI for that particular function. But what if you could train the AI with a minimum amount of effort? A well crafted prompt to generate a series of simulation use cases could change the quality of the output, not just for your single query. The simulation use cases will train the AI forever.

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**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:**
Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)
iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)
Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)
LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)
YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)
Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)
**Y Street Capital:**
Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)
Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)
Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)