January 1st, 2026
Real Estate Insights with Melvin A. Vieira Jr.
Melvin A. Vieira Jr. (MAVJ), a guru in the real estate industry for over 35 years and a renowned member of the Boston community, recently sat down with Kevin Small Jr. (KSJ), Founder & President of SNAKE Magazine, to discuss his enduring motivation for his work, reality television, and his biggest stories within entertainment.
KSJ: WHAT KEEPS YOU MOTIVATED TO WORK IN REAL ESTATE AFTER ALL THESE YEARS?
MAVJ: Helping people, and understanding that there are people out there who have some knowledge in real estate because they've been doing it for a little while. And I realized that being that I've done it for so long and in many different aspects of real estate--first homebuyers, development, luxury homes, homeless to housing projects--to literally working in municipalities and talking to legislators about what kind of housing is actually useful. Also, going in and teaching young men and women in colleges and high school about urban land planning; also, developing different types of mortgage programs that could be beneficial; also, talking about zoning restrictions.
Because I've been involved in real estate so long, I've had a chance to touch on basically all the aspects. Even working with commercial real estate, from residential leasing to selling commercial buildings. So, what keeps me motivated is that I've been able to do it all, and I understand the business as a whole. I understand why the business operates and why it can't operate because of certain things that could be holding it up, becoming what we call the cog in the wheel. Meaning some people think, "Let's just build this house and we can make it happen"--but understanding that you can't build a house unless you have the labor. You can't build the house unless you meet the correct zoning restrictions.
You can't do certain things. And that's the beautiful thing. Because I've been in the business so long, I understand those things and I can actually explain to a client. I'll give you an example: I have a client right now who's thinking about buying a piece of property, but I'm like, "Okay, so you have a multifamily? Well, we'll do a 1031 tax exchange." So those are things that I can bring up that most people can't. And that's what keeps me motivated and keeps me in this business, because of the knowledge I have. I feel that this knowledge cannot go to waste.
KSJ: DO YOU WATCH REAL ESTATE REALITY TELEVISION? WHY OR NOT?
MAVJ: Well, there are a couple of different real estate reality pieces. Like the Property Brothers, they're going in and fixing up a home and getting it together for a local person or celebrity or whatever. That's one type of reality program. Then there is the other type of reality where they're going out to look at a house and figure out if that's the house they wanna buy, because they're moving to a foreign country or to a different area or something. So yes, I do watch them to a point, but I also understand what the differences are between each one of them. It's like when you have Home Town and they go in and help their neighborhood and redevelop their neighborhood.
There's also a thing called the Open House, where they show open houses in New York and they show all the different luxury open houses. And that's good to see. And then there's also the ones you have on Netflix--Selling Sunset and all that. That stuff there I don't really get into, because that I feel is trying to be more of a soap opera vs. anything else. But you have to understand the different levels. The problem that I feel with reality TV—well, not a problem per se, but the unrealistic expectations some people get. Because when they see houses, they expect the houses to already be done for them to move in and don’t understand that that can be the case, but sometimes sweat equity is the best way to go, because that's where you build the most equity and value when you actually fix the house up yourself or you pay someone to do it. Yes, it may take longer, but people nowadays want instant gratification instead of taking their time.
KSJ: WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE BIGGEST STORY IN LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT RIGHT NOW?
MAVJ: New Edition is right now the most played, the most top-charting songs out of a group than anybody. That's one of the stories that's talked about. And of course we have our New Kids on the Block who've done what they've done in regards to their acting as well as with the Wahlbergs. You also have your local entertainers and your local groups. We have venues here in Boston which have live acts that go in and do things such as Wally's, Grace By Nia, and all those other things as well. So entertainment can be from a very high level down to a granular level of even the sound studios that we have over here on Mass. In the Mass. on Cass is an actual sound studio where it takes young men and women into the studio and gives a sound space.
KSJ: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST STORY NATIONALLY FOR ENTERTAINMENT RIGHT NOW?
MAVJ: I like all forms of art, so it can be anything from just comedy to a comedian. It could be music. So I don't really have one biggest thing. It could be even sports--the Boston sports teams can be called entertainment as well, if I was gonna add that piece on there. But nationally, I don't have one thing. I'm a connoisseur.
KSJ: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC GENRE AND WHY?
MAVJ: A lot of old school R&B, some nice jazz. I can even deal with some rock. Like Sting and stuff like that. I could do some Lenny Kravitz. I can do Prince. I can go back and forth to the O'Jays. You know what I mean? I can do all that stuff, the James Browns.