RE syndication vs. crowdfunding?

[Sam Chen]

I'm new to the RE world and BP. 

I am hoping someone someone could clarify the difference/if any between a RE syndicate and crowdfunding. Also any resources pertaining to RE crowdfunding would be appreciated! 

[Ian Ippolito]

Originally posted by @Sam Chen:

I'm new to the RE world and BP. 

I am hoping someone someone could clarify the difference/if any between a RE syndicate and crowdfunding. Also any resources pertaining to RE crowdfunding would be appreciated! 

Sam,

I have a significant portfolio in real estate that includes old-school syndications as well as the newer crowdfunding deals. They are essentially the same: the main difference is that crowdfunding allows the sponsor to publicize their deals on the Internet where before we were limited to family, friends and word-of-mouth referrals.

There are literally hundreds of platforms and you can choose from hundreds or thousands of deals each month. 

I would not recommend jumping into any particular deal or platform at the beginning. If you do that will most likely end up with a portfolio that is out of balance with your overall objectives and goals. 

Instead, I would recommend taking a step back and figuring out how much of your portfolio invested in real estate. Then, educate yourself on the different choices (equity versus debt, residential versus commercial, core versus core plus versus value-added versus opportunistic, retail versus office versus hotels versus self storage etc.). Once you understand the risk/reward on each, can figure out how you want to divvy up your portfolio. Then, and only then, would I start looking at platforms and deals that match goals.

If you want more info then PM me. Good luck.