What do you syndicators do in down markets?

[Chris Reeves]

Just curious - I've never been part of a syndication either as an investor or the syndicator. We own our own stuff directly, and thus can simply ride out long down cycles (as long as we are not over-leveraged) and continue to collect the rent.

These syndication deals which have expiration dates seem inherently risky to me - I guess you got free equity for putting the deal together so there's no downside for yourself. But how do you convince investors that their best move is a locked in time period of X years? 

Nobody can predict where the market or economy will be in 5 years - if everything goes to hell right at your scheduled sale/exit then that would be the worst possible investment move - the right move would be to hold on, let the property keep paying for itself, and ride out the cycle.

So again, I don't see how syndication deals hedge against this possibility, unless they have some built in clause that says "we won't sell in a down market." Is that how they are actually structured?