Best Multi-Family Syndication Coaches

[Kyle Kovats]

I am looking to really dive head first into the multi-family syndication world. I have been listening to The Old Capital Podcast, Rod Khleifs podcast and reading books and blogs on syndication and at this point I'd like to hire a coach who can provide me with the guidance needed to really take massive action. I'd like to build up a cash-flow income stream of between $250k-$350k/year to replace my current income. 

I have not yet participated yet in a deal passively and that is something that I plan on doing in the next couple months but ultimately I'd like to be a sponsor/operator myself along with a more analytical partner as I am the type that hates sitting down and diving into every single little line item expense. 

Who would you recommend as a coach? And what do you think the number one thing is that I should look for in a coach before signing on with one? 

[Brian Burke]

Originally posted by @Karen Margrave:

@Brian Burke  Once again, calling you in for your expertise. Maybe you can weigh in on the pros and cons of getting started in syndication and the process. 

Thanks for the shout-out Karen!

Kyle, if you hate working in the granular level minutiae, you definitely need a partner (or an employee) if you want to take a deep dive in syndicating investments. Income property is all about the numbers and having one obscure number (or formula) off in one of your spreadsheets could throw your projections way off and cause you to lose the confidence of your investors. Or one sentence in your purchase agreement could turn into a big problem.

And in talking with investors, they will have detailed questions about your numbers and your plan. If you don’t know the answer, you might not win the trust of the investor. So granular detail is part of the everyday life of the successful syndicator. 

Investment sponsors cross disciplines from real estate into financial services. Your life changes from evaluating dry rot and roof leaks to one of sending K-1s, distribution checks and quarterly reports. Well, maybe it doesn’t change for everyone, I hear plenty of complaints from investors about poor reporting from sponsors so I guess plenty of sponsors don’t make the shift and remain stuck in the real estate side of the business.

That said, it's a very rewarding business and a natural growth step from SFR. So you know real estate, what is left is learning how to properly analyze and forecast income, how to select markets, legal aspects of selling securities, investor accounting, managing large assets, growing NOI, and marketing your business and your brand.

Most gurus targeting real estate beginners are selling a dream—get rich in real estate. Most students do little to nothing with what they learn but the guru makes a ton of money because dreams sell for top dollar. 

Education in the syndication space is different (dream sellers excluded and there are some) because you are already successful in real estate and you are just looking for some knowledge to bridge the gap to the next phase of your career. You’ll get so much more value from it than the newbie at a dream seminar. 

I guess the challenge is in finding the right teacher. I’m no expert here because I’ve never had a mentor or coach, and I’ve always been leery of having one. But that’s just me—plenty of people have reported on a lot of success thanks to their mentor or coach so I’m sure there are good ones out there.

But I’ve had plenty of coaches and teachers reach out to me for advice. So I guess I could be a coach, but I’d be a real bad one for two reasons. First, I’m too busy doing deals and taking care of my investors. And second, I give advice to coaches for free and then hear the same advice repeated and they are charging for it. So how good of a business coach could I be if I can’t even monetize my own knowledge?  LOL