Syndication Investing During a Recession

[Brian Burke]

Investing in real estate during a recession makes many people feel like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. For others, it’s an exciting opportunity.

In my 30 years of real estate investing, I’ve seen my share of market cycles and felt the pain they deliver, but I managed to get through all of them without losing any of my investor’s money. Losing my own, on the other hand—well, that’s a different story!

Most at-risk during times like this are the investments you’ve already made. If you are invested with the right sponsor, who implemented the right structure, you’ll stack the deck in your favor for a good outcome. Thanks to recent economic events, it probably won’t be the outcome you planned for, but one that you can live with, all things considered.

But what about new investments? I’ve found that the best investments are ones made at the trough of an adverse cycle, and ones made during the initial climb back up. A notable example is when I bought 120 houses in the San Francisco Bay Area from 2010 to 2012 at the depth of the last cycle. When I sold them 5-6 years later, they had gone up in value by 2-1/2 times. That trade underscores the importance of timing. This cycle isn’t likely to duplicate that result, but it could present some interesting opportunities.

So, what about investing in a passive real estate syndication now? Making the right decision is more important than ever. That means that BiggerPockets’ launch of my new book is perfect timing (The Hands-Off Investor: An Insider’s Guide to Investing in Passive Real Estate Syndications). It is critical that you invest with the right syndication sponsors and in the right real estate. This book will show you how to do both.

In talking with our investors about the current state of affairs and how they are planning their investment strategy from the short to medium term, we’ve heard responses ranging from hoarding cash out of absolute fear to those who view this as a chance to take advantage of opportunities that arise from the ashes, to just about everywhere in between. Where do you find yourself on that spectrum?