Syndication vs Hard money

[Austin Beyer]

Hi there, Iv got 3 people that have a total of around 700k and they want to give me the money to grow my real estate portfolio in exchange for a return on their investment and full repayment with in a set amount of time. Im a little confused on if i need to set up a syndication and get the sec involved or can i just draw a contract and use their money like a private loan. Any advice?