Why aren't their more commercial syndicators?

[Yonah Weiss]

I was recently offered a deal investing in a syndication of a commercial office building. I immediately asked myself, why am I only seeing on BP discussions about MF syndications.

The outlook and returns seem to be very similar, and yet seemingly less risky. Obviously there are many factors that go into vetting the syndicator and/or the GP (that's not this discussion), but the deals are deals. 

Why do so many syndicators prefer MF versus commercial (retail, office, industrial)? Many times they're dealing with long term leases, some with corporate guarantees, that seems less risky than B or C class apartment building tennants.

Any thoughts, insights? @Brian Burke @Todd Dexheimer @Bruce Petersen @Jeff Greenberg @Joel Owens

[Joel Owens]

Hi Yonah,

Many accredited investors FIRST understand take a bunch of single family houses and put them into one building and you have large multifamily.

It's a concept they can understand and feel comfortable with right out of the gate. Other specialized asset classes there are lot's of syndicators just usually not on Bigger Pockets. One of my friends that has been doing commercial retail for over 40 years owns 6 million sq ft himself as a sponsor and property manages 15 million sq ft.

So when investors are looking to invest with me it is more about my 15 years in the business and understanding the retail space and all of it's nuances. If you buy right commercial can be awesome with excellent returns. Again since investors tend to not fully understand the space they rely heavily on the sponsor.  

It would be harder for a new syndicator to start with retail because of the steeper learning curve versus here is a tenant that rents a house and here are lots of tenants to all rent the MUCH bigger house.