Finding a Syndication

[Jesse Winters]

Hey ya'll,

For those of you putting together or that are a part of a syndication, where would be the best resource to find a quality syndication to invest in?

[Brian Burke]

The best way to find a quality syndication is to find a quality syndicator.  A good syndicator can achieve the best outcome in the face of adversity, whereas a bad sponsor can completely screw up a great real estate deal.  Once you completely research and complete due diligence on a few great syndicators you need only watch for their offerings that fit your goals and objectives. Great syndicators tend to only put out quality deals.

By far the best way to find great syndicators to invest with is to get recommendations from friends and colleagues who are already investing. This is easy for some people that have lots of friends investing in passive real estate opportunities. But it can be impossible for others who just don’t have those resources. Fortunately, there are many ways to find great syndicators, it just takes a bit of time and effort. This list isn’t exhaustive but includes most of the best ways to find quality firms to partner with.

Conferences. Experienced syndication sponsors are considered experts in the real estate field and are often invited to various investment conferences to speak in keynote presentations and on expert panels. This is a great way to hear their thoughts on markets and strategy and a host of other topics. Sometimes their speakers have trade show booths where you can speak directly with them or they are available before or after their speaking session. You don’t even have to attend some conferences, some will publish a list of their speakers and/or attendees and you could simply reach out directly after researching their firms online.

Meetups. Similar to conferences but typically on a much smaller scale. Meetups are typically organized by other investors and have invited guests to speak to their group. Syndicators are often sought out to be those speakers. Search online for “real estate meetups” and check their websites for their upcoming speakers.

Networking events. This can range from local real estate clubs all the way up to multifamily specific events such as the National Multi Housing Council’s annual meeting. The most experienced syndicators would be more likely found at the larger events, with newer smaller syndicators found at local clubs.

Real estate websites. Sites such as biggerpockets.com have many syndicators that participate in the forums. Read what they are posting to sort out who is experienced and who is not.

Podcasts. There are dozens of real estate podcasts out there. Go to your favorite podcast app and search for real estate, multifamily, or syndication and you will find many podcasts that talk about those subjects. Many of the podcast hosts are syndicators themselves, and many of the guests on the shows are syndicators. Listen to those podcasts and you can learn a ton about the various players.

Blogs. Syndicators write blogs for their own websites and also for other websites such as BP, Entrepreneur, Forbes, etc. Reading what they have to say in those articles gives you a window to the mind of the syndicator. After a while you’ll develop a knack for figuring out who really knows what they are talking about and who is just full of it.

Company Websites. Nearly all experienced syndication sponsors have a website. Searching online for terms such as “real estate investment firms”, “real estate syndicators”, “real estate private equity” and most likely about a dozen or more other search terms should reveal the websites of many syndication sponsors.

News Articles. Active syndicators are frequently quoted in news articles or have entire articles written about them in trade and mainstream publications. Many will issue press releases when they close on acquisitions, which result in articles in publications like Multi Housing News, GlobeSt, and Multifamily Biz. Watch for the company names or the spokesperson’s names and search those names online to find out more about the firm.

Crowdfunding. No discussion of finding real estate sponsors would be complete without talking about crowdfunding. Crowdfunding portals don’t typically invest directly in real estate. Instead, they invest in syndications, or act as a placement agent for their investors to invest in syndications directly. So yes, crowdfunding platforms are really just middlemen between investors and syndicators. While this is certainly a way to find syndications, it comes at a cost because the crowdfunding portal is a business and has to receive revenue in order to survive.

This revenue can come from the investor or the syndicator, or both. But ultimately, any cost to the syndicator is ultimately a cost to the deal, which means that at the end of the day it costs the investor.

Investors that can find quality sponsors, and do proper due diligence on them, can save an entire layer of cost by investing directly with those carefully selected sponsors versus investing through crowdfunding portals.