Someone educate me on the basic ins and outs of syndication

[Randall Alan]

I have 40+ rentals. So I know that game.  I think I get the basics of what syndication is:  In essence, crowd-sourced funding for real estate managed by the syndicator.  I get the upside is they are more hands off... what is the management overhead like to the typical investor.  How do the returns differ versus the straight 'owning rentals' game?  What are the risks to an investor? I'm not a big fan of being out of control of my investments, for fear of losing funds to scams, poor management, high  priced repairs, etc.   Anyone care to give the good / bad / ugly sides of syndication for all of us to know?  

[Steve Smith]

I agree with Paul. Buy Brian's book. Buy it from BP (wish I had) so you get the audio download and a very long check sheet of what to ask the syndicator.  

Another book that is right up there with Brian's is Investing in Real Estate Private Equity: An Insider's Guide to Real Estate Partnerships, Funds, Joint Ventures & Crowdfunding. By Sean Cook. I have read this book three time, listened to every podcast that Sean has been on multiple times. He worked both sides of large institutions and Family Offices that managed CRE (mostly MF) in the Billions.

I have invested in over 30 syndications. I wish I had both of these books at the beginning of my investing.