As one assesses RE projects and deals; I tend to promote the question : Are you in expert fields that can break you? Are you an expert negotiator? Do you have real estate expertise? do you know plumbing , evictions, roofing, concrete, residential law WELL? Owning SFR or small projects passively is never passive and losing is very active.
I think the odds are against a single small time investor with littlE staying power.
now going into a syndication it is a formal rehearsed plan: the costs and problems have been researched, there is experienced project mgr hired and even lawyers on standby to protect the project, property managers ready to reminder, collect , evict tenants rightfully and plumbers, electricians, trades mens will all go to a syndicated project any day than a small time landlord to do business.
In syndications you bet there is strength in numbers. Your $50k is giving you access and influence on a deal over someone with $20k.
I’m a fan of syndications because the road is clearly laid out with redundancies with professionals at every step of the way and I’m willing to pay or give $$ for its success. As I started out investing in small units, I never knew what to do in 3,5,8,10 years besides doing the same: hold on. Essentially I have zero plans. Syndication: golden map to force appreciation on a large scale flip.
Lastly, many of the people who answered are older and may have invested int he 80s, 90s and are reaping huge benefits. As I type and as someone read this, there was NEVER been these forums or tools available so those early investors are talking about a time that will never occur again where little education will reap huge rewards.