All Forum Posts by: Mark Robertson

I used LendingRobot to "juice" my returns on my LendingClub test about 2 years ago.  I pulled the plug on reinvesting about a year ago when my writes offs were over 50% of my interest. My estimated rate of return per LendingClub is down to 3.2%.  LendingRobot estimated it over 8% when I signed up.   This when the economy is rocking. Can you imagine how these same loans would do in a recession?  Run away.  Loan when you have some real collateral.

Unless you are accredited (making over $200k a year or a net worth not counting your home of $1 million) there are not a lot of options. Fundrise and Realty Mogul both have "e-reits" that are similar to crowdfunding and are open to non accredited investors.  I think Realty Mogul has the better option. 

@Jay Hinrichs  has great advice.  Do not check your BP email.  You have what most people want...your money. I like purely passive and I went the syndication/crowdfunding route.  It all depends on your time, your skills, your goals and your risk aversion. 

Crowdfunding is pretty much just online syndication. If you raise money "old school" it's a syndication.  If you advertise online and use rule 506c it's called crowdfunding. Using 506b and raise online, it  is somewhere in between. You can't advertise and solicit investors, but its online behind a portals membership wall. 

Whole Life is awesome! If you sell it.  The only thing worse than whole life is Universal life insurance. Buy Term and invest the money yourself.  Diversify and you will be much better off than going with whole life.  Fees and commissions.  They are you enemy.

@Will G. If you have never invested in a real estate syndication or crowdfunding deal, I would take at least a month and learn about syndications and real estate sponsors.  Join CrowdStreet and RealCrowd and compare and contrast all of the investments they have up.  You will be amazed at the differences in fees, promote, preferred returns, sponsor's track record, experience etc..

You need to get comfortable with the investment itself and the structure.  However, at the end of the day the most important part is the sponsor. Invest with seasoned sponsors with long track records and ones with integrity that align their interest with the investors. A bad sponsor can mess up a good deal. A good sponsor can overcome the many unexpected issues that can and do arise in commercial real estate. 

Diversify! HML, syndications, crowdfunding, and a robo advisor for exposure to equities and bonds like Betterment or WealthFront. Do not do DST's. Before the day is out, it will get pitched by a saleswoman. Sell DST's for the commissions, but do not buy them. I doing the above diversified strategy and averaging about 9% cash on cash with upside potential of 15-20%+ IRR.

@Steven Zabronsky Ha, it took 24 minutes to get the DST post I predicted. Good Luck finding a good deal. I like self storage and mobile homes at this stage of the cycle. Thats where my 1031 went.

You don't have to 1031 all of the proceeds. Pay tax on some and if you can find a good TIC or DST put some there. I can tell you its hard, very hard to find a TIC or DST that compares favorable to a good syndicate or crowdfunding deal. I looked at 100's of DST in 2016 on my 1031 and for the most part they are horrific. I reached out of dozens of sponsors and convincing them to structure their next deal as a TIC resulted in a lot of pushback. I had over a year to find a 1031 replacement properties and it turned out I needed all that time to find a decent TIC deal. It can be done, but it takes a lot of leg work. I would give you my sponsor's contact info, but they no longer do TICs or joint ventures.

Good Luck and beware of BP posters that tell you how great DST's are... She will post here any day now.

Not sure if either of you are defending Groundbreaker.  They will accept almost anyone's money and put them on their site and license their software. (which is my biggest problem with white labeled sites) In 2015, they had a what appeared to be ponzi scheme sponsor.  It took me over 2 weeks to get this one taken down.  I had to call out the founder of Groundbreaker on Linkedin to get his attention.

This was on their site:

Florida Real Estate Participation Trust Fund No 29

29-38% Annual ROI Secured by Real Estate. Real Estate Profit Participation with none of the work.

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3 - 6 Month Participation and 18-29% ROI. If Participant wishes to re-invest in another fund, that participant can walk home with a whopping 36-58% Annual Rate of Return.


We are offering a participation in the acquisition, renovation, rental and sale of 25 residential, single family homes in the Great State of Florida. We particularly like this State for the consistency of qualified renters and continued increase in the value of Real Estate.

Projected Returns of Profit on this Participation is 29% per annum. Projections always remain much lower than numbers historically.

For those of you who are returning, don't fret, we are not changing profit distribution(s); Your returns will be similar to the returns you have received in the past, these are simply projections, not the actual expected return.

--- a "Question" from the question section

Good Afternoon My Fine & Industrious Tire Kickers! It is the end our fiscal year in some fund divisions and FUND 24 just closed out at 12 months & 14 Days. Each Member Spot was paid 125% PLUS Each Spot Received A BONUS of $409,430 on a total deal cost of just $4,528,772.90!! We don't generally release results, but everyone signed an authorization to make these particular number public. Your interest and curiosity is greatly appreciated. Thank you! If you would like to see results, you can see them here: http://www.duxplore.com/fund24.php Time is running out. Most people are jumping at this opportunity. PLEASE NOTE I will stop accepting requests once I reach 500. That will more power than we will ever need. Thanks again for your interest, we look forward to working with you. Our website is: www.duxplore.com and I have sent all of you my private cell number. Let's talk soon!

Our structure can withstand a substantial increase in the fed rate and mortgage rates. Also, our structure can handle a near 50% loss of value and still maintain the same dividend participations. Public structures would nearly collapse with a mere 2% increase in rates and 10% decrease in property value.

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This is from the agreement participation attached

???? Participant being deemed
to have paid $80,000 of such costs (calculated at 20% x 200,000);

(d) For example, assume that Participant provides Lead Lender with a Participating
Amount of $1 million, and that Lead Lender uses $4 million of its own funds to purchase a
Residential Units for $5 million. This will cause Participant's Participation Percentage to be 20%,
subject to the sharing percentages of this Section 2.3. Assume further that Participant and Lead Lender have agreed under section 2.3 (b) above that they would share Participant's share of profits arising out of the disposition of the Residential Units, 50% in favor of Lead Lender and 50%
in favor of Participant. Assume that the total monetary benefits returned by the Residential
Units amount to $6.2 m illion. The $6.2 million would be paid and distributed as follows:
(i) $200,000 to pay costs and expenses, with Lead Lender being deemed to
have paid $120,000 of such costs (calculated at 80% x $200,000) and Participant being deemed
to have paid $80,000 of such costs (calculated at 20% x 200,000);
(ii) $1 million to Participant and $4 million to Lead Lender, pari passu, as a
return of principal investment;
(iii) The remaining $1 million (constituting the "profits" arising out of the
disposition of the Residential Units) would be shared by Participant $100,000 (calculated as 20%
x $1 ,000,000 x 50%) and Lead Lender $900,000 (calculated as 80% x $1 ,000,000 - 50% x
$2 00,000).