Since I enjoy the management and improvements and tools and growing a business, I chose to acquire my own properties.As for whether syndication is the "best way" ... it's totally whether the syndicator is good or not. 

I hate full blown Landlord Software because I only have about 10 units and hate the fees...I am a big fan of the "Lite" Landlord Software and the only one for rent payment that can be 100% free for the landlord and the tenant WITH automatic late fees is apartments.comI actually did a whole video about this on my YouTube channel comparing the must have features of any rental collection tool!

Some great youtubers are Lili Invests and Jerry Norton with Flip Mastery TV.

James, I watched your YouTube video referencing this post.

Recognizing the potential in properties with minimal improvement needs allowed us to streamline this process.

Think about how you can make these properties better for the next person to live in, whether through repairs, renovations, or improving the management.

Originally posted by @Adam D Rinehart:@Will Gaston I’m glad to hear you “over improve” your student rentals as well.

That's a low-return improvement, compared to say new bathrooms/kitchens.IMHO, if you expect to increase your net through rental and market appreciation, consider the length of time it will take to realize that goal—many years. 

Will you be improving the units over time?

Learning from this data, negative MoM real estate private investment occurred for FOUR QUARTERS dating from Q3 2008 , it's all negative until Q4 2009.In this 2022/2023 downturn cycle, we started the negative performance on CRE on the 4th quarter, so if cycle repeats the same, at very least we have to wait for another two quarter data to see the improvement if any.Learning from 2008 experience, the CRE is stabilizing only *after* Fed reduced the FFR, I dont think it's a coincidence that bond market started expecting Fed to decrease rate by April 2024 next year.