Are you an accredited investor?

However then you're restricted to accredited investors.Do you want to be able to bring non-accredited sophisticated investors in, but not be able to publicly solicit?

I am an accredited investor and a member of a couple groups that send out Real Estate Syndications 1-2 times per month, usually starting around 50k and have good returns/rates overall. 

Based only on what you posted, sounds like you might qualify as an accredited investor and that's appealing to syndicators and fund managers.

We haven't quite got enough for accredited investor status, so syndications are (largely) out, though the short-term goal would to establish net worth at $1M (and maximize cash flow, naturally).

If he is not accredited, he may want to check out Ian Ippolito's site The Real Estate Crowdfunding Review to find reviews and options to consider.   

Walking a very fine line here between needing to do an SEC Filing and only being able to recruit Accredited Investors.

Would anyone recommend a syndication in particular for non-accredited foreign investors?

Find a school that accredited/licensed/registered/whatever by that State. 

You can seriously make the same cash flow and appreciation with being a limited partnership in commercial deals (typically need 50k to invest while being sophisticated or accredited investor).