Keep studying and stay creative!

Screening is definitely an area I studied up on beforehand, and having a large graduate student population to choose from definitely gives me more confidence.

But I recommend you study it much more extensively before diving in. 

What I share comes from my experiences in court room and mind numbing hours of study and research in a law library on contract law and interstate compact. 

College used to be a lot more affordable, I studied in Europe (where college is free) and it blows my mind to see kids with 200k student loan debt trying to get ahead on a 50k job.The housing market has started to drift apart geographically.

Recognize initial cash flow is likely at an all time worse.  3 recent studies show that the rent to value ratios are at an all time worst.  

Study the market.

First - you have to mention what the syndication will do as that will have an impact on how you get taxed.Given that this is a real estate forum, it is assumed that you are investing in a syndication that will invest in real estate.Most real estate syndications purchase real estate in year 1 and have a plan of selling / exiting in year 5 or 7.Often times, the sponsor will get a cost segregation study which increases the loss on the K-1 presented to the investor in year 1.This may be important as it almost guarantees that there will be no taxable income from the syndication from year 1 to the year before exit.If the syndication does well and exits at a price more than purchase, it may result in a taxable income. 

That is sort of the social studies class answer.

The population is almost half of what it used to be 2010, property values are going down, median home prices -1.5%,..You are making the classic nooby mistake looking at cashflow as your #1 criteria.