I think that the red flag for me is when a syndicator who has no/few exits starts living it up. 

Assuming it is a cash transaction but if you did ever want to leverage, limited lenders that will lend on leasehold. 

My returns also got a bit too complicated with niche REI stuff for the great tax guy I used for many years and still does my parents and sisters taxes.They handle other REI guys and attend some REIA groups I went to and knew about bonus depreciation, K1, cost segs, schedule E and HELOC junk used for investing and private lending.

I've done gap lending with a 2nd position lien.

Go to Etsy and search for "rental property tracker," and you will find hundreds of nice spreadsheets to track 10-20 rentals, usually for under $10.Software has extremely helpful features like online payments, marketing syndication (click a button, and your property is advertised on multiple sites), electronic document review/signing, maintenance tracking, and owner reports.

I see a lot of people say they want to go local, and while I understand the sentiment, one of the biggest myths I see perpetuated in lending, or insurance, or appraisers, etc. is that local is better. 

If you are syndicating a deal, PPU is not as important because you will own very little equity in the deal and looking to create equity to exit.Be careful with older assets, and over paying.

I believe with a CAR purchase agreement and conventional lending underwriting there is no way to specify a disbursement of funds to me as a "assignment fee" for "X" $'s.Any thought's out there?

On the other hand, private lender investors, like an "Uncle Joe" type, lend money on a more personal and flexible basis, often with less formal terms that can be easily negotiated.

As far as 20% down, I am not sure but I believe this is more or less consistent with the US because I don't believe banks will normally lend on rental properties for less than 20% down unless they are owner occupied.