I've seen "crowdfunding" opportunities where what you're really buying is a small interest in a non-recourse entity hoping that it will actually buy a piece of investment real estate and manage it.Think of crowd funding as the wild west - potential riches but Unregulated, Untested Unproven.  

I wanted to be a financial analyst, as I have a college degree in finance, but was working in transportation. 

That infrastructure access for transportation to circumvent the city is a definite factor.  

The citizens of the town/city should be able to have their tax dollars work for them, not prop up a unregulated industry.  

There is a real risk that you'll see private unregulated REITs failing altogether. 

It's inevitable - they are 5 minutes from downtown, close to public transportation, and have great multi-family homes that can be easily converted.We still have a significant amount of units in Cambridge and Somerville though - if you can find the right place, it can be converted almost immediately there, just because of how affluent the neighbourhoods are.

He have a diverse economy (forestry, mining, transportation, tourism, regional hospital, college, 20,000 people) and cap rates between 5-10% or higher.  

We look for deals in MSAs with an existing trend in population growth and economic developments that will fuel continued expansion, such as corporations moving into the city, developing transport and communication, etc.Schools – Depending on the asset class, we like to see the assigned school’s rating at an above-average level.Investing in a sound submarket with a growing population is the basis of any real estate investment.

It has a port, airport, good mass transportation, arenas, low taxes and close to NYC.. the thing is, everyone is waiting for the city to turn around as a whole like Brooklyn and Harlem did.. the old mayor Cory Booker brought in a lot of outside interest and high profile names.  

For example private Equity, dry shipping and transportation are 2 others I can think off off top of my head.And yes those K1s can be a pain!