They make a small spread on wholesale deals versus taxing the consumer outrageously on the retail channel.

With a 25% DP on a $250k property, the down would be $62.5k now versus the $100k in your scenario. 

Maybe when we start looking at USD as a commodity we can buy with Bitcoin, versus the reverse, maybe I'll take notice.

So, you're not "wrong" in thinking it's complicated.The tax code plays heavily into how certain transactions are categorized and there is some flexibility regarding what we can capitalize versus deduct.

Maybe they had to cut through clay soil versus loam, or tunnel under a driveway???

Always great to do research and not rush too quickly, but its almost always better when people "make the leap" sooner rather than later like you said, I'd recommend at least putting some pen to paper on a date/deadline to do your first deal versus someday

By then they are documenting what happened to someone versus what IS happening and how to help and stop it in the moment.

Then there's the "Wall Street vs Main Street" concept where one can have more control of real estate versus stock & bond market investing.

They may offer data on properties that are bid on by third parties versus those that revert to lenders.

@Dave Vona, there are a lot of challenges here in comparing the two.I have invested in SFR and syndications, granted syndcations only started about 4 yrs ago, where SFRs were 14 yrs ago.The biggest challenge in comparing these two, from a very technical aspect, is you are using syndicators 15-18% projections on value add properties (and the rent increases that can come with them) versus a more turnkey approach.So let's look at most syndicators in the value-add space and for completed deals:I would say, many groups hit roughly 25% IRRs for their LPs, often with a roughly 2-3 yr hold.