Common examples include difficult grading, or an irregular lot orientation. 

The main differentiator that I have seen is: 1) Asset class: Retail rarely even dipped in price and it's difficult to even say that it had a downturn.

It is difficult to achieve this on a single day. 

So even if new construction were to pick back up, it would take at least two years for anything to hit the market.What I really like about this area is how difficult it is to build and how long the permitting process takes. 

But all in all, its definitely a more difficult time for foreign buyers in Canada.

Last resort and the most difficult-find a hard money lender, but come with a plan on how you are planning to make him/her obtain a profit.

@Ed Ventura Its one of the most difficult issues when you get into property types like this. 

I think comparing to the two-- syndications vs index funds-- is too difficult because of the nature of the specific RE under the syndication versus the broad economy(global and domestic) the index funds capture.

You are right , lot of variables and a very difficult comparison, thanks for the tip, will search the forum 

I have considered renting by the room but think it might make managing all the tenants difficult so I have tried to stay away from that option