In my last article, I described an investment tool—syndication—and how one could benefit from its utilization. Perhaps syndicating sounds appealing and you would like to know more. If that’s the case, read on and dig deeper into the little-known world of syndication.
In case you missed last week’s article, a syndication is simply a group of like-minded investors that pool their resources together in order to participate in investments larger than they otherwise would have been able to alone. In real estate applications, members within a syndication take ownership of an income property proportional to their capital contribution. Thus, if a $100,000 cash outlay is required purchase a property and syndication member Bob contributes $20,000 to the cause, he will hold a 20% interest in the property.
How to take ownership in real estate syndications
The theory of syndication is easy enough to understand. Where things start to get tricky is during the formation of the legal entity. I will discuss some of the commonly used ones in syndications.
Where have we seen this before? A major backer of home mortgages may need a bailout. Oh yeah, that was right here. Wasn’t it only a year ago that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed a bailout to save them from themselves? They had so many bad loans on the books because of lax rules and loose oversight.
In real estate there seems to be a culture of do-it-yourself. There is a swagger amongst investors who will tell you they can do almost everything and anything in no time at all. Now, I’m sure you could learn how to be a lawyer at the public library but I think formal training might be of some value.
Last week I wrote an article describing 
If you’ve read through a couple of Real Estate Investing books, purchased a course or two, and/or frequently read Real Estate websites, then you’re more than familiar with the typical life events that create motivated sellers of Real Estate.
I hate running. I pretty much hate any form of exercise. I have no problem doing my real estate work, but when it comes to working out, I’ll admit I’m very lazy and lack discipline.
Joshua Dorkin
Redirected Dollars: Not a Bad Way to Start Investing
by Tom Koziol | October 9, 2009I had a brainstorm the other day. Hopefully, it will catch on like wild fire and people all over this country will enjoy the prospective windfall benefit.
It all started when one of our clients said how tough it was for her to come up with her auto insurance premium every month. Nevada requires car owners to have a certain level of coverage. The state doesn’t give a darn how hard it is to come up with the premium. My idea solves this particular dilemma.
Just for the record, in Nevada, the minimum required coverage is 15/30/10. The minimum required coverage may be different in your jurisdiction. Regardless, the requirement is still there which means it has to paid for one way or another. Almost like a forced mortgage one could say.
Before you ask what does this have to do with real estate, indulge me and keep reading. It has a lot to do with putting your mitts on investable dollars.