Hello BP Nation =)

I apologize in advance if this is in the wrong place.

I have several friends in the Real Estate industry (in various aspects), and one of them owns properties in Los Angeles proper. Many years ago, we discussed starting RE Consortium; whereby, investors would pool their money together (certain buy in requirements), and then purchase various investment properties.

My question is for anybody who a. has done this, or b. would be interested in this endeavor. What would make this attractive for an investor? I know that every region in the U.S. would be different in respect to the "buy in" aspect of this, i.e, one region, you could have 5 investors contribute 20k a piece, and they would be able to buy a couple of properties. And conversely, in a (using as an example) Los Angeles marketplace, the buy in for 5 investors may be 50k-100k, as it would be more difficult to buy (cash out properties) for anything less than that.

I'm just wrapping my head around various avenues for myself, as I build my 2014/2015 goals.

I thank those who contribute in advance, because were it not for your knowledge and information many of us would not even be able to reasonably consider RE as a viable option for us to make money!