Investor & Developer · Ludington, MI · Member since 2014 · 54 posts · 40 votes
Good Afternoon BP
What types of software are people using to manage their syndicated deals? Is Argus worth the $$$, and would it even be able to do what's needed to manage a syndicated deal? or is that something a CPA should be doing for me?
Curious to know how people manage their deals through funding and post funding - or is this something to be hired out?
I'm searching for a program or programs that would help me put together 5-10 page brief investment summary's for potential investors and for working through feasibility for myself. Things to be included are development proforma, operation proforma, 15 year outlook with YOY financial performance, something that will calculate IRR each year, etc.
Are you using Power Point, Excel, a combination of both. I'd like to find something I can use to create a feasibility, deal structure, and summary.
Apartment Syndication · Southern California · Member since 2015 · 71 posts · 194 votes
9y
@Adam Sheren, I've syndicated 1,646 units in the last 6 years, so here's what I would say based on that experience:
1. As @Bob Lachance mentioned, analyzing an apartment property is not something you leave to software. Every property is different and can have many nuances and variables that automated software will not do a good job accounting for. For me, I have a custom Excel file that I have built over the years that works very well and that I understand the inner workings of. However, I can understand how many people wouldn't want to do that (the point is Excel is more than sufficient)! So I would take @Junior Salters' recommendation and get Michael Blank's analyzer, and as you use it study how and why it come sup with the numbers it does. While I have not used it myself, I have not heard anyone say anything negative about it.
2. For your proforma or Investment Package, that is something you can outsource but not automate (at least not well). For me, my Excel spreadsheet automatically creates all the financial tables that get copy and pasted into the Investment Package. I believe Blank's analyzer does the same (someone who knows for certain please correct me if I am wrong). My office manager writes a lot of basic market related stuff, and any graphics are outsourced to a VA or someone from fiverr.com. Then at the end she takes all the parts, puts them together, corrects formatting issues, and makes it look professional. But when it comes to the critical stuff - the deal analysis, business plan, financial proforma, etc. - I write that. As the sponsor, you should know the deal better than anyone else, and you want that to be obvious to the investors. And it helps when they have questions - you'll know it cold since you wrote it!
3. For property management, we have 3rd party property management, and they use Yardi to manage all of the financials at the property level. There are a handful of good programs out there for that. Regardless of what program they use, the management company (or you if you are self managing and purchase a license for a program like Yardi) should be able to send you all kinds of reports: trailing 12, rent rolls, delinquency, etc. You could in a sense automate investor reporting by having some of these reports packaged and emailed to them, but in my experience most investors won't find this very useful. Most investors are going to want to get a well written prose update in addition to financial info. Until you really scale and have other knowledgeable employees or partners, the best person to write that is typically you!
Successful syndicating is really based on 2 things: finding great deals, and good investor relations. While lots of pieces can be outsourced, they don't lend themselves well to automation.
Junior - I had been reading on the @Michael Blank analyzer - do you believe it's worth the $$$? Not that it's expensive, but what would be your review, pros & cons?
Rental Property Investor · Spartanburg, SC · Member since 2013 · 253 posts · 56 votes
9y
Hey Adam,
I'm definitely not here to sell his program for him, but I have no current complaints about the Syndicated Deal Analyzer. Everything is able to be modified to allow for any differences in your deals and Michael is very responsive via email if you have any questions or troubles. Easy to use and he even goes through videos to show you how to be most effective. You are also able to put together a sample deal package that looks very professional and top notch and I have had that said by current commercial brokers.I do know there are other good products out there, but this was the first one I put my own money into outside of the ones available here on BP.
@Adam Sheren how many units and props do you have under management? Also how fast do you think you'll scale? How experienced are you? What are you using now?
Investor & Developer · Ludington, MI · Member since 2014 · 54 posts · 40 votes
9y
@Abel Sng - Currently, I have 4 properties - 13 units. Three SFH, and one 10 unit. My goal is to acquire a minimum of 4 mid to large (20 units or more) multi-family properties per year - today I'm simply using excel.
To date, all of my properties have been funded with a combination of my own cash and financing.
I do not have any experience with syndicating a deal as of today.
@Adam Sheren nothing wrong with excel! I still use it for our deals. If I were you I would probably stick with excel or try out some other pro's "analyzer". Always nice to see what other people are doing/not doing.
As for pitch decks / summary create an outline that you like and outsource the graphics to a freelancer to create you a standard template. It'll make all your future deals a lot easier and create some uniformity for you "brand".
Specialist · West Hartford, CT · Member since 2016 · 549 posts · 53 votes
9y
@Adam Sheren Hey Adam, have you considered hiring someone to handle this for you like a Virtual Assistant? Having a person rather than a software system analyze deals for you at all time and provide this information to you is much more efficient and time effective, allowing you to focus on more important tasks. I know various investors who have implemented this info their systems and experienced huge success.
Apartment Syndication · Southern California · Member since 2015 · 71 posts · 194 votes
9y
@Adam Sheren, I've syndicated 1,646 units in the last 6 years, so here's what I would say based on that experience:
1. As @Bob Lachance mentioned, analyzing an apartment property is not something you leave to software. Every property is different and can have many nuances and variables that automated software will not do a good job accounting for. For me, I have a custom Excel file that I have built over the years that works very well and that I understand the inner workings of. However, I can understand how many people wouldn't want to do that (the point is Excel is more than sufficient)! So I would take @Junior Salters' recommendation and get Michael Blank's analyzer, and as you use it study how and why it come sup with the numbers it does. While I have not used it myself, I have not heard anyone say anything negative about it.
2. For your proforma or Investment Package, that is something you can outsource but not automate (at least not well). For me, my Excel spreadsheet automatically creates all the financial tables that get copy and pasted into the Investment Package. I believe Blank's analyzer does the same (someone who knows for certain please correct me if I am wrong). My office manager writes a lot of basic market related stuff, and any graphics are outsourced to a VA or someone from fiverr.com. Then at the end she takes all the parts, puts them together, corrects formatting issues, and makes it look professional. But when it comes to the critical stuff - the deal analysis, business plan, financial proforma, etc. - I write that. As the sponsor, you should know the deal better than anyone else, and you want that to be obvious to the investors. And it helps when they have questions - you'll know it cold since you wrote it!
3. For property management, we have 3rd party property management, and they use Yardi to manage all of the financials at the property level. There are a handful of good programs out there for that. Regardless of what program they use, the management company (or you if you are self managing and purchase a license for a program like Yardi) should be able to send you all kinds of reports: trailing 12, rent rolls, delinquency, etc. You could in a sense automate investor reporting by having some of these reports packaged and emailed to them, but in my experience most investors won't find this very useful. Most investors are going to want to get a well written prose update in addition to financial info. Until you really scale and have other knowledgeable employees or partners, the best person to write that is typically you!
Successful syndicating is really based on 2 things: finding great deals, and good investor relations. While lots of pieces can be outsourced, they don't lend themselves well to automation.
Syndication Expert and Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 591 posts · 808 votes
6y
I'll echo what others have mentioned specifically what @Andrew Cushman said about excel being more than sufficient and I have also have heard nothing but good things about Michael Blank's analyzer.
Building a model in Excel isn't too complicated and is also beneficial from a standpoint of truly understanding how all the mechanics and levers of a deal work.
After the underwriting and deal is done we have just started using IMS (investment management services) as an investor portal that handles all reporting, distribution calculations (independently verified), distributing K1's, in addition to rolling out capital raises and signing up investors to get access to the portal. We've been happy to far with IMS.
I've also used Juniper Square that performs a similar function as IMS. I'm not as familiar with Juniper but it seems to be a good platform as well.
Investor · Orlando · Member since 2020 · 96 posts · 31 votes
5y
Hi @Bon Osonwanne I just checked out Groundbreaker and it's seems like a pretty comprehensive package for $100 vs. $500 or more for Syndication Pro. Have you used it?
Investor · Scottsdale, AZ · Member since 2016 · 46 posts · 12 votes
5y
@Bennet Sebastian I don't think their pricing was available on their marketing/landing site when I checked a few years ago. But at these prices it's definitely a better option than Juniper Square or CrowdStreet (white label) that were like $10k.
Investor · Orlando · Member since 2020 · 96 posts · 31 votes
5y
Thanks, I think I’ll start with Groundbreaker and move onto one of the more expensive options later if my syndication business grows. Right now I’m just looking to do one or two this year.
Investor · Castle Rock, CO · Member since 2018 · 297 posts · 159 votes
5y
@Adam Sheren I just started using SyndicationPro and it seems to work well. You can sign up for a free demo where they'll walk you through it's capabilities. It was very informative.
Update: I decided to go with Investnext and am pretty happy with my decision. The support has been great and the pricing can't be beat.
Thank you for the follow up Bennet. Now that you're almost a year into Investnext, where do you stand on that decision?
I'm not the OP, but we've been using InvestNext for a little over a year as well.
I come from a tech background and love the fact that the team is highly technical, can make bug fixes on the fly, and keeps a very detailed roadmap for future development. My partner, Ashley Wilson, has worked very closely with their developers to implement a number of features over the past year that is taking it from a nice to have tool to an integral part of our business.
I know that they are currently in beta for some CRM features as well, and I'm looking forward to those. But long story short, We're very happy users, and I expect we'll be using the platform long-term.