Has anyone hired Castle Placement for a 506(c) real-estate fund raise?

Question

I’m evaluating Castle Placement for a 506(c) real-estate credit fund and am looking for firsthand sponsor references—not investor solicitation.

If you hired them, especially for a real-estate debt, fix-and-flip, DSCR, private-lending, or fund raise, I’d appreciate a candid DM or reply. I’m mainly trying to understand:

• Did they actually introduce capital that closed?
• How hands-on were they beyond investor outreach?
• Did their upfront fee, success fee, exclusivity, and tail provisions work as expected?
• How did they treat investors already in your network?
• Would you hire them again?

I’m not looking for confidential deal terms or investor names, just honest operator experience before I sign an engagement agreement. Thanks.

Chris Seveney · Answer

I have spoken with them in the past, we never pulled the trigger as the way we are setup it would have required us to do a lot of organizational changes / structure that I was not included to take on at this time. I do know another sponsor who has worked with them, but the sponsor did not have a great reputation or plan which you can hire the greatest placement agent in the world, but if your product, plan and story does not work, it will be challenging to raise money.

Stuart Udis · Answer

No knowledge of them specifically, but I hope you understand that raising capital is extremely difficult right now. I'm seeing developers with hundreds of millions of dollars in completed projects and strong reputations resort to having ghostwriters post multiple times a day on LinkedIn trying to raise $100,000 checks. These aren't lifeline capital raises either, they are to fund new acquisitions.

That tells you there's a structural gap in the market. If experienced sponsors with long track records are having to piece together smaller checks from individual investors, you have to ask yourself what makes your opportunity compelling enough for an intermediary to successfully raise the capital you need.

I'm only pointing this out so you go into the process with realistic expectations before spending money on capital-raising services.