When was the last time you took a vacation? Those 40, 60, or 80 hour work weeks in the office, head on a swivel while on-call to aid in potentially life or death decisions about your patients’ health, or neverending meetings that wear you down. So I absolutely hope you’re taking advantage of any time off as possible.
Daydream back to that last trip with me. After the stress of setting everything up, getting out of town and actually ON the plane, maybe you ordered a cocktail or settled into a good book. Ahhh, nice. The flight attendant might have given you a blanket, right?
One of the best analogies for a real estate syndication is to think of it as an airplane ride. There are pilots, passengers, flight attendants, mechanics, and more, who all work together to get the plane safely to its destination, to get you to your destination.
In this analogy, the pilots are the sponsors of the syndication, and the passengers (you) are the passive investors. They’re all going to the same place, but they have very different roles in the process.
If unexpected weather patterns emerge, if an engine has issues, or any other number of surprises, the pilots are the ones who are responsible for the flight.
The pilots will likely update the passengers (“Just to let you know, folks, we’re experiencing some turbulence at the moment…”), but the passengers don’t have any active responsibilities in making the decisions or flying the plane.
A real estate syndication is much like this. The passive investors, sponsors, brokers, property managers, and more, all share a vision to invest in and improve a particular asset. However, each person’s role in the project is different.
In this article, we’ll talk about exactly who those players are, as well as their respective roles in a given real estate syndication.
People in a Real Estate Syndication
Here are the key roles that come together to make a real estate syndication happen:
- Real estate broker
- Lender
- General partners
- Key principals
- Passive investors
- Property manager
- Spark Investment Group
Real Estate Broker
The real estate broker is the person or team who surfaces the property for sale, either as a listing or as an off-market opportunity (i.e., not publicly listed).
Having a strong real estate broker is crucial, as they are the main liaison between the buyer and the seller throughout the acquisition process.
Lender
The lender is the biggest money partner in a real estate syndication because they provide the loan for the property. The lender performs their own due diligence, underwriting, and gets a separate appraisal to make sure the property is worth the value of the loan requested.
In the airplane analogy, neither the real estate broker nor the lender are aboard the plane. They have important roles in bringing the project to fruition, but they are not part of the purchasing entity, nor do they share in any of the returns.
General Partners
The general partners synchronize with the real estate broker and lender to secure the loan and acquire the property in addition to managing the asset throughout the life of the project, which is why they are often also called the lead syndicators.
The general partnership team includes both the sponsors and the operators (sometimes these are the same people).
The sponsors are the ones signing on the dotted line for the loan and are often involved in the acquisition and underwriting processes.
The operators are generally responsible for managing the acquisition and for executing the business plan by overseeing the day-to-day operations. Operators guide the property manager and ensure that renovations are on schedule and within budget.
Key Principals
For a commercial loan, the sponsor is required to show a certain amount of personal liquidity. This reassures the lender that the sponsor can contribute additional personal capital to keep the property afloat if things were to ever go wrong.
One or more key principals may be brought into the deal to help guarantee the loan if the sponsor’s personal balance sheet is insufficient.
Passive Investors
A real estate syndication’s passive investors have no active role in the project. They simply invest their money in exchange for a share of the returns. Like the passengers on an airplane, they get to put their money in, sit back, and enjoy the ride.
What a great position!
Property Manager
Once the property has been acquired, the property manager becomes arguably the most important partner in the project because they are the “boots on the ground” who execute renovation projects according to the business plan.
The property manager works closely with the operator (i.e. the asset manager) to ensure the business plan is being followed and that any unexpected surprises are addressed properly.
Viking Capital Investments
In a real estate syndication, Viking Capital Investments is part of the general partnership. Our main role is to lead investor relations, review of conservative underwriting criteria and help raise the equity needed.
We serve as an advocate for investors by ensuring that the sponsors’ projections are conservative, deals are structured favorably toward investors, that multiple exit strategies exist, and that capital will be preserved and grow.
After the property is acquired, we act as the liaison between the sponsor/operator team and the investors by providing updates, financial reports, and other important information between parties.
Essentially, we are like the flight attendants, who prep the passengers for the journey and help ensure they are well-informed and comfortable throughout the flight.
Conclusion
A real estate syndication, by definition, is a group investment. And it’s only through pooling resources and coordinating that the syndication can be successful.
In addition to the key roles discussed here, there are inspectors, appraisers, cost segregation specialists, CPA, legal team, insurance agents, and more, who do various, important work in the background to make sure that the syndication is successful.
As a passive investor, your role in a syndication is a hands-off, participatory role that requires few decisions and very little time commitment. This is perfect for busy professionals with overflowing to-do lists and high-stress careers who also want to build wealth and change their family’s trajectory. You get to sit back and enjoy the flight while reaping all the benefits of investing in real estate!
