So you’re putting together a real estate syndication but you want to know who needs to be on your team. A lot of times people will call me first and say, “Tilden, you’re a syndication attorney. Who needs to be on my team?” Well, in today’s video, we’re going to go through the five main players and a couple other ideas on who needs to be in your Rolodex as key players so that when you’re putting together that syndication, you know who is on your team.
My name is Tilden Moschetti. I am a syndication attorney with the Moschetti Syndication Law Group. We specialize in putting together Regulation D 506b and 506c offerings for real estate syndicators, real estate developers, businesses, anybody who’s looking to raise outside capital for the acquisition of assets, where those outside investors get compensated.
Let’s talk about some of the key players who need to be part of your team. First off is the real estate syndication attorney, such as myself. I specialize in this field, I’ve done many deals for myself, as well as acted as an attorney on hundreds of real estate syndication offerings put together by my clients. I do my own deals, so I have boots-on-the-ground experience and know firsthand the situation that you’re going through.
A lot of times people will come to me first, because I’ve already been there and been down the path that they’re looking for. They know I probably know people that would be good additional team members. As a real estate syndication attorney, my job is to make sure that you are compliant with the rules of the SEC and the states, and that you’re complying and doing all the things that are necessary when you’re offering a security. That’s what you’re doing in a syndication – you’re selling a security. It’s a free pass to sell that security, but you need to follow the rules.
Another major key player, probably number one or number two on your list, is a real estate agent or real estate broker. You need a way to be able to find properties and source those. Some people have these in-house or they come to doing real estate syndication as a broker agent themselves. But if they’re not, it’s very helpful to have at least one and probably a multitude of real estate agents or brokers to help them find the right property and to set up that deal for the acquisition of the asset that will be part of their syndication.
Another key person is an accountant. The accountant certainly is going to be doing the taxes and making sure that the K-1s get filed. Most syndications are partnership returns, which means that we issue K-1s every year. That accountant is critical to make sure that all the benefits of owning real estate, such as depreciation, are passed on in the appropriate way to your investors, as well as giving tax returns which need to get filed every time.
Along with that accountant, you will also want a bookkeeper. You want to be able to keep track of all those expenses and make sure that they’re being attributed properly to the investment vehicle itself. We want to make sure that distributions are happening in an appropriate way, and a bookkeeper can help you with that.
Lastly, you may choose to have a property manager. A property manager is the one on site or near the site that can be the boots on the ground and make sure that tenants are paying their rent, that improvements are happening, and that expenses are getting paid. Having a great property manager is a lifesaver for a syndicator. I’ve never had a syndication go south, and that is because I’ve always had the very best property manager I could find to make sure that the property was being managed in the best possible way and in the most efficient way possible.
Other people you may want to consider as part of your team, especially if you have a more complex structure, might be a business attorney to make sure that all those arrangements being made with vendors or contracts being made with developers are being done in a way that is legal and compliant under your local state-specific rules.
You also may want to hire a tax attorney, certainly if there’s going to be some sort of 1031 exchanges as part of this or if you’re going to be doing anything different than just straight-line accounting. A tax attorney can be very helpful as well, especially if you’re doing an opportunity zone fund. They will be the one who can help structure that opportunity zone, and then the raising of the capital gets done through a securities attorney such as myself.
My name is Tilden Moschetti. I’m a real estate syndication attorney with the Moschetti Syndication Law Group. We specialize in Regulation D 506b and 506c offerings for real estate syndicators and developers, but also for businesses or anybody who’s looking to raise outside capital from investors.