Founded in 2016, Gatsby Investment is coming up on our 10th anniversary! And, let me tell you, we have learned a lot over the last decade.
We thought this might be a good time to reflect on the lessons we’ve learned from 10 years in real estate syndication. And to share those lessons with our investors.
So here are three of the most valuable lessons learned from real estate syndication, including ways you can implement these lessons in your own real estate investing.
1. Leverage the Resources of More Experienced Investors
No one is born knowing how to invest in real estate. And no matter how much you learn, there’s always someone more experienced who can teach you more.
Dan didn’t launch Gatsby Investment alone. Even as a successful entrepreneur and developer, Dan sought out partnerships with people he could learn more from. Leveraging their experience, skills, knowledge, and connections allowed Dan and the whole company to grow faster and stronger while minimizing risk.
How You Can Leverage the Resources of Others Through Syndication
Syndication is built on leverage. When you invest in a syndicated real estate deal, you automatically get access to:
- Your sponsor’s expertise. An established syndication sponsor has a team of professional real estate analysts who pre-vet each potential deal. By the time a deal is offered to investors, it’s undergone rigorous stress testing to make sure it’s a sound investment. For a behind-the-scenes look at this process, check out How Gatsby Selects Properties for Syndication.
- Your sponsor’s network. Unless you already know an architect, designer, developer, contractor, electrician, plumber, HVAC specialist, roofer, and an entire team of builders (who all happen to be available for your project at the same time, you benefit immensely from your sponsor’s industry connections.
- Your sponsor’s systems. An established sponsor has done dozens, or maybe even hundreds, of deals. They have a tried-and-true workflow, optimized for efficiency and return on investment.
- Other investors’ capital. Since syndication pools funds from multiple investors, you get to buy into a high-value deal for a comparatively small investment amount. For example, with Gatsby, you can own part of a multi-million dollar property for as little as $25k.
2. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Balance
Most investors appreciate stability over volatility. Of course, some extremists don’t mind high-risk investments if there’s a chance of high returns. But if you’re looking to increase your net worth, you’re probably looking for a better balance.
At Gatsby, we’re always balancing things like:
- Risk vs. reward
- Speed vs. due diligence
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Liquidity vs. long-term returns
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Appreciation vs. cash-flow
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Multi-family vs. single-family
This might sound like an obvious consideration, but with balance playing into literally every aspect of a deal, we’re making thousands of calculated trade-offs continually with the goal of maximizing return potential for our investors.
Ways You Can Implement Balance through Real Estate Syndication
Syndication, as an investment model, offers some built-in balance.
For example:
- Ownership vs. responsibility. With syndication, you own an equity stake in the underlying real estate. But you don’t have to handle landlord tasks like leasing, rent collection, maintenance, or vacancies.
- Diversification vs. overconcentration. Unlike with whole fund investing (like you find in other passive real estate investments like REITs), syndication allows you to hand-pick your properties from a selection of pre-vetted deals. And, instead of tying all capital to one property, you can spread your capital across multiple projects for greater diversification.
- Portfolio growth vs. personal bandwidth. You can build a real estate portfolio with multiple properties without the stress and workload that often comes with scaling independently.
3. Choose Resilient Markets Over Trendy Ones
Trendy markets have a tendency to boom and bust. Hot spots like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tampa have all seen property values skyrocket and crash.
But at Gatsby, we don’t want to rely on market growth as the sole driver of returns. We want to work in a market that provides impressive return potential even as conditions shift. That’s why we focus on Los Angeles, the best-kept secret in real estate investing.
Many investors avoid LA because of the high entry costs, lower cap rates, and longer permitting timelines. And this is great for us because it means less competition! Investors often overlook the chronic housing shortage that rewards developers, the changing zoning laws that create opportunities for small multi-family builds, and the long-term resilience of property values.
How You Can Invest in Resilient Markets through Real Estate Syndication
You can absolutely research markets you’re interested in to see if they might be a good long-term investment. But if you’re looking for a formula that’s already proven successful, join Gatsby in investing in LA through syndication!
Since we at Gatsby handle every aspect of the deal for you, you can access the LA market through us, even if:
- You don’t live close enough to personally manage a property in LA
- You don’t have the cash available to buy a property in LA on your own
- You don’t have an insider’s understanding of individual neighborhoods and their micro-housing markets
Leverage the Expertise of the Experienced Team at Gatsby
You don’t have to learn lessons the hard way. Give yourself a head start by using lessons others have already learned.
Gatsby has continually improved our systems over our 10 years in real estate syndication, and we are proud of our track record. From 2016 through the end of 2025, we provided average annualized returns of 22.3%!
Want to learn more? Explore our real estate investment opportunities and leverage our expertise over the next 10 years and beyond!