Investing in Real Estate Funds

[Lithium]

I've been educating myself more on real estate investing the last month or so and have been trying to decide if I want to branch out beyond the Vanguard REIT ETF. I'm almost done with Cory Fawcett's book on direct ownership, which is good, but has convinced me I have no business being a landlord. I'm not that knowledgeable about syndications but don't think it will be sustainable for me to vet individual deals on crowdfunding sites. So I am thinking that if I make any changes, the real estate funds may be as active and hands on as I want to be.

I plan to have a windfall this Spring from a home sale, so I could put the cash in one or multiple funds if I so desire in a few months.

Jim wrote a post describing how he vetted the Alpha Investing Fund: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/alpha-investing-fund/

PIMD has a similar post for the MLG Fund III (I think now they are taking investments for Fund IV): https://passiveincomemd.com/how-to-v...apital-part-1/

Origins Investments is another group that has sponsored this site. https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/co...always-better/

I thought it would be worth starting a discussion here for a few reasons. While the above articles are helpful, WCI and PIMD have significant conflicts of interest (which they are upfront about), and I thought it would be useful to hear from the forum at large. Are you invested in any of these, and if so, what has been your experience? Was there any reason you chose your particular fund manager over another? Any bad experiences or other caveat emptors?

Also, are these funds more tax efficient (due to depreciation) than most equities? I assume that is the case but didn't see it bluntly stated in any online articles I read. I'm not that deterred by the prospect of filing a bunch of state tax returns.

[RogerC]

Lithium,
I was in the same situation as you a year ago and wasn't sure how to vet different deals on the crowdfunding platforms. I went to Crowdstreet and looked at all the deals and they all sounded good. Then I read this WCI post and near the end, Jim links to The Real Estate Crowdfunding Review.

https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/how-we-invest-in-real-estate/

Ian Ippolito runs a fantastic Private Investor Forum for members to do group due diligence on deals. The forum is free to join. There is some vetting to make sure that you are not a sponsor. He does not take any money from any sponsors. It reminds me of the Bogleheads forums where there are no ads or obvious conflicts of interest. I know there are a few WCI readers in that forum as well. The public website is very educational but join the forums for the real meat and actionable information. Hope that helps!

https://www.therealestatecrowdfundingreview.com

[Lithium]

RogerC Thanks!
i signed up for the crowdfunding review site and I’ll be ordering the Sean Cook book.

If that is sufficient to make me comfortable with crowdfunding deals, maybe I’ll try that instead. It would be nice to just invest in a fund and call it a day, but finding individual deals would likely lower fees and facilitate 1031 exchanges.

[WealthyDoc]

I have invested in real estate for over 20 years. There is a lot to know. It is a great way for physicians to invest for a lot of reasons. But to do well, you have to know and do a lot.
I have enjoyed decent returns from Funds, Syndications, SFH, Triple-nets, MOBs, etc. There are risks and COI all along the spectrum. I try to understand and mitigate the risks when I can. Diversification has helped me so far. PM me if you want.