Real estate investing is a proven path to increasing your wealth and generating the type of generational wealth that most only dream about. It can give you the kind of financial security to live your life on your own terms. But getting started can be a daunting task. The thought of buying houses and being a landlord and dealing with all that entails can be overwhelming.
Beyond just the challenge of keeping your house occupied with a paying renter who isn’t intent on putting holes in the walls or doing unspeakable things to your carpets, you have to know how to create leases, fix what breaks and make sure that you cash flow enough to make all the work and worry worthwhile.
Fortunately becoming a landlord isn’t the only way of investing in real estate and actually, there are several ways of doing it. Rather than being an active investor, you can be a passive investor.
Active Real Estate investing goes back to the Landlord example, while passive investing is a much more hands-off strategy. Basically, you are a limited partner (LP) in the deal. You give someone your money, and they do the work while you do not play an active role. Syndications and real estate investment trusts (REITs) are excellent examples.
Investing in REIT:
REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is a group of investors who put their capital into the company that later manages the property or properties of their choice and afterward pays investors either monthly or quarterly dividend checks. You have no control or choice over the deals they make once you are invested.
When investing in REIT, you have no control over properties or asset classes they are choosing. You are simply earning passive income from them, which clearly means that you will successfully avoid all the landlord hassles mentioned above while still earning cash from the property.
Every investment comes with some risks and in the case of REIT, you are risking your capital in the hopes that the powers in charge of the REIT make good decisions on what they are investing in. In this way, a REIT is almost like the stock market where the value of the REIT as a whole can go down with only one or two poor decisions.
Investing in apartment syndication:
Apartment syndications, while similar, are definitely not the same. Simply put, it is when numerous investors pool their money together to purchase a building and develop a business plan for it.
In apartment syndications, you know where you are investing your capital – the exact location of the building, the number of its units, the business plan of it as well as all the financial aspects of the building.
Here is how it works:
The syndicator, also known as GP or general partner is an owner of a partnership that is actively managing the business and is responsible for collecting money from passive investors (like yourself). In some cases, a general partnership may include multiple individuals, all responsible for different aspects of the business.
In apartment syndications, passive investors are referred to as limited partners or simply LP. They have absolutely no responsibilities over apartment management and their only requirement is investing their money into the building.
To sum up, you are purchasing a building together with other investors and are generating profit from it, without any work done on your part. The difference is, you get to choose if you like the terms of any deal that you go into. Also, different deals have different timeframes. You get to decide if you want to invest in long-term syndication or something with a quicker turnaround.
Investing in apartment syndications is a great idea if you are looking for an extra income that doesn’t require any of your time and energy, or even if you are just starting your business in real estate and are leery of being locked in as a landlord.
Invest Confidently with Shannon Robnett
Understanding the difference between REIT and Real Estate Syndication isn’t just a technical detail—it’s the key to aligning your investment strategy with your personal financial goals. At Shannon Robnett Industries, we bring decades of experience structuring both types of opportunities, with a proven track record of helping investors build wealth through carefully vetted, tax-advantaged real estate projects. Whether you’re seeking steady income through debt or long-term growth through equity, our team is here to help you make the right move.