What Does it Mean to Co-Invest in Real Estate?

What is a Real Estate Co-Investment?

It’s easy to get bogged down with details when learning about a new investment strategy, but co-investing is exactly what you might guess from the name: multiple individuals coming together to invest in a property which they will then co-own. Each investor owns a percentage of the property proportionate to the percentage of capital they contributed.

Often, co-investment opportunities are created by an experienced sponsor, who manages the deal and coordinates with the various investors. This strategy, also known as real estate syndication, has become increasingly popular because of the growth of online investing platforms that make it easier than ever for investors to find and evaluate co-investment opportunities.

Key Benefits of Co-Investing in Commercial Real Estate

The most obvious benefit of co-investing in commercial real estate is the ability it gives you to invest in larger deals than you could on your own.

If chosen wisely, these large properties are often more stable investments than small commercial real estate deals or residential real estate. Commercial real estate is also less correlated with public markets, so it’s less volatile and more resistant to downturns.

While the specific details of the agreement will vary depending on the sponsor you choose to work with, many co-investments are completely passive, because the sponsor does all the work of sourcing, vetting, and managing the deal.

Real Estate Co-Investments vs. Funds and REITs

Co-investment is not the only way to passively invest in real estate, but it does offer some additional advantages that real estate investment trusts and real estate funds do not.

First, a co-investment allows you to have complete control over where you put your money. When you invest in a fund or REIT, your decision is based on who the sponsor is and the types of properties they tend to invest in. You don’t have any control over where your money is allocated within the fund. In a co-investment or syndication, on the other hand, you choose the specific property that you want to invest in, and how much you want to invest.

Second, because co-investing is a direct investment, it’s subject to the same tax benefits as a typical real estate investment, including depreciation and other valuable deductions. Funds and REITs, on the other hand, are treated as dividend income and taxed accordingly.

Access Premium, Off Market Investment Opportunities with Excelsior Capital

At Excelsior Capital, we’re committed to finding the highest quality of commercial real estate deals for our investors.

As an experienced sponsor, we handle all the heavy lifting that comes with sourcing, vetting, and managing a commercial real estate deal. Additionally, our extensive network allows us to find off-market deals that you would likely not find out about otherwise.

Our strategy has delivered consistently strong results for our investors, and we believe it will continue to do so in the future. In particular, we focus on commercial assets in healthy secondary markets, especially asset classes with low volatility, including:

• Medical office buildings
• Flex/Light industrial properties

And once you’ve invested with Excelsior, we take care of all reporting and investor relations, while also operating with full transparency and giving you access to our state-of-the-art investor portal so you can always know how your investment is performing.

To learn more about Excelsior Capital and our direct co-investment opportunities, please fill out this short form to get in touch with a member of our team.