border_rotate border_rotate

As a real estate investment fund or a general partner (GP), finding the right limited partner (LP) investors can make or break a real estate deal. The right LPs can be hard to find if you don’t already have a functional network established. LPs can also be hard to keep if you’re not using best practices.

Where can GPs find LPs?

The right LPs for your deal may seem elusive now, but once you get headed in the right direction, they will be easy to spot. You may already know this, but you can find LPs:

  • Through your real estate broker.
  • Through a real estate investing club.
  • At industry events.
  • Through friends and family.
  • Through your bank or investment broker.
  • Online.

The first five avenues to cash flow are straightforward; talk to the people you know and attend events in your area, #IRLNetworking. Going online to search out investors, however, may seem a bit foreign.

Using online resources can help you find more investors suited to the deals you have available. For starters, you can check out sites like meetup.com for real estate investor groups. Other popular sites with networking capabilities and real estate investment groups include Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Additionally, there are services specifically for matching investors with general partners or investment firms. When venturing to these third-party investor matching sites, it is essential to do your due diligence, read reviews, and vet investors before jumping into any agreements.

Some reputable online sources also offer crowdfunding platforms for GPs and real estate investment firms. Crowdfunding might be a good solution if you are new to the business and are working at building your reputation as a GP or real estate investment firm.

Keeping up appearances

Your future in real estate deal-making relies on your reputation. First, you have to build one; then, you need to work to keep it pristine. Unfortunately, many GPs and real estate investment firms get ahead of themselves and make too many deals or get greedy and charge high fees (hidden or not). Here are some tips on how to keep your reputation clean and LPs interested when a new deal comes around.

  • Integrity – Operate with integrity; you will have many opportunities to puff up returns or make things look better than they are. Resist doing this at all costs.
  • Wait For The Right Deals – One bad deal can trash your reputation and end the career you have been working so hard at.
  • Communication – Communicate accurately, often, early. Your investors want honest, timely updates. Don’t wait for an issue to be solved to address it with your investors. Always be 100% honest about the deals you present to people.
  • Own Up – When something terrible happens like a flood, tell investors that you underestimated the flood risk in the area. Doing so will go over much better than trying to place the blame somewhere else in the long run.
  • Be Fair – When real estate is on a tear, you might be able to pull the wool over some people’s eyes, but investors will eventually figure it out, and they won’t be there when the market takes a downturn. Charge fees, but be fair.
  • Take it Easy – Taking on too many deals at once can lead to process inefficiencies and a loss of investor trust.
  • Finesse Your Presentations – Make sure each investor has a clear idea and a stack of notes (or an amazing slide deck) to take home after making your concrete points about the deal.
  • Learn to Build Financial Models – Build outstanding financial models of your investments or find someone that can.
  • Raise More Than You Need – Always plan to raise more than you need to avoid a preventable capital call.I
  • Impeccable Accounting – Keep books on everything within your company and never intermingle funds. Make sure you are not bleeding money in inconspicuous places, and robbing Peter to pay Paul almost always backfires.

There you have it, finding LPs will probably be challenging in the start, but you have options beyond asking family and friends. Start with your broker and networking online. As you gather people, be honest and yourself, and you will be well on your way to growing your real estate investment business.

The Agora platform offers dedicated fundraising and investor relationship management software designed to streamline your fundraising process.

The software enables you to:

  • Reach out to more investors with deals that might pique their interest.
  • manage all investor relationships with a real estate investor CRM.
  • Securely share data and sign documents.
  • Keep your LPs informed with real estate investor reporting software.
LEARNING

More articles

The Deal Makers
Listener favorites: The Deal Makers’ top episodes of season 1
In The Deal Makers S1, Agora talked real estate strategies, tips, and lessons with industry top players Brian Briscoe, Levi Benkert, Joel Fine, and more.
Learn more
Business
4 cost and effort-effective ways to build up your brand
Branding is an essential tool for CRE firms looking to attract investors, foster trust, and grow. Learn how to effectively boost your brand.
Learn more
Investor management
9 capabilities your real estate investor CRM must have
There are substantial differences in capabilities, features, and overall quality between the CRM software solutions for real estate firms. We compiled this short checklist to help you make the best decision. 
Learn more
Business
4 reasons why GPs need to invest as LPs in other GPs' deals
Investing as an LP in other GPs’ deals is an effective but overlooked practice for GPs who want to grow and learn. Here’s what you can gain by adopting it.
Learn more
Real estate tax
5 Tax Season Tips for GPs with Foreign Investors
Tax season is even trickier for GPs with investors abroad. We sat with an international tax expert to hear his top tips for GPs with foreign LPs.
Learn more
Fundraising
Real estate fundraising: data rooms and public brochures 101
Data rooms and public brochures are essential for GPs' fundraising process. Learn how to use them better and what to look for when choosing the tool to create and manage them.
Learn more
Business
Changing your mindset to fuel growth with Jorge Abreu
We set down for a talk with Jorge Abreu, CEO of Elevate Investment Group for a talk about his career journey and how he made the jump from single-family to multi-family properties.
Learn more
Investment automation
Investment management software with integrated distributions. Why is it a necessity?
Are you using generic payment services to send distribution payments? Here's why you need an investment management solution that enables you to send distributions from within the platform.
Learn more
Business
The tech trends that will drive efficiency for real estate in 2023
As market predictions point toward cutting costs and streamlining operations, we review the prominent real estate industry tech trends for 2023 and beyond.
Learn more
Tax
Make this tax season a breeze with Agora’s CPA service
Agora's K-1 preparation services provides a dedicated real estate expert CPA and a Tax Center to communicate with your CPA, send & sign documents and get a live progress overview from within the platform.
Learn more
Business
3 common friction points between GPs and LPs and how to solve them
Frictions and conflicts of interest can't be entirely avoided in real estate GP-LP partnerships. That's why it's essential to know how to solve them.
Learn more
Investment automation
Why real estate firms and GPs need investor CRM software
Learn about the main functionalities and uses of real estate investor CRM software and how it helps optimize investor relationship management.
Learn more
Business
7 features to look for in a real estate Investor Portal
Whether you’re in the market for a real estate Investor Portal or want to see if you’re getting everything you can from your own, this is the guide for you.
Learn more
News
Agora's 2022 highlights
It's been one hack of a ride for the real estate investment market. we wanted to take a moment to celebrate what we've accomplished together this year.
Learn more
Business
Building Wealth and Community with Kim Wendland, Co-Founder and Real Estate Asset Manager at Quattro Capital
Most people get into real estate to make money. But wealth isn't the only thing you can build in this business. In fact, it may not even be the most important thing… We recently sat down with Kim Wendland for an episode of The Deal Makers podcast.
Learn more
Business
5 Tips for negotiating deals in commercial real estate
Negotiating real estate deals is often glamorized, but it rarely goes down the way you see it in the movies. There are no intense stare-downs or sliding pieces of paper with mysterious numbers across a table.
Learn more
Business
Growing an Industrial Real Estate Business With Levi Benkert, Founder of Harbor Capital
While many investors focus exclusively on residential real estate, industrial real estate can be incredibly rewarding. And many industry veterans — like Levi Benkert, Founder and CEO of Harbor Capital — have jumped into the industrial real estate waters with both feet. In this article, we'll share Levi's tips for growing an industrial real estate business, as well as our own insights into the process. Let's dive in!
Learn more
Business
Sourcing and Underwriting Real Estate Deals
Consistently sourcing real estate deals takes an enormous amount of effort, systemization, and dedication. For that reason, deal sourcing is a practice that most real estate investors don’t even attempt. Even sourcing small deals can be difficult, but sourcing and underwriting large-scale deals for an REIG (Real Estate Investment Group) has its very particular set of challenges.
Learn more
The Deal Makers
2008 and 2022: overcoming failure and facing strenuous markets by Joe Blackbourn
Working as a syndicator is an incredibly fulfilling career path for many; you’re constantly learning, connecting with diverse groups of people and helping them meet their needs, and networking with others who can continuously help you to grow. But sometimes, uncontrollable external factors in the economy can lead to potential losses and stressful times in the real estate industry.
Learn more
The basics
General Partner vs. Limited Partner: What’s the difference?
For real estate investors, the way a particular deal is structured can play a substantial part in its overall profitability. The capital for most private equity deals is structured in a Joint Venture between a General Partner (GP) and a Limited Partner (LP).
Learn more
News
Swissroc X Agora - A new collaboration as Agora enters the Swiss market
Swissroc, a real estate investment group based in Geneva, signed an equity investment in Agora, as part of our Series A led by New York-based global venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners and supported by Aleph, who led the previous round.
Learn more
News
Announcing our $20M Series A, Led By Insight Partners
We’re thrilled to announce that Agora has raised a $20M Series A round led by Insight Partners, with participation from Aleph. This funding round will help us expand our services and extend our reach.
Learn more
Product updates
Agora investment management platform: a new fundraising experience
Agora's new real estate fundraising tool makes it easy for real estate firms to market assets via an intuitive and highly customizable process, bringing in new prospects and commitments faster than ever.
Learn more
The Deal Makers
The steps to success for a syndicator - Insights from Joel Fine
There are many key components to consider when investing in real estate, whether you’re a real estate entrepreneur or a seasoned syndicator. Joel Fine, managing partner at Lakeline Properties shared his insights about his pivot from software engineering in Silicon Valley to becoming a full time real estate investor, syndicator, and land developer.
Learn more
Investors
Building Healthy Financial Relationships with your real estate Investors - It’s easier than you think
other than financial backing, investors can offer unparalleled business insights — based on their experiences — and resources that can help you ensure that your brand name, and your firm’s reputation in the industry are on the right track. Learn how to do it
Learn more
Real estate tax
Overcome Tax Season with reliable data
Real estate remains a highly lucrative investment, with the average house price rising almost 5% in the previous year. Investors and real estate firms alike enjoy this growth, however, right around the corner lies the one thing no one likes, Tax season.
Learn more
Product updates
Agora investment management platform: Introducing The New Investor Portal
Agora's investor portal software is leading the market in customization capabilities, ease of use, and quality of design.
Learn more
Investment automation
Out of the dark comes real estate investment automation
Learn how to utilize real estate investment automation to streamline data management, facilitate communication, avoid oversights, and maintain the trust of your prime investors.
Learn more
Investors
How to build and maintain your real estate investor network
Learn how to build and sustain a network of real estate investors and discover a real estate CRM investor management platform that streamlines these processes.
Learn more
Fundraising
The 5 secrets to accelerating real estate fundraising
Fundraising is a vital process in real estate — a requirement in reaching investment goals. You can quickly settle the upfront costs (i.e., acquisition, listing, etc.) and start earning from an investment by accelerating real estate fundraising.
Learn more
Investor management
What do real estate investors really want (besides ROI)?
Understanding what investors want and how to deliver it to them is crucial for any real estate investment firm looking to grow.
Learn more

See Agora in action

Talk to an expert