How to Commit and Wire Money to a Syndication

Investing in a real estate syndication happens in a fixed order: you read the offering documents, commit an amount, prove you are accredited, sign, and only then wire money to an escrow account. Nothing moves until you send the wire, and the wire comes last. On DoorRaise, the investor side follows exactly this order, so we walk through it here with the steps and the checks that protect you.

This post is part of our guide to real estate syndication. It covers the mechanics of committing and funding. For the choice of whether to invest at all, use our first investment checklist. Rules are as of October 2026.

Key takeaways

Committing an amount is a statement of intent. No money moves until you wire it, and you wire it last.
Rule 506(b) allows up to 35 sophisticated non-accredited investors, and 506(c) requires the sponsor to verify every buyer is accredited. DoorRaise's own policy is to verify every investor under either rule, so expect a verification step before you can sign.
On DoorRaise you sign first, the sponsor countersigns, and wire instructions appear in your signed-in account only after that and after your checks clear.
Money goes to an independent escrow agent named on the deal page, never to the sponsor. Confirm the instructions by phone before you send anything.
If the raise misses its minimum or the deal does not close, the escrow terms return your money. Every investment can still lose money after closing.

Step 1: Read before you commit

Start with the deal page and the documents behind it. The deal page should show the property, the sponsor's track record, the terms and the fees. The documents are the private placement memorandum (the main disclosure document), the operating agreement (the rules of the company that owns the property) and the subscription agreement (the contract you sign to buy).

Read the risk section first, not last. Read the fee table and ask what the sponsor is paid and when. Our guides to reading a private placement memorandum and vetting a syndication go through what to look for, and the questions to ask a sponsor tool gives you a list to send.

If the sponsor hosts a live call, go. Questions asked in front of other investors tend to get complete answers, and the sponsor's answers on the call should match the documents. If they do not, ask why before you go further.

Step 2: Commit an amount

On a DoorRaise deal page you choose how much to invest and the name you are investing under, such as yourself, a joint account, a self-directed IRA, a company or a trust. You also say which route you will use to show you are accredited.

Committing is not paying. The commit step records your intent, and the screen says plainly that nothing is charged and no money moves until you wire funds to escrow later. You can still read the documents, ask questions and decide at this stage.

Two things to settle before you commit:

The amount. The deal sets a minimum investment. Your own limit should come from what you can afford to lock up and lose, not from what the sponsor hopes to raise. See how much to invest in an apartment syndication.
The name. The name on the commitment is the name on your units, your tax form and your wire. Getting it wrong costs time later. If you are investing through a company or trust, see investing through an LLC or trust.

Step 3: Show you are accredited

Many deals under Rule 506 use accredited investors, which is a category the SEC defines by income, net worth, certain licenses or entity type. In a 506(c) offering the sponsor must take reasonable steps to verify it, and DoorRaise verifies every investor under either exemption before they can sign or wire. Our guide to how accredited investors are verified explains the rule.

On DoorRaise there are several routes. You pick the one that fits you.

Route	What you provide	Usual speed
Minimum investment	A written statement of your category and that the money is not borrowed for this deal. $200,000 or more for an individual, $1,000,000 or more for a company or trust.	Instant
Professional letter	A short letter from your CPA, attorney or financial adviser. We email them a form and check their licence.	Usually within a day
Licence	Series 7, 65 or 82. We check it with FINRA.	Usually within one business day
Income	Two years of tax forms showing income above the limit	After review
Net worth	Recent asset statements and a credit report	After review

A verification stays good for 90 days for new commitments on the letter, licence and document routes, and it carries over to later deals during that time. If you have not yet checked whether you qualify, the accredited investor check takes a few minutes. More on the product side is on our accreditation page.

Step 4: Sign the documents

Once your status is clear, you get the documents to sign electronically: the subscription agreement and the operating agreement. In the subscription agreement you confirm several facts about yourself, that you read the disclosure, and that you understand you can lose money. Our subscription agreement guide goes through each part.

Signing comes in two steps. You sign first. Then the sponsor countersigns, which accepts your subscription. Until the sponsor countersigns, there is no accepted investment and no instruction to wire.

Do not sign something you did not read because a deadline is coming. A deal that is sound will survive a day of reading. If you cannot get a straight answer to a question about a document, that is information.

Step 5: Wire to escrow

After you have signed, the sponsor has countersigned and your checks are clear, wire instructions appear in your signed-in DoorRaise account. They do not arrive by email, and DoorRaise never changes wire instructions by email. The money goes to an escrow account in the deal's name, held by an independent escrow agent named on the deal page. It does not go to the sponsor and it does not pass through DoorRaise.

Before you send a dollar, do the one check that matters most:

Find the escrow agent's phone number on the agent's own website, not in an email or a text.
Call and read back the account name, the bank and the reference.
Only then send the wire from your bank.

The next post in this series, wire fraud in real estate investing, goes through how the scams work and what to do if a wire goes wrong. The short version is that changed instructions are the most common trick, and a phone call to a number you found yourself defeats it.

Wire only the amount you committed, and keep the confirmation from your bank. The deal's company pays the escrow agent's fee.

Step 6: Escrow, closing and what if it does not close

Your wire is recorded and its status shows in your portal. Escrow holds the money until the conditions in the escrow terms are met. Our guide to how escrow works in a syndication covers the mechanics.

Two outcomes are possible.

The deal closes. The minimum raise has been met, every investor whose money is used has been verified and has signed, and escrow pays the title company and the other payees on the closing statement. Your units are issued.
The deal does not close, or the raise misses its minimum. Escrow returns the money. On DoorRaise deals, funds go back to the account they came from. They earn no interest and nothing is deducted. The return is normally sent within 10 business days after the event that requires it.

Escrow protects your money on its way to the property. It does not say anything about whether the deal will do well. After closing, results depend on the property, the loan, the market and the sponsor, and you can lose some or all of what you put in.

What you get after closing

After closing you hold units in the company that owns the property. Typically you receive:

A portal login with your documents, your balance and updates from the sponsor. See the investor portal.
Regular updates. A good sponsor tells you about problems early, with the facts and the plan. Compare what you see with the investor updates guide.
Distributions when there is cash to pay. On DoorRaise, payments go out by bank transfer at least each quarter when the property produces spare cash. They are not guaranteed, and a quarter with no spare cash means no payment. See how syndication investors get paid.
A Schedule K-1 each year for your tax return. See the K-1 guide.

Your money is also tied up. Most syndications run for years, and units are hard to sell. Read can you sell your syndication interest before you commit.

How DoorRaise fits in

DoorRaise runs this sequence for sponsors who raise from their own friends and followers: the deal page, the accreditation check, the electronic documents, the countersignature, the wire instructions inside your account and the escrow coordination. We are software and administration. We are not a bank, an escrow agent, a broker-dealer or a law firm, and we never hold investor money.

Raise your apartment deal from the people who already follow you.

DoorRaise is built for apartment buildings with 5 or more units: one link for the deal, escrow until closing and a standard fee card.

Launch a deal See the fee card

If you are a sponsor, see how it works or create your sponsor page. The fees are flat: $500 to set up, $5,000 at closing and only if the deal closes, and $3,500 a year.

FAQ

Do I send money when I commit?

No. Committing records how much you plan to invest. You wire money later, after you have signed, the sponsor has countersigned and your checks have cleared.

Can I change my mind after committing?

Before you wire, you can usually walk away, because no money has moved. Once you have signed, the subscription agreement and the offering documents say what rights you have to withdraw. Read that section before you sign.

Why am I asked to prove I am accredited?

Rule 506 offerings rely on investors who meet the SEC's accredited definition. On DoorRaise, every investor is verified before signing or wiring. Verification is done once and carries over to other deals for a period.

Who holds my money after I wire it?

An independent escrow agent named on the deal page, in an account in the deal's name. The sponsor cannot spend it before closing, and DoorRaise does not hold it.

What if the wire instructions look different from what I expected?

Stop and call the escrow agent at the number on the agent's own website. Do not use a number from an email. Do not send the wire until the details match.

Is the investment guaranteed once I wire?

No. Escrow protects the money until closing. After that, the investment can lose value and distributions can stop.

Sources

This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Talk to a securities attorney and a CPA about your own situation. Every investment can lose money. DoorRaise is not a law firm, broker-dealer, investment adviser or funding portal.