Worksheets · Comparison
DST Comparison Sheet: Comparing Three Offerings Side by Side
A blank grid for comparing three DST offerings from their memoranda: sponsor, property, tenant, loan, reserves, fees, hold and exit, with why each row matters.
What this worksheet does
A memorandum describes one trust, and the sponsor's material compares it with nothing. The only way to tell whether a loan maturity, a reserve or a fee is ordinary is to lay three memoranda side by side and read the same line from each. This sheet is that grid, with a sentence on each row saying why it matters so you know what a good answer looks like.
Fill it from the memoranda, not from summary sheets, and bring it to the conversation with your advisor. The questions to get answered in writing before you subscribe are on the due-diligence checklist; the dollars behind the fee row come from the fee and load worksheet. The page carries no figures of its own.
The grid
One memorandum per column. Write the sponsor's words, not your impression of them.
| Row | Why it matters | Offering A | Offering B | Offering C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sponsor's experience in this asset class | A sponsor that has taken trusts in this property type through a full cycle has shown it can buy, operate and sell them; a record in another asset class is a different skill. Ask for completed programs in this type, with dates. | |||
| 2. Property type and location | Market, submarket, age, class and the local supply pipeline decide what the property is worth when the trust sells. The market section is the sponsor's case; check it against your own reading. | |||
| 3. Tenant and lease term | Who pays the rent, their credit, when the leases expire against the projected hold, the renewal options. In a master-lease structure, also the master tenant's capitalisation and guaranty, because that is who the trust collects from. | |||
| 4. Leverage and loan maturity | The loan the trustee cannot refinance: amount against value, fixed or floating, interest-only period, sweep covenants, and the maturity against the hold. A maturity inside the hold forces a sale on the lender's calendar. Write "none" for an all-cash trust. | |||
| 5. Reserves | Dollars held back at closing, what they may be spent on, who releases them and what the trust does when they are gone: the only cushion between a vacancy and a cut in distributions. | |||
| 6. Fee load from the memorandum | Upfront, annual and exit, in dollars on your equity, from the compensation table. A fee on the purchase price is larger than the same rate on equity because the price includes the loan. | |||
| 7. Projected hold | Years, and what the memorandum says will trigger a sale. Compare with the loan maturity in row 4 and the lease expiries in row 3. | |||
| 8. Exit and the 721 pathway | Sale of the property, or an option for the sponsor's REIT to acquire it for operating partnership units under section 721. Who elects, what you receive, and that a 721 contribution ends your ability to exchange again. | |||
| 9. Minimum and the interest you would buy | The minimum for exchange and for cash purchasers, whether the interest can be sized to your exact equity and debt, and how the sponsor verifies accreditation. | |||
| 10. Risk factors unique to this offering | The three risk factors that are not in every memorandum, in the sponsor's words. These are the sponsor's own statement of what is unusual here. | |||
| 11. Exemption and paperwork | Rule 506(b) or 506(c). The second requires verified accredited status and allows the offering to be advertised; the first does not, and admits a limited number of non-accredited purchasers with fuller disclosure. | |||
| The one question left | What you still need the sponsor to answer in writing before you would subscribe. |
Worked example (hypothetical)
Three imaginary trusts described in words only, to show what a filled grid reveals. No sponsor, no figures, nothing to buy.
| Row | Offering A | Offering B | Offering C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Several completed programs in this property type | Long record in net lease; this is its usual type | Sponsor's first trust in this property type |
| 2 | Apartments, one growing metro, built in the last decade | Single-tenant retail, several states | Self storage, one secondary market |
| 3 | Hundreds of short residential leases; affiliate master tenant with modest capitalisation and no guaranty | One tenant with public credit; lease runs past the hold with flat rent | Month-to-month customers; no master lease |
| 4 | Floating rate with a cap that expires early; matures before the hold ends | Fixed rate; matures after the hold | None (all cash) |
| 5 | Reserve for capital items and lease-up | Small reserve; little to spend it on | Larger reserve relative to the equity |
| 6 | From the fee worksheet | From the fee worksheet | From the fee worksheet |
| 7 | Medium hold; sale at the sponsor's discretion | Long hold tied to the lease | Medium hold |
| 8 | Sponsor's REIT holds a 721 option | Sale to a third party | Sale to a third party |
| 9 | Sized to the exact equity; exchange and cash minimums differ | Sized to the exact equity | Higher minimum; cash purchasers in a separate class |
| 10 | Rate cap expiry; new supply nearby; master tenant default | Single tenant; renewal risk at the end; flat rent through the hold | Sponsor inexperience; local competition; no debt to replace |
| 11 | Rule 506(b) | Rule 506(c) | Rule 506(b) |
What the grid shows: A carries the loan risk, B the single-tenant risk, C the sponsor risk and no debt at all, which suits an exchange that paid off no mortgage and fails one that did. None of the three is the better trust until you know which risk you would rather hold and what your sale requires you to replace. Hypothetical offerings; run the real ones with your advisor and your CPA.
How the numbers are calculated
Each row asks for the same fact from each memorandum, and the second column says what a weak answer looks like. Rows 1 to 5 are the real estate and the lease: who runs it, where it is, who pays, what it owes, what cushion it holds. Rows 6 to 9 are your deal with the sponsor: what you pay, how long, how you leave, how much you can put in. Rows 10 and 11 are the sponsor's own list of what is unusual, and the securities exemption that decides what you had to be shown and how.
Every DST on the sheet shares the same restrictions, because every sponsor copies the facts of Rev. Rul. 2004-86 into its trust agreement: the trustee only collects and distributes income, may not accept new capital, renegotiate the loan, reinvest sale proceeds, re-lease except on a tenant's bankruptcy or insolvency, or make more than minor non-structural improvements. Since the structure is the same, the comparison is about what differs: the property, the lease, the loan, the reserves, the sponsor and the fees. That is why the grid has those rows and not a row for the trust agreement.
Row 11 matters because of Rule 506 of Regulation D. A Rule 506(b) offering cannot be advertised and may admit a limited number of non-accredited purchasers who must receive disclosure comparable to a registered offering; a Rule 506(c) offering may be advertised but every purchaser must be verified as accredited. The SEC's investor bulletin lists the questions to ask in either case, including how the money will be used, what your investment professional is paid, and whether you can hold the investment indefinitely. The first and second are rows 6 and 8; the third applies to all three columns, because a DST interest cannot be sold on demand and the equity in any of them can be lost.
The sheet ranks nothing. A trust with the stronger tenant may carry the weaker loan; the one with no loan replaces no debt; the sponsor with the longest record may be charging the most for it. The decision is which risk you would rather hold and what your own exchange needs to replace. Fill the grid, then take it, the memoranda and your sale figures to your advisor and your CPA.
Questions about this worksheet
Why three offerings rather than the one I was shown?
Because a memorandum describes one trust against nothing. A loan maturity, a reserve or a fee only looks ordinary or unusual next to two others, and the sponsor's material will not supply the others. Three is the smallest number that shows a pattern.
Should the three come from different sponsors?
Usually yes. Sponsor risk is one of the rows, and the comparison is thin if all three answers are the same name. How many trusts and sponsors a single exchange can sensibly hold is on DST diversification levels.
Can I buy all three instead of choosing?
Yes, if each accepts your minimum and the equity and debt still add up across them. The allocation planner splits one exchange across trusts with different leverage.
If one has a lower fee load, is that the one?
Not on its own. The load is the cost of entry; the other ten rows decide what the entry buys. A low load on a trust whose loan matures before its hold ends is still a trust whose loan matures before its hold ends.
How do I compare an all-cash trust with a leveraged one?
Row 4 reads 'none' for the all-cash trust, which removes the loan risk but also means it replaces no debt. If your sale paid off a mortgage, the exchange needs debt or outside cash to match; see replacing debt in an exchange and zero cash flow DSTs.
Where do I find a sponsor's record for row 1?
In the memorandum's prior performance section, in the sponsor's completed-program tables and in its filings on EDGAR; what each shows is on where to see a DST sponsor's track record.
Sources
Figures checked on October 8, 2026. Rates and thresholds change each year; this page is general information, not tax or legal advice.
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