DST Education

Delaware Statu­to­ry Trusts can be use­ful tools for cer­tain real estate investors, but they are also com­plex pri­vate real estate invest­ments that should be under­stood before cap­i­tal is com­mit­ted.

This DST Edu­ca­tion sec­tion is designed to help investors move beyond the basics and bet­ter eval­u­ate the struc­ture, spon­sor, prop­er­ty, financ­ing, fees, risks, liq­uid­i­ty, and poten­tial exit strate­gies asso­ci­at­ed with DST invest­ments.

What You Can Learn

Explore the top­ics below:

  • Under­stand­ing DSTs — Learn how DST own­er­ship works and how cer­tain DST inter­ests may fit into a Sec­tion 1031 exchange.
  • How to Review a PPM — Under­stand the key sec­tions of a Pri­vate Place­ment Mem­o­ran­dum and what investors should look for.
  • Spon­sor Due Dili­gence — Eval­u­ate the expe­ri­ence, track record, finan­cial strength, and poten­tial con­flicts of the spon­sor.
  • Fees & Cost of Acqui­si­tion — Under­stand com­mis­sions, acqui­si­tion costs, man­age­ment fees, and oth­er expens­es.
  • Debt & Lever­age — Review loan struc­ture, lever­age, refi­nanc­ing risk, and debt-relat­ed con­sid­er­a­tions.
  • DST vs. REIT — Com­pare own­er­ship, liq­uid­i­ty, tax treat­ment, con­trol, and exit char­ac­ter­is­tics.
  • Exit Strate­gies — Learn what may hap­pen when a DST goes full cycle.
  • Estate Plan­ning — Explore how DST own­er­ship may fit into longer-term wealth-trans­fer plan­ning.
  • Sec­ondary Mar­ket — Under­stand the lim­it­ed options that may exist for sell­ing a DST inter­est before the under­ly­ing prop­er­ty is sold.
  • DST-to-721 / UPREIT — Learn how cer­tain DST pro­grams may tran­si­tion into an UPREIT struc­ture.

Edu­ca­tion Before Invest­ment

A DST should not be select­ed sim­ply because it is avail­able or because a Sec­tion 1031 dead­line is approach­ing.

The goal of this sec­tion is to help investors ask bet­ter ques­tions, under­stand the trade-offs, and eval­u­ate each DST based on the qual­i­ty of the under­ly­ing real estate and the struc­ture of the invest­ment.

Start with Under­stand­ing DSTs, then explore the top­ics most rel­e­vant to your invest­ment deci­sion.

Impor­tant Dis­clo­sure

This mate­r­i­al is pro­vid­ed for edu­ca­tion­al pur­pos­es only and is not tax, legal, account­ing, or invest­ment advice. DST invest­ments involve risks, includ­ing illiq­uid­i­ty, lim­it­ed con­trol, real estate mar­ket risk, spon­sor risk, financ­ing risk, and pos­si­ble loss of prin­ci­pal.

This website is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy any security which can be made only by a prospectus, or offering memorandum, which has been filed or registered with the appropriate state and federal regulatory agencies, and offered only by broker dealers and registered investment advisors authorized to do so. The information found on this website is a summary of general information intended for training and education of accredited investors, only, who are conducting research on DST type investments and or a 1031 Exchange. Any offer of securities is qualified in its entirety by its own offering documents. A prospectus or offering memorandum must be preceded or accompanied by any offer of sale and read in conjunction with the offering documents in order to understand fully all the implications and risks of an offering to which it relates. Terminology such as "we", "us" and "our" is used as defined in the offering documents and does not imply DST News viewpoint. On a non-subscription fee basis, DST News provides informational resources and training to accredited investors regarding DST type investment products and offerings. DST News is not affiliated with any sponsor of such investments but may be associated with the offer or sale of such investments. This website’s information above does not constitute any offer to sell any securities or represent an express or implied opinion on or endorsement of any specific investment opportunity, offering, issuer or sponsor. Copyright DST News © 2026. All Rights Reserved.