How Introducing DSTs to Your Circles of Influence Can Expand Your Impact

When you think about your most trusted professional relationships–your go-to CPA, the estate attorney who has helped you and other clients navigate complex transitions, and the real estate broker with a deep network of property owners–there’s one thing they all have in common: influence. These Centers of Influence (COIs) hold the trust of high-value clients who rely on them for guidance at pivotal financial moments 

Now imagine being the person who helps solve a client’s problem with a ready solution they weren’t aware of. That’s the opportunity you unlock when you introduce them to the Delaware Statutory Trust (DST).

Why DST Conversations Belong in Your Professional Network

Your COIs are often the first to learn when a client is preparing to sell an investment property, facing a sizable capital gains tax bill, or looking for a more passive way to stay in real estate. But here’s the catch: many CPAs, estate attorneys, and brokers have limited familiarity with DSTs, or they hesitate to bring them up due to perceived complexity or uncertainty. 

That’s where you can provide invaluable support. When you can clearly explain how DSTs meet IRS like-kind property requirements for 1031 exchanges and how they can be strategically applied in tax-efficient, estate-friendly investment planning, you instantly elevate your value in the relationship. You’re no longer just another advisor; you’re a connector, a problem-solver, and a partner who helps expand their toolkit.

Speaking Their Language: Tailoring Your DST Message

Each COI views client needs through a specific professional lens. If you want your conversations to resonate, you need to frame DSTs in a way that addresses their priorities directly.

• For CPAs: Position DSTs as a tax deferral tool that also offers depreciation pass-through, passive income potential, and control over capital gains timing. Show how DSTs can fit into an annual tax strategy while reducing the client’s management burden.
  
  
• For Estate Attorneys: Highlight how DSTs can simplify estate planning by enabling fractional ownership, facilitating a step-up in basis for heirs, and avoiding title complications that can slow estate settlement.
  
  
• For Real Estate Brokers: Emphasize how DSTs offer a solution for sellers who still want real estate exposure, but without the hassles of finding new investment property, helping the broker close deals without losing the client’s investment relationship.

The goal isn’t to pitch a product. It’s to frame DSTs as a solution that aligns with the COI’s existing work and strengthens the client’s long-term position.

The DST Value Proposition in Simple, Strategic Terms

You don’t need to overwhelm your COIs with technical jargon, but you do need to be able to describe the DST in plain, compliance-conscious language.

A DST is a legal trust structure that allows multiple investors to own fractional interests in institutional-grade real estate. It qualifies as like-kind property for purposes of a 1031 exchange, enabling property owners to defer capital gains taxes when they sell and reinvest. DSTs are professionally managed, meaning your clients can maintain real estate exposure without active landlord duties.

For your COIs, the key benefits to highlight include:

• Passive ownership with professional management – freeing the client from maintenance and tenant oversight.
• Income potential – while avoiding the headaches of direct ownership.
• Portfolio diversification – access to property types and markets they may not have been able to invest in directly.
• Estate transition ease – fractional ownership can be more straightforward to transfer than a single, indivisible property.

It’s equally important to acknowledge considerations such as illiquidity, limited control, and the need for careful sponsor selection. This transparency builds credibility with both COIs and their clients.

Turning Knowledge into Collaboration

Once you establish that you understand DSTs and can articulate their benefits in a tailored way, the next step is collaboration. You can offer to:

• Co-host educational events or webinars where you and your COIs address client scenarios in a roundtable format.
• Share white-labeled resources—guides, case studies, or due diligence materials that your COIs can confidently pass along to their clients.
• Use a repeatable introduction when they connect you with a client: “Here’s how I can help your clients address capital gains exposure, management headaches, and portfolio diversification needs through a compliant, tax-deferral strategy.”

The key is to focus on education, not promotion. When you position yourself as a resource, you create space for your COIs to trust you with their relationships.

The Ripple Effect: Why This Benefits Your Entire Network

Here’s what happens when you become known in your professional circles as the advisor who can explain and apply DST strategies:

1. Your COIs look good to their clients. They’ve introduced a valuable, IRS-recognized solution that addresses real challenges.
2. Clients gain access to strategies they might never have considered. For many, a DST offers the first opportunity to shift from active landlord to passive investor without triggering an immediate tax bill.
3. You strengthen your network. Each successful collaboration reinforces your relationships, leading to more introductions and more opportunities.
4. Your own practice grows. Not just from direct DST engagements, but from the trust you build as a multi-dimensional advisor who looks beyond your own service offering.

Introducing DSTs to your COIs isn’t about selling; it’s about equipping the people you trust most in your professional network with another way to help their clients. When you can speak their language, frame the opportunity clearly, and collaborate openly, you set in motion a cycle of shared value.