Real Estate Crowdfunding: What It Is & How It Works (2024)
Given a recent boom and interest and publicity around real estate crowdfunding sites, many firms are now competing for your investment dollars, including many new startups and market entrants. No two platforms are created equal either, with any given individual site offering its own feature set, opportunities, potential return on investment, and suite of tools for maintaining and keeping track of your investments.
As a general rule, noting that real estate crowdfunding also remains a relatively new practice, it pays to do your research here, look at user commentary and feedback, and consider the pros and cons associated with each online vendor before committing to an investment. Following though, you’ll find a list of several of the most popular and/or well-established sites that offer access to real estate crowdfunding opportunities.
Fundrise: Fundrise allows even nonaccredited investors to quickly get started with real estate crowdfunding and start buying into both residential and commercial properties by teaming up with other investors. Any sums that you wish to invest are pooled into REITs, and used to purchase properties, buy land, develop real estate, and otherwise pursue private real estate deals. A simple to use and intuitive website makes the process of online real estate investment approachable. However, be aware that the privately held investments it offers may be highly illiquid and will largely appeal to long-term investors. Noting the speculative nature of these opportunities, any investments should accordingly be subject to due diligence up-front.
RealtyMogul: RealtyMogul offers both nonaccredited and accredited investors access to commercial real estate investments and individual properties, including a variety of REITs that allow financiers to spread their investment dollars across a range of different real estate holdings. At the same time, investment minimums hover around the $5,000 mark, and fees can vary greatly among individual investment vehicles. If you’re looking for high rates of return though, the real estate crowdfunding giant aims to deliver. It also offers accredited investors access to 1031 exchanges (complicated investments that can help you defer capital gains tax from property sales).
CrowdStreet: One of the more well-known real estate crowdfunding sites, CrowdStreet provides accredited investors with access to commercial real estate projects that look to deliver high returns on investment. CrowdStreet also provides some minimal due diligence for investors in the form of conducting background and reference checks on developers wishing to solicit their financial contributions. Nonetheless, whether you’re looking to invest in funds (which hold a variety of different real estate projects within them) or individual properties, many offerings require a minimum investment of $25,000. Likewise, any sums that you choose to invest may remain illiquid and have to sit untouched for a period of years.
YieldStreet: If you’re looking to invest in a variety of different privately structured deals which are backed by assets that help protect your principal (which may provide some small measure of assurance to prospective investors in the event of default), YieldStreet can help. Largely targeted at accredited investors, it offers a way to crowdfund real estate financing vehicles as opposed to owning a part of residential or commercial property holdings. Nonaccredited investors wishing to invest a minimum of $1,000 may find passive income-generating opportunities available as well though. If you’re just looking to dip your toes into real estate crowdfunding, the site also offers investment opportunities that can range in length from as little as 6 months to as long as 5 years.
EquityMultiple: Although it requires a minimum investment of $5,000, EquityMultiple (which aims to make real estate investing simple, transparent, and more accessible to everyday investors) allows you to invest in privately managed commercial holdings. Sample real estate investment opportunities include office spaces, assisted living facilities, hotels, data centers, and more. Open to accredited investors, minimum investments can range from $10,000 to $40,000, and look to range in duration from half a year’s time to upwards of a decade. If you’re a wealthy investor looking to increase your exposure to new opportunities and overall deal flow, it could be a first port of call.
Real estate crowdfunding is similar to equity investing since an investor can buy into a property and become a shareholder. Companies can use crowdfunding to access capital that they might never be able to raise. Crowdfunding offers investors the ability to become shareholders in a company or in a real estate property.
Crowdfunding is the practice of raising small amounts of money from a large number of people. The money raised typically funds a specific project, goes toward general donations, or drives support for a time-based initiative. As the saying goes, small things, done consistently, can add up to big things over time.
Still, real estate crowdfunding is considered a risky investment. Just like the stock market, there are no guaranteed returns, and you could lose your entire investment.
You decide to invest $10,000 into a $100,000 crowdfunded property. That means you technically own 10% of the property. If it generates a net rental yield of 6% that's $6,000 over the year of which 10% - $600 – comes to you.
This should generate around $10,000 of passive income per year. At the end of 2022, we had $114,700 invested in RE crowdfunding and received $22,980 of passive income! It was an amazing year. You can see all of our passive income on the Passive Income page.
Crowdfunding is a way of raising money to finance projects and businesses. It enables fundraisers to collect money from a large number of people via online platforms. Crowdfunding is most often used by startup companies or growing businesses as a way of accessing alternative funds.
What Is Real Estate Crowdfunding? Real estate crowdfunding is a way to raise money online from a large group of investors for real estate acquisitions. Individuals and businesses can use crowdfunding to access capital from a larger group of potential investors through the internet and social media sites.
Crowdfunding allows you to pool your money online with other investors to purchase property (or a share of property) as a group. Real estate crowdfunding offers a compelling way to diversify your assets by tapping into real estate investments.
You make your investment as part of a round of funding, and you are paid back when the company starts earning profits. If the company doesn't turn a profit or goes bust, you might not even see partial repayment. You could lose all of your money.
With donation-based funding, contributors give money without receiving anything in return. In equity funding, backers get shares of the business. For debt-based funding, donors are repaid with interest. With reward-based funding, contributors receive tokens, products or services in return for their donations.
The 50% rule or 50 rule in real estate says that half of the gross income generated by a rental property should be allocated to operating expenses when determining profitability. The rule is designed to help investors avoid the mistake of underestimating expenses and overestimating profits.
While you want to deliver for your crowdfunders, the crowdfunding concept works more like a grant than a loan. On many crowdfunding platforms, you don't have to pay back money or pay interest. Easy way for business owners to get capital.
A crowdfunding intermediary must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a broker or as a funding portal and become a member of a national securities association (FINRA).
Depending on the type of crowdfunding, you could potentially earn returns on your investment via equity (growth in share value) or interest (if using P2P lending), or you might simply receive other perks or benefits.
There are websites specifically for these types of campaigns. While crowdfunding websites take a percentage of the money raised as a fee, crowdfunding donations don't have to be repaid like a loan.
If you're going to become a crowdfunding investor, note that: You get returns from shares in case of business acquisitions and IPOs, and dividends from annual profits if a business succeeds; Debt-based investments are typically done through notes, bonds and a portion of loans.
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