Real estate crowdfunding solutions right now: Bank/credit card deposit/withdrawal payments fees: These usually does not depend on the real estate crowdfunding platform, but depends on your bank or chosen payment method. Check them with the providers you are using before choosing real estate crowdfunding platform. Inactivity fees: These are quite important fees if you are not a regular investor. All of the real estate crowdfunding platforms are incurring internal costs for overnight deposits. So the money which is not invested and kept in customers account are costing certain fees. Therefore most of the platforms introduced fees in order to encourage money movement. If you joined the platform before just for one project, make sure you wire money out, once the project is closed. Make sure you check these out before choosing real estate crowdfunding platform. See additional information at real estate crowdfunding platforms tracker.
As seminal book “The Crowdfunding Bible” explains, crowdfunding refers to the process of asking the general public to contribute money or startup capital to help fund new ventures. Using this form of online fundraising, in which open calls to potential investors are posted on websites alongside prospective investment opportunities, concepts can be pitched straight to everyday Internet users. These individuals, who contribute to a pool of capital that is collectively sourced from others with similar interests, can provide a means of financial backing for current or prospective real estate investments. Such opportunities can take the form of residential or commercial holdings, and include either the development of new housing, retail, or office space, or partial ownership in a share of existing holdings.
EquityMultiple focuses almost entirely on institutional commercial real estate, and it also offers equity, preferred equity, and senior debt investments. The company recently added tax-advantaged real estate investments (Opportunity Zone and 1031 exchange) and fund products to its lineup. Distribution schedules vary by deal but are usually monthly or quarterly. Since its launch in 2012, Fundrise has invested in more than $5 billion worth of real estate across the U.S. Today, it manages over $1.5 billion of equity on behalf of more than 170,000 individual investors. Fundrise offers five account levels: Starter, Basic, Core, Advanced, and Premium. There’s a minimum investment amount at each level and varying investment strategies and potential returns.
Risk profile: Real estate crowdfunding platforms are regulated by central banks and one of the requirement is to have a risk scoring methodology which typically ranges from A to D-E. Risk assessment methodologies are not publicly available but the general scale – A contains the lowers risk, whereas D-E, the highest risk. Risk methodologies are approved by central banks. Crowdbulls does not include this ratio in the comparison tables as scale is not available and B from one platform could not be compared to the B in other platform.
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.
Of course, one of the biggest risks or drawbacks to crowdfunding is that investors are putting money in a company that is fairly unknown. In other words, the company doesn’t have a lot of financial history. As a result, there’s the risk that investors could lose all of their investments. Given the relative novelty of the practice and the lack of official regulation of this space, any team can come forward with a project without the right ethics or skills to manage the raised money, and you can imagine the rest. You should run your research and do your due diligence on the team behind the project even if your ticket is $1,000 only. Crowdfunding came about from the passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS), which allowed crowdfunding to aid small and mid-sized companies with their capital needs. Find additional info at crowdbulls.com.
What is crowdfunding? Crowdfunding is a capital raising process, during which capital is raised from the public via open process. Public entails both private individuals or institutional investors. Usually, crowdfunding is used when other types of capital raising is not possible due to various factors, e.g., risk profile. There might be some cases, when crowdfunding campaigns are being used as a marketing tool to market the product, service or project itself.