Real estate crowdfunding picks right now by crowdbulls.com: Before choosing a real estate crowdfunding platform, always check what licenses specific platforms are holding and what is the scope of those licenses. Most of the platforms disclose their licenses, but not all of the licenses are covering their crowdfunding activities (e.g. there are platforms operating under payment institution license, but this does not cover crowdfunding activities). Before that, each country applied different regulations and licenses, therefore up until now all the platforms operating in EU are operating under different regulatory regimes. The above mentioned Regulation has a transition period, which allows for countries to adopt it in the local legislation as well as for the real estate crowdfunding platforms to get a license under new regulation. See additional info at real estate crowdfunding platforms reviews.
Reasons that individuals may be interested and exploring in these types of real estate opportunities include: Chance to diversify assets and investment portfolio holdings; Low startup capital required as compared to traditional real estate investments; Shared cost structure enables financiers to invest in larger property holdings than they’d typically have access to; Risks associated with ownership are split among multiple stakeholders; Access to new and/or exclusive opportunities; Ability to hold commercial real estate or real estate portfolio holdings in addition to residential properties; Offers exposure to real estate market without the need to personally provide upkeep and maintenance; No need to individually qualify for, obtain, and make regular payments on a mortgage; Does not require owners to personally guarantee loans with property and assets.
Real estate crowdfunding is one way for retail investors to access assets traditionally reserved for the wealthy. Real estate investment platforms, including crowdfunding sites, pair developers and other real estate professionals with individual investors who want exposure to real estate without the hassles of owning, financing, and managing properties. While real estate crowdfunding is inherently risky, real estate investments can help diversify your portfolio and provide competitive 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.
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.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has since lifted the restrictions that banned non-accredited investors from investing in crowdfunding activities. Although there are limitations, non-accredited investors can participate in crowdfunding for equity transactions as well as real estate transactions. Current Real Estate Crowdfunding: Prior to the JOBS Act, real estate investors could only invest in real estate by buying a physical property or investing in real estate investment trusts (REITs). However, crowdfunding has opened up a whole new method for investing in real estate. Discover even more information on crowdbulls.com.
How to invest in real estate crowdfunding process? First of all, an investor should select a preferred platform, where he or she wants to invest. A broader description and comparison of various platforms could be found here. Secondly, each regulated platform applies a KYC procedure, which usually contains a self onboarding process with taking a picture of yourself, filling up a questionnaire and supplying additional information. Onboarding process can take from 15min mins to 24 hours depending on the platform and KYC provider platforms are using. After onboarding yourself, you can select the preferred project and invest. Depending from the platform, minimum investments start with as little as 100 EUR.