I’m on the hunt for an apartment in New York City.
You see, my wife and I just celebrated our one-year anniversary…
And as she informed me, that means it’s time we move out of my bachelor pad, and find a place together that we can make our own.
As usual, she’s probably right.
But when I started looking for a new place, I got quite a shock:
The average price for an apartment in NYC now exceeds $2 million…
That’s up about 30% in less than a decade!
And townhouses that sold for $4 million in 2007 now trade hands at about $7.5 million. That’s nearly a 100% increase.
What’s going on here?
To put it simply, a decent economy and low interest rates have created a boom in real estate — and this is helping real estate investors make fortunes.
So today, I’m going to share a little-known way for you to profit from this sector.
It’s an easy way to get started with a small amount of capital…
And earn upwards of 11.9% a year.
Not Your Typical Real Estate Investment
Generally speaking, if you’re looking to invest in real estate, you have three options:
Buy Actual Real Estate – As my recent apartment search makes clear, real estate can deliver enormous profits. Unfortunately, this typically requires a large down payment and a mortgage — so this option is expensive and complex.
Invest in Publicly-Traded REITs – Publicly-traded REITs are an easier and less expensive option. They let you buy shares of real estate portfolios on the stock market. But if the market drops, so might the value of your REIT.
Invest in Non-Traded REITs – In some ways, this is the best of both worlds: you can own multiple properties with a small amount of capital, and the investment doesn’t trade with the market. Unfortunately, the average fees are about 12%, which can take a big bite out of your returns!
But now there’s a new option…
Crowdfunding for Real Estate
At Crowdability, we usually focus on helping you invest in private start-ups so you can earn big capital gains.
But we also like to introduce you to private opportunities where you can earn current income.
One such opportunity is investing in private real estate deals.
You see, on special “funding platforms” that focus on real estate, you can get access to high-quality deals in residential and commercial real estate.
From a financial standpoint, these private opportunities can be more appealing than investing in REITs or actual real estate:
Minimum investments are generally in the thousands of dollars…
And current yields, paid in cash, can range anywhere from 8% to 15%.
These financial benefits might help explain why private real estate investing has quickly turned into a massive industry:
In 2014, ordinary investors like you put about $1 billion into these high-yielding investments. And by last year, as reported in Forbes, that number reached an estimated $3.5 billion.
But here’s the thing:
Not all of these funding platforms are created equal…
And if you don’t know what you’re doing, you could be risking your money!
Real Estate Platforms: The Good & The Bad
In the U.S. alone, there are an estimated 80 to 100 platforms that focus on real estate investments.
Some focus on residential properties, others on commercial deals, and still others on quick “flips” or international opportunities.
As an example of a “good” real estate platform, look at DiversyFund, which we recently started doing in-depth research on.
This platform offers investors a diversified fund of commercial real estate projects. And it’s already racked up an impressive four-year track record:
11.9% Average Annualized Net Returns, with zero dollars in principal lost.
In other words, investors like you have earned an average yield of 11.9% each year, paid quarterly in cash — and that’s after all fees.
You see, since there are no traditional banks or “middlemen” involved, these platforms can help you earn a bigger cut of the returns.
Meanwhile, as an example of a “bad” platform, look no further than iFunding.
iFunding was sued for fraud in 2016, and as reported last week, might now be facing bankruptcy.
Bottom line: you need to do significant research before you invest on one of these platforms — or you need to let me and Wayne do the research for you.
Real Estate Investing For All
But DiversyFund isn’t the only high-quality real estate platform…
Others include ProdigyNetwork, RealCrowd and RealtyShares.
Unfortunately, there are a couple of downsides to these sites I’ve mentioned:
For starters, they’re for “accredited” investors only — i.e., those who earn at least $200,000 a year, or are worth at least $1 million.
In addition, minimum investments tend to be at least $10,000.
But if you’re not an accredited investor, don’t despair:
Thankfully, there are high-quality real estate platforms for non-accredited investors, too, and these platforms generally have minimums of just $1,000.
And if you’re joining us tonight for our live presentation about how to transform your retirement, you’ll learn about one of the best of these platforms.
See you there!
Happy Investing
Best Regards,
Founder
Crowdability.com
