Arrived Homes and Fundrise are the best real estate crowdfunding platforms for non-accredited investors, they offer opportunities to invest with lower minimum investments, diversified portfolios, and user-friendly interfaces.
While the options for non-accredited investors to invest in real estate crowdfunding have been limited in the past, a few crowdfunding platforms are opening up real estate investing to virtually anyone. Keep reading to find out which options are available and what the best platforms are for real estate crowdfunding for non-accredited investors.
Quick Look: Best Real Estate Crowdfunding for Non-Accredited Investors
- Best Overall: Arrives Homes
- Best for Low Minimum Investment: Fundrise
- Best for Investing in Debt: Groudfloor
- Best for Ease of Use: Steitwise
Best Real Estate Crowdfunding Options for Non-accredited Investors
If you're looking for real estate investment options as a non-accredited investor, below is Benzinga’s list of top picks for the best real estate crowdfunding platforms for non-accredited investors.
1. Best Overall: Arrived Homes
Arrived Homes is a real estate investing platform that allows investors to purchase shares of individual rental properties. The company makes it possible to invest in rental properties for as little as $100. Arrived Homes also handles property management responsibilities, making investments completely passive.
Investors who don’t want to fork over the cash for a down payment on their own rental property can get started with real estate investing and grow their portfolios over time with small $100 investments.
Pros
- Buy-ins as low as $100
- Multiple ways to earn dividends (rental income and property appreciation)
- Great way to diversify your portfolio
Cons
- Long hold periods
- No secondary market to liquidate shares
2. Best for Low Minimum Investment: Fundrise
This is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a commission from partner links on Benzinga.com. All opinions are our own.
Fundrise provides a wide range of real estate investment options for non-accredited investors, with minimum investments starting at just $10. The platform automatically allocates your investment across multiple projects to maximize returns and provide a hedge against risks.
Pros
- Can be used for IRA contributions
- Affordable buy-ins
- Low, easy-to-understand investor fee schedule
Cons
- Extended hold periods
- Limited secondary market
3. Best for Investing in Debt: Groundfloor
Groundfloor allows non-accredited investors to invest in crowdfunding through short-term loans made to real estate investors and home builders. It offers the lowest minimum investment crowdfunding option available, allowing investors to get started with as little as $10.
Groundfloor offers short-term loans on residential properties and sells portions of those loans to its investors through a limited recourse obligation (LRO). Investors can browse available loans and invest in whichever ones they want in $10 increments. Most loans on the platform pay an interest rate between 7% to 12% with terms of 6 to 12 months.
Investors can schedule recurring deposits into their Groundfloor account and set up automatic investing based on the criteria they set.
Pros
- Charges the lowest minimums in the industry
- Zero investor fees
Cons
- Offers no bankruptcy protection
- High rate of an uncured default
4. Best for Ease of Use: Streitwise
Streitwise offers a private real estate investment trust (REIT) for accredited and non-accredited investors with an investment minimum of around $5,000. The company focuses on investing in low-risk rental commercial real estate aimed at providing clients with consistent high-yield returns. The team invests in markets that are steadily growing. While it is still young and expanding, the company has built the business based on solid experience coupled with a vision for the future of investing. If you’re looking to diversify your current investment portfolio but fear real estate is too lofty a goal, Streitwise can be worth exploring.
Pros
- Consistent quarterly dividends
- Low, transparent fees
- Low investment minimum
- Convenient and easy to use
Cons
- Limited offerings
What is Real Estate Crowdfunding?
Real estate crowdfunding is a method real estate investors and developers use to raise capital to acquire or develop an investment property. Multiple investors who want to earn passive income pool their money for a real estate project. The investors will share a portion of the equity or provide the money as a loan and earn interest on their investments.
Investing through crowdfunding has become so simple that you can easily invest in real estate online by signing up with the platform that's right for you, funding your account and choosing which offerings you want to invest in.
Since crowdfunding regulations allow real estate companies to raise capital without registering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), there are rules in place to protect investors. These rules limit who can invest in crowdfunded deals based on what regulation the offering falls under.
Difference Between Accredited and Non-Accredited Investors
The SEC has rules in place to determine who can invest in which type of real estate crowdfunding offering based on whether they’re an accredited investor or a non-accredited investor.
Accredited Investor
An accredited investor can participate in all types of crowdfunding deals. To be an accredited investor, an individual must meet one of the following requirements:
- An annual income of at least $200,000 ($300,000 if married) in each of the prior two years, and reasonably expects the same for the current year.
- A net worth of at least $1 million, excluding the value of the person’s primary residence.
- Hold a Series 7, 65 or 82 license in good standing.
Companies and trusts are also categorized as accredited or non-accredited investors. For an organization to have accredited status, they must meet one of the following requirements:
- A trust with over $5 million in total assets that is not formed to purchase securities in the subject investment and is directed by a sophisticated person
- An entity with total investments of at least $5 million that is not formed to specifically purchase securities in the subject investment
- An entity in which all equity owners are accredited investors
Accredited investors are the only type of investor that can participate in Regulation D Rule 506(c) offerings. Under Rule 506(c), accredited investors are not limited to how much they can invest.
Non-accredited Investor
A non-accredited investor is anyone who doesn’t meet the requirements to be accredited. Since crowdfunding is presumed to be a higher-risk investment than publicly traded stocks or bonds, these rules were put in place to help protect non-accredited investors from losing their life savings.
Can Non-accredited Investors Invest in Crowdfunding?
While there are fewer options available for non-accredited investors to get involved with crowdfunded real estate deals, an increasing number of real estate crowdfunding platforms with offerings are available to non-accredited investors.
Regulation A+ Crowdfunding
Regulation A+ offerings are sometimes referred to as mini IPOs. This type of crowdfunding requires companies to have their offering qualified by the SEC. There are also additional reporting and disclosure requirements depending on whether the deal is a Tier 1 or Tier 2 Regulation A+ offering.
Since this type of offering involves more oversight from the SEC than a Regulation D offering, investments are open to accredited and non-accredited investors. The only limitation is that a non-accredited investor can’t contribute more than 10% of their annual income or net worth to a Tier 2 offering.
Regulation Crowdfunding (CF)
Regulation CF is the newest form of crowdfunding for non-accredited investors. This type of offering hasn’t gained much popularity for real estate investing yet because the amount a company can raise is limited.
Until recently, companies were limited to raising a maximum of only $1,070,000 per year through Regulation CF. However, recent rule changes have raised that maximum to $5 million. Even with the higher amount, it’s difficult for companies to raise enough capital to provide attractive investment opportunities to passive investors.
Investing in Crowdfunding as a Non-accredited Investor
Real estate crowdfunding offered through Regulation A+ offers a way for non-accredited investors to invest in real estate without having to purchase their own properties. Crowdfunding companies don’t have to follow the same regulations as publicly traded REITs. This means it’s important to be thorough when conducting due diligence on a crowdfunding platform and its individual offerings. Real estate crowdfunding can provide excellent returns but only when smart investments are made.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are investments for non-accredited investors totally safe?
Investments for non-accredited investors carry risk and may lack access to certain opportunities. Investors should research investments, consult professionals and diversify to minimize risks.
How can you start participating in real estate crowdfunding?
To start with real estate crowdfunding, research and choose a platform that caters to non-accredited investors, such as Fundrise or Groundfloor. Once you’ve selected a platform, you’ll need to create an account and undergo a verification process, and then you can begin investing with as little as $500, depending on the platform’s minimum investment requirement.
Can you make money from crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding allows individuals or businesses to raise funds from many people in exchange for a product, service or equity. A successful crowdfunding campaign requires sound planning, a persuasive pitch and a strong network of supporters. Not all campaigns are successful and there are risks involved.
