Best Crowdfunding Sites for Real Estate

Fundrise made our cut as the best overall real estate crowdfunding platform because it accepts clients regardless of income or net worth. The company also offers low fees and the ability to invest with as little as $500, making it a solid entry point for a lot of investors.

Here's a look at each of Fundrise's account options:

Each upgrade allows you to utilize more portfolio and account features. For example, the Basic plan allows you to create and manage your investment goals while the Core plan offers those features but also provides exposure to REIT (real estate investment trusts) funds and the ability to customize your investing strategy.

A lot of real estate crowdfunding platforms require investors to be accredited, but this isn't the case with Fundrise. It's an easy way for retail investors to diversify their portfolios into real estate without going through the arduous process of becoming an accredited investor.

Let's take a look at Fundrise's fee structure. The company charges a 0.15% annual advisory fee, meaning that over a 12-month period, investors pay a $1.50 advisory fee for every $1,000 invested. The platform also charges a 0.85% management fee. That means for every $1,000 you invest annually with Fundrise, they'll take $8.50. These are the only fee listed on the company's website, and they're pretty standard.

Even though Fundrise's customer reviews are mostly positive, a lot of investors note that they cannot withdraw funds.

CrowdStreet is one of the better-known real estate crowdfunding sites and has an established track record offering two types of investment funds, allowing you to diversify your portfolio. This is why it's our pick as runner-up for best real estate crowdfunding platform.

CrowdStreet offers three investment options to choose from: 

Although the amount can vary, most of CrowdStreet’s funds require a minimum investment of at least $25,000. And as you can see, the minimum investment for a tailored portfolio is a steep $250,000, putting this tier out of reach for a large number of investors.

Fees typically range from 0.50% to 2.5% for funds but can vary with each offering. You can typically expect about 11.5% to 26.4% return, depending on the investment. Total investor distributions are around $135 million.

Note that the company only allows accredited investors, meaning that your individual net worth, or joint net worth if you're investing with a partner, must exceed $1 million, or you must have an income of at least $200,000 or a joint income above $300,000, with a reasonable expectation of reaching the same income level in the current year.

DiversyFund is open to non-accredited investors and you can open an account for as little as $500. That's why it made our list as best real estate crowdfunding platform for beginners.

DiversyFund operates a little differently than most of the real estate crowdfunding sites on our list in that it owns and manages the properties directly instead of acting as a broker that joins investors to developers with specific projects. 

The company offers investors a 7% preferred return, meaning the company doesn’t take its cut until investors receive 100% of their returns on the initial 7%. It can take several years to see your investment pay off, however, since you won’t see the returns until DiversyFund sells the property. 

The company charges no management fees, which is a plus when you are just starting to invest. It’s also well-suited for those who want to invest in real estate but don’t know a lot about it since the company handles your money for you and there are no decisions for you to make about which properties to invest in.

Although DiversyFund is a good vehicle for new investors who are just getting their feet wet, it doesn’t offer retirement accounts if you’re looking for long-term tax benefits.

Origin Investments specializes in Build-to-Core properties, meaning that after the properties are built, they will convert to Class A properties, producing a steady cash flow for investors. This makes it a great choice for accredited investors.

Origin buys real estate directly instead of managing REITs. The company focuses on just 11 cities for purchasing their investment properties: Phoenix; Dallas; Chicago; Charlotte; Raleigh, NC; Denver; Houston; Nashville; Orlando; Austin; and Atlanta.

Origin offers two funds for investors. The first, the QOZ Fund, is a tax-advantaged multi-family ground-up development. The second is the IncomePlus Fund consisting of multi-family properties that deliver passive, stable income to its investors. The company states that they have had no realized losses, although they do have the right to deny redemption requests so you should consider investing in their funds as a long-term plan. 

Though Origin doesn't list returns on the website, it appears to average between 8% and over 50% internal rate of return (IRR), depending on the project. The minimum investment amount varies but is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of $50,000 and only available to accredited investors.

Equity Multiple only focuses on commercial real estate with offerings often starting as low as $5,000, making it a great entry point for investors looking to move into commercial properties.

The company provides three investing approaches to choose from:

Although most of their investment opportunities are for five to 10 years, the company does offer some investments that have a duration period as short as six months. The fee structure is only available by contacting the company and varies depending on the investment which is only open to accredited investors.