11 Digital Real Estate Investing Platforms for Smart Investors

Post-pandemic, digital real estate investing platforms are the smart way of buying properties without investing your entire savings.

The emerging trend of real estate investing apps has opened doors to the once – ‘exclusive club of property investing.’ With just a dollar, anyone can start real estate investing.

But how can you tell which digital real estate platforms to trust?

In this article, we’ve reviewed the best real estate investing platforms for young, savvy minds who wish to invest in real estate properties. 

Here is a quick summary of the best digital real estate investing platforms I’ll be discussing below.

Before we dive in, here’s all you need to know about digital real estate investing platforms.

What Are Digital Real Estate Investing Platforms?

It’s an online marketplace that allows anyone to invest in real estate assets from the comfort of their couch.

Also known as real estate crowdfunding, these apps help invest money in properties without directly owning them. 

Which means:

With as little as $1, you can own a fractional share of a property. All the dividends earned from the property will be divided between investors as per their shares.

And not just properties; these platforms let you invest in pooled loans secured against real estate property. In this case, you get a piece of profit earned from the loan’s interest.

How Digital Real-Estate Investing Apps Can Help?

Firstly, using a real estate investing app is no rocket science. Most platforms surface a user-friendly interface to make real estate investing clicks away. Others offer dedicated mobile apps to buy, sell, and grow your portfolio from anywhere. 

Secondly, these platforms take care of some crucial aspects of real estate investing, such as checking property ownership, legality, and other documents.

In fact, many have in-house experts who manage the properties on behalf of investors. Property acquisition, maintenance, and rental management – you’ve got it all covered.

Next and the best part, you no longer need to be a millionaire to invest in real estate. Real estate investing platforms allow you to purchase fractional shares of rental properties. For as little as $10, you get to invest in real estate.

Brownie points to the accessibility these investing apps have brought. Because now, you can invest in properties that are geographically distant from your location. Investors can diversify across different markets and take first-mover advantage in areas with strong growth potential.

We’ve reviewed the best digital real estate investing apps available in the market.

Disclaimer: Real estate investing is always risky and subject to market conditions. Please consult a professional financial advisor before making any decision.

Landa

Landa is a digital real estate investing app that lets you own shares of rental properties across America for as little as $5. However, the money won’t snowball since Landa’s curated properties work on a long-term approach for better returns. 

Benefits:

• Residential properties are located in high-value, cash-flowing markets, delivering risk-adjusted returns.
• Invest in real estate mortgages in the US and earn monthly dividend payouts.
• Offers automatic dividend reinvestment after consulting real estate expert
• Liability protection features safeguard investors from any personal liabilities
• Online marketplace to quickly sell your share of real estate.
• Real-time analytics with a comprehensive breakdown of your account value, history, and growth trajectory.
• Buy, sell, and earn on the go with dedicated mobile apps for iOS and Android devices.

Best of all, the company owns a direct ownership interest in every property. Not the whole property, but just like you, Landa is a stakeholder in every property you see on the platform. 

Lofty

Lofty is a promising player in the fractional real estate investing space. It helps you purchase rental properties like the 1% club.

Imagine buying a fraction of property in Miami within $50. Sounds miraculous, but Lofty makes it possible. It has a diverse range of commercial and residential rental properties at over 18 locations in America. Most of them yield a return higher than 5.5%pa. 

Benefits:

• No lock-in periods, receive rental income daily and reinvest instantly
• Collect property appreciation when you cash out
• In-house professional property managers handle documentation in other matters.
• Dedicated marketplace for buying or selling rental properties across America

Actually, the best part is that Lofty is built on the Algorand blockchain, which is quick, pennies, and carbon-negative. For those unaware, Algorand offers faster transaction speeds and lower fees than Ethereum, Solana, and other popular blockchains.

Fundrise

Fundrise has a strong track record of helping ordinary people build and diversify portfolios in real estate, private credit, and venture capital. The platform houses 20,000 well-located residential units and eCommerce-centric industrial assets.

Benefits:

• Low entry cost; the minimum investment amount is $10
• Doable fee/penalty structure, starting at just 1% per year
• Quarterly rent payouts
• Dedicated mobile apps for iOS and Android devices

In fact, the Fundrise mobile app boasts some amazing reviews on App and Play stores. However, the platform has a long lockup period (at least 5 years). Failing to do so would incur a penalty.

Ark7

Ark7 is a digital real estate investing platform to purchase single- and multi-family rental unit shares. With Ark7, you invest in individual properties, not funds of properties like many crowdfunding sites offer.

The platform has over 40k active investors and has seen over $15M in property value as of August 2023. Ark7 has also paid nearly $1.6M to investors in rental distributions. 

Benefits:

• Low minimum investment starts at $20.
• Receive monthly distribution straight to your account.
• In-depth information about each listing
• Has a dedicated marketplace to sell shares easily

Best of all, Ark7’s hybrid approach of AI plus local expertise hand-picks the best investment opportunities and takes care of automatic sourcing, leasing, and property management.

Groundfloor

Groundfloor is first-of-its-kind real estate debt investing, with loans secured against residential properties. You can study and choose the loans you want to fund and safely earn 10% returns annually.

With over 200k users and $ 1 billion worth of investments, Groundfloor is an excellent real estate investing app for anyone looking for short-term, high-yield returns backed by real estate.

Benefits:

• Short-term investments, visible returns in 6-12 months
• Requires minimum investment amount (starts at $10)
• Borrow funds for fix-and-flip projects
• Automatic investing tools to reinvest in projects that meet your criteria

Additionally, Groundfloor comes with dedicated mobile apps for iOS and Android. The app works as your all-in-one command center to invest, sell, or monitor your portfolio on the go.

Arrived

Arrived is a Jeff-Bezos-backed real estate investing platform offering fractional investing opportunities in rental properties. It has over 417k registered investors who have been paid $1.2M in dividends. 

Arrived primarily deals in two categories:

• Single-family residences leased for 12-24 months
• Vacation rentals, furnished short-term rentals for travelers

Both categories yield high returns in a short period. Additionally, all the properties are hand-picked by Arrived real estate professionals, ensuring efficient and stable returns. 

Benefits:

• Close to 300 properties pre-vetted for their investment potential
• Flexible investment plans ranging from $100 to $20,000 per house
• Built-in investment return calculator to oversee hypothetical property performance
• Quarterly rent payouts directly to your account
• Receive property appreciation at cash-out

Arrived properties yield average yearly returns of 6.66%. However, the investment holding period is 5 years. Withdrawing before that could invite penalties (undisclosed). Best for people looking for a passive income from real estate. 

CrowdStreet

CrowdStreet is among the largest real estate investing platforms. As per its website, it has pumped in $4.16 Billion in over 700 funds to date. However, the platform suits accredited investors who plan to invest in large-scale real estate projects. 

Benefits:

• Require hefty investments, starting from $25000
• Dedicated online marketplace to help you get the best deals with complete transparency
• You can even register for a live webinar with the project developer and see through all financial documents
• Simple 1099 tax reporting
• Has a hold period of 3-5 years, which can extend to 10 years with some properties
• Diversify with a single investment into multiple properties at once.

Besides, you can ask CrowdStreet experts to build a customized portfolio on your behalf that meets your criteria. Plus, their portfolio center is just perfect for tracking your investments and communicating with sponsors.

Here

Using Here, you can invest in high-yielding vacation rental properties. The platform curates and lists the best vacation homes in its marketplace after rigorous review. In selected vacation rentals, you can buy a fractional share of property at just $250 and sustain diversification at minimum investment.

Benefits:

• Hands-free property management with low cost of investment
• Unlike traditional rental properties, vacation rentals can generate up to 160% more in monthly revenues.
• Receive risk-adjusted financial benefits in the underlying property, including potential net rental income, tax benefits, and appreciation.
• Personal liability protection via property insurance
• Real-time insights into your investment, dividends, and growth trajectory over a period

Besides, Here retains a direct ownership interest in each property on the platform. So whenever you invest in any property, you are direct partners with the company.

PeerStreet

With PeerStreet, you can earn from real estate debt investing. Simply pick and invest in the loans made to borrowers, as they pay back with monthly interest, and you receive your share of income.

And what if they don’t pay? There’s no risk as these loans are secured by real estate properties. PeerStreet has transacted $5B in value and paid over $280M to investors over the years.

The platform has something for everyone: you’ll find loans with varying terms and conditions and deals with fixed-income returns for conservative investors.

On top of that, PeerStreet Pocket allows you to earn 4.00% interest on your cash when you join the platform. However, the minimum required investment is $1,000, making the platform suitable for only accredited investors.

Roofstock

Roofstock is an online marketplace for accredited investors to buy, manage, and sell single-family rental properties across 25 states. There’s no fractional sharing of properties; as an investor, you’d need a minimum investment of $25000 to get started.

However, using Roofstock One, investors can buy tracking stock shares instead of an entire property and start investing with as little as $5k.

Besides, Roofstock’s intelligent accounting software, Stessa, takes charge of your property management. The software monitors property performance, streamlines income and expense tracking, automates rent collection, and generates digital reports.

Concreit

Concreit is a digital real estate investing app that helps you pool money into real estate equity and debt. You can start with just $1 and build your portfolio. The platform has over 40,000 savvy investors’ earnings from a fully managed real estate portfolio from the comfort of their couch.

Benefits:

• Receive weekly dividends and property appreciation at the time of selling.
• Minimal risk-grade real estate debt investing, with an annual net return rate of 6.44%
• Auto-investment feature to reinvest earned income
• Get information about your investment on the Concreit app; it updates your account, portfolio, and asset-level information in real-time.
• End-to-end property management by in-house experts

Concreit users have successfully made 1,00,000 investments to date. With every investment in rental properties, you can take advantage of REIT tax deductions – all managed by Concreit’s real estate experts. 

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Real-Estate Investing Platform

#1. Diversification Options

A diversified portfolio minimizes the risk of losses. Further, providing stable returns no matter the market conditions. 

Look for a platform that offers a variety of real estate equity and debt investment opportunities. This could include different types of properties (residential, commercial, industrial) and crowdfunding real estate debt funds or loans backed by real estate properties.

#2. Minimum Investment Requirement

Digital real estate investing platforms make it easy to invest in real estate by offering fractional shares of high-value properties. However, not all platforms do so. The minimum investment amount can vary based on the platform, from $5 to $20,000.

If you’re not an accredited investor, look for platforms that offer low-cap fractional investments. It’s the best way to build a diverse portfolio without pumping hefty capital. 

#3. Transparency

Since it’s real estate, you can’t board the train blindfolded. Look for platforms that are completely transparent with investment processes.

Here’s what transparency looks like:

• You have the freedom to talk to property owners
• No hidden charges or fees
• Explicit mention of penalties and property downsides

Additionally, choose the marketplace that includes details about the property’s location, financial performance, the track record of the sponsor or developer, and any potential risks associated with the investment. 

#4. Fees, Costs, and Penalties

Most digital real estate investing platforms provide a generalized annual return rate of 5-10%. However, the in-hand income baffles investors. 

Reason being:

• Undisclosed platform or transaction fees
• Hefty early withdrawal penalties
• Additional charges that were never in the books

To avoid last-minute tantrums, investors must choose a platform after comparing charges and costs. 

Note: Real estate investments are subject to market conditions and investment platform policies. Before choosing a platform, read through the documents thoroughly.

#5. Track Record and Reputation

If I were you, I would choose a platform that has been in the market for years, even though that means paying a premium. You may ask why.

Investing in real estate is tricky. But, due to the boom in digitization, many real estate investing apps are entering the market with no strong track record. 

In such a scenario, investing using a platform that has grown on investors’ trust and values over time is best.

Wrapping Up

The American Real Estate market is projected to touch US$113.60tn in 2023. And with an annual growth rate of 4.70%, the coming years have much more for investors.

To utilize the real estate boom, investors like you should indulge in more innovative ways of investing. A digital real estate investing platform offers quick portfolio diversification with minimum management and sought-after returns. 

The investing platforms listed in this article cater to un-accredited and accredited investors. However, choose a platform based on the capital, risk, and ownership you’re willing to put at stake. 

Yet again, investing in real estate is subject to risk and market conditions. Before putting in your money, please consult a real estate professional or financial expert.

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