Crowdfunding Real Estate

Interesting NYT article about some new crowdfunding platforms that let smaller investors invest in commercial real estate projects.  Not a lot of detail about the finer points of the investment are offered up (like can you sell your interest and get your money back?  When?) but it seems like an elegant way to invest in real estate.  I’ve been a long time investor through Lending Club and this is basically the same model but with different underlying investment characteristics.

The democratization of community development was one aspect of the article that really struck me.  This would be a cool mechanism to allow people to invest locally in real estate and have some influence in shaping their community (as opposed to REITs or PE shops based elsewhere).

I’m not sure it pays to be one of the earliest adopters of these real estate platforms but I think they’re worth keeping an eye on / studying further.

The platforms: Fundrise and Realty Mogul