Fundrise Competitors In 2023 – Start Investing In Real Estate

What Is Fundrise?

Headquartered in Washington, DC, and with more than 1.9 million active investors, Fundrise is the largest online real estate crowdfunding platform in the US. Fundrise was launched in 2010 by brothers Dan and Ben Miller, and it was the first platform in the US to make real estate available to the average investor through crowdfunding.

Fundrise is open to accredited and non-accredited investors and is the most accessible crowdfunding platform in the US, with an industry-low minimum investment requirement of just $10. Fundrise has a total portfolio value in excess of $7 billion across 292 active and 145 completed projects.

For beginners, Fundrise offers a variety of investing strategies, ranging from the safest fixed-income and core plus, which start generating passive income very quickly, to growth-focused strategies like value add and opportunistic. If you already have some experience, the Fundrise Pro subscription allows you to handpick your investments and build your portfolio from the ground up – for just $10/month.

In general, we recommend private REITs like Fundrise over public REITs and the S&P 500 index if you’re looking to generate passive income or build long-term wealth – at the cost of liquidity. Private REITs are the way to go if you can afford to hold on to your investments long-term.

However, picking a private REIT can be difficult, with so many options out there. In this Fundrise competitors review, we’ll go over the five closest platforms to Fundrise in terms of yield, fees, and flexibility – and include some options for both accredited and non-accredited investors. Without further ado, here are the best Fundrise alternatives:

1. CrowdStreet – Best Overall

Founded in 2012 by Tore Steen and Darren Powderly, CrowdStreet is an accredited investor-only crowdfunded real estate investing platform. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, CrowdStreet began as an alternative to Wall Street and public equities and has grown to be one of the largest real estate crowdfunding platforms in the US.

CrowdStreet has 776+ funded deals, 344+ project sponsors, and more than $4.16 billion invested in real estate projects across the US. 

CrowdStreet has a somewhat high minimum investment compared to other crowdfunded platforms, starting at $25,000, but backs it up with a very consistent payment schedule – quarterly or monthly – and excellent annual returns, ranging from 17% to 18.1%.

CrowdStreet doesn’t charge account management fees, but depending on the project listed, you may have to pay a sponsor fee ranging from 1% to 3% of the investment. You can browse the full list of projects, filter, compare fees, and more, from the CrowdStreet dashboard.

In 2021, CrowdStreet was recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers 2021, and in 2023 CrowdStreet was ranked the Best Overall Real Estate Crowdfunding Site by Investopedia for the third year in a row.

If you are an accredited investor looking for the most profitable commercial real estate projects, CrowdStreet is our top recommendation.

Pros

• Annual returns ranging from 17-18.1%

• Focus on high-yielding commercial real estate projects

• Geographically diversified investments across 45+ states

• Monthly or quarterly distributions

Cons

• High minimum investment ($25,000)

• Available for accredited investors only

• Hold periods starting at 3 years

Pricing

• Account Management Fees: Free

• Sponsor Fees: From 1% to 3% (depending on the investment)

2. RealtyMogul – Best For Non-Accredited Investors

RealtyMogul is a real estate investing platform for both accredited and non-accredited investors. RealtyMogul was founded in 2012, and in just 5 years, it managed to grow its investor base to more than 100,000 active members.

Like CrowdStreet, RealtyMogul focuses on the most profitable commercial properties. Unlike CrowdStreet, RealtyMogul is open to accredited and non-accredited investors, and it has a considerably lower minimum investment starting at just $5,000. 

CrowdStreet offers two main ways to invest: REITs and Individual Properties. REITs are open to all investors; you can choose between income-focused REITs – with an average annualized return of 6% and monthly distributions – or a growth-focused apartment REIT – with an annualized return of 4.5% and quarterly distributions. 

Individual Properties offer the highest yield, but you give up diversification, and they’re only accessible to accredited investors. Additionally, they usually have higher minimum investments – comparable to those of CrowdStreet. 

If you’re a non-accredited investor – or an accredited investor looking for your first real estate investment – we recommend checking out RealtyMogul as one of the most flexible options.

Pros

• Available for accredited and non-accredited investors

• Focus on high-yielding commercial real estate investments

• Invest in income-focused or growth-focused REITs 

• Pick your investments and build your portfolio

• Low minimum investment ($5,000)

• Invest in REITs using your IRA

Cons

• No mobile app

• Individual investments are only available for accredited investors

• Highly illiquid investment – there’s no secondary market 

Pricing

• Management Fees: From 1% to 3% (depending on the investment)

3. DiversyFund – Best For Low Minimum Investment

Founded in 2014 by Craig Cecilio and Alan Lewis – following the crowdfunding Jobs Act of 2012 –, DiversyFund is a crowdfunded real estate investing platform and one of the first to be established in the US. DiversyFund is headquartered in San Diego, California.

DiversyFund is the most flexible option so far on this list, with a minimum investment of just $500. DiversyFund is open to accredited and non-accredited investors, and it has a community of more than 300,000 active investors.

With DiversyFund, you can filter all the offerings based on your long-term goals: growth, dividend, or retirement – or Premier Offerings if you’re an accredited investor. From the DiversyFund mobile app, available on Android and iOS, you can track and monitor the performance of all your investments.

One major downside of DiversyFund is the investing horizon. Most projects listed on DiversyFund have an investing horizon ranging from 5- to 7-years, which can be very prohibitive for small investors. DiversyFund makes up for it with very solid annualized returns, starting at 11.2% and going as high as 15%. Unlike CrowdStreet and RealtyMogul, DiversyFund has a strong focus on multifamily assets.

Pros

• Focus on institutional-quality multifamily properties

• Comprehensive educational resources

• Open to accredited and non-accredited investors

• Available on desktop and mobile

• 11.2% average annualized returns

• $500 minimum invesetment

Cons

• Very long investing horizon (between 5-7 years)

• Some investments don’t pay out dividends until the property is sold

Pricing

• Asset Management Fee: 2%

4. First National Realty Partners – Best For Investing In Grocery-Anchored Shopping Centers

First National Realty Partner is an accredited-invest-only real estate investing platform. First National Realty Partners offers access to a very unique type of real estate: grocery-anchored shopping centers. 

FNRP offers access to geographically diverse real estate properties across 23+ states, mostly in the eastern US, and is expanding into the midwestern US region with new projects in California and Nevada. From the FNRP Investor Portal, you can keep track of all your investments and access key information like monthly and quarterly reports, expected yield, and all the tax forms you’ll need.

Since First National Realty Partners listed its first offering in 2015, they’ve paid out more than $100 million in dividends to more than 2,550 investors. If you decide to go for FNRP, you can expect annualized returns ranging from 12-20%, depending on the property you choose. 

One downside of First National Realty Partners is that it has a very high minimum investment – starting at $50,000 – and it’s one of the reasons why it’s not higher up on our list. Even so, First National Realty Partners has an excellent track record and offers 57+ properties to choose from. FNRP has $2+ billion in assets under management across all their projects. 

Pros

• 12-18% average annualized returns

• 57+ high-quality properties to choose from

• Quarterly distributions

• Low management fee (starting at 0.5%)

Cons

• Accredited investors only

• High minimum investment ($50,000)

Pricing

• Acquisition Fee: Depends on the investment

• Property Management Fee: Depends on the investment

5. EquityMultiple – Best For Investing In Multi-Family Assets

Another excellent option for accredited investors is EquityMultiple. EquityMultiple is a New York-based real estate investing platform with almost a decade of experience in the business. EquityMultiple averages 17% across their investing products and has a total project value of $4.4 billion as of mid-2023. 

EquityMultiple offers two ways to invest in real estate: EquityMultiple Earn and EquityMultiple Grow. With EquityMultiple Earn, you can access high-yielding real estate investments, and the minimum investment is $5,000. The main appeal of these is that you can start generating passive income within 6 months. However, don’t expect much in terms of long-term growth.

If you’re looking for growth over short-term yield, EquityMultiple Grow’s got you covered. With EquityMultiple Grow, you can invest in a portfolio of value-add and opportunistic real estate projects with average annualized returns at or above 18%. The minimum investment for these is $10,000. We recommend these if you can afford to lock in your money for at least 3 years.

EquityMultiple has excellent reviews on Trustpilot, and they’ve paid out almost $300 million in dividends to investors. 

Pros

• Average annualized returns on their offerings start at 17%

• Invest in high-yielding or growth-focused projects

• Focus on multi-family assets

• Invest using your IRA account

Cons

• $5,000 minimum investment

• Only open for accredited investors 

Pricing

• Annual Asset Management Fee: 1%-2%

FAQs

Do REITs Outperform Inflation?

Yes – REITs and most other real estate investments have historically outperformed inflation. In fact, real estate has always been among the best-performing asset classes, with excellent short- and long-term prospects.

One of the reasons why real estate is so good during periods of inflation is that property value and rental income are directly related to inflation. An increase in inflation leads to higher property value and a higher rent income for landlords.

Is It Better To Invest In Public REITs Or Fundrise?

It’s better to invest in Fundrise. Fundrise and other private real estate investment trusts consistently outperform public REITs. From the Fundrise website, you can check the historical performance of public REITs and Fundrise, and across 6 years, Fundrise outperformed public REITs by more than 20%.

However, something to keep in mind is that public REITs are a lot more liquid than Fundrise shares and private REITs. Public REITs can be traded on exchanges like securities, while private REITs oftentimes don’t trade on secondary markets.

To withdraw your Fundrise shares early, you’ll need to submit a liquidation request. Fundrise reviews the requests quarterly, and there’s no guarantee yours will be approved. For that reason, we recommend investing in Fundrise only if you can afford to hold on for the long term.

Is Fundrise A Good Investment In 2023?

Yes – in 2023, Fundrise remains an excellent real estate investment platform if you’re looking to gain exposure to the real estate market. Over the last 6 years, Fundrise averaged annual returns ranging from 5.29% to 22.99% – 20% higher than public REITs and more than two times those of the S&P 500 index. Some Fundrise investors that have reinvested their dividend payments have reported a return of 83.4% when holding for at least 7 years.