10 Platforms to Invest in Real Estate Online in 2024

The real estate investing landscape is changing day in and day out. With the digital marketplace, everything has been totally revolutionized on how people invest in this very lucrative market. In 2024, a number of compelling options are available for persons looking to explore the world of real estate investing online. This article aims to shed light on 10 platforms to invest in real estate online, empowering you to make informed decisions and embark on your investment journey.

Why Online Real Estate Investment?

Digital investing in the real estate sector has optimized the industry and democratized investments. Essentially, conventional investment in real estate would need a lot of capital. Nevertheless, such barriers have been disrupted by online platforms that empower people to invest with small sums of money, frequently enabling better ways of diversification.

This digitization is not just a fad but is supposed to depict a fundamental change in how people interact with real estate investing. It's the convenience, accessibility, and possibility of diversification that online platforms offer that make these changes, making real estate investing more inclusive and more appealing than ever.

Criteria for Choosing the Best Real Estate Investment Platforms

There are a few key criteria that enable an investor to zero in on which platform best aligns with their investment goals and risk tolerance.

Investment Minimums

Different platforms accommodate various budgets for investments. Some have high minimum investments, and some allow participation with as small an amount as possible. Consider your financial capacity and investment objectives when assessing this criterion.

Fees and Commissions

Be sure to review the various fee structures on each platform: maintenance fees, transaction fees, and commissions on the returns from your investments. Transparent fee structures will give room for trust and clarity in the cost implication on your investments.

Investment Options

Compare the diversity and range of property and real investment instruments available on platforms. While some platforms focus on specific types of property or particular areas, others will give you a more astounding range of choices for investment. Match it to your taste in investments and your diversification strategy.

Due Diligence and Risk Mitigation

Assess due diligence and risk mitigation strategies put in place by the platform. Usually, reputed platforms do proper appraisal for property and incorporate clauses of prevention of loss to investors. Prioritize those platforms that take transparency and risk governance seriously.

10 Platforms to Invest in Real Estate Online in 2024

Let’s walk through 10 platforms to invest in real estate online in 2024. 

Concreit

Concreit provides a pathway for investors to pool their money into a diversified pool of loans collateralized by real estate. With the minimum investable amount at just $1 through a highly intuitive mobile app, Concreit democratizes access to this asset class in a manner that has never been seen before.

Investors enjoy weekly dividend distribution and a steady annual return. On Concreit investment, there's unrivaled liquidity that enables investors to request a withdrawal of their principal money at their convenience. It opens up gateway access to a fully managed real estate portfolio from the comfort of one's home with over 40,000+ smart investors on board.

Fundrise

Fundrise is a real estate investing app with a low barrier to entry, requiring a minimum investment of just $10. It offers a diverse range of investment options, including eREITs (electronic real estate investment trusts), venture capital funds, and Fundrise IPOs. 

Fundrise recommends an investment has a minimum term of five years. Hence, it is ideal for an investor whose time horizon extends from long-term to perpetual. Any investor, accredited or otherwise, can invest in the platform, but the requirements need a minimum of $1,000 to be met while buying. All Fundrise investment portfolios include very convenient features such as auto-investing and dividend reinvestment with referral discounts.

RealtyMogul

RealtyMogul democratizes real estate investments, primarily investing in pre-vetted public non-traded REITs. The website welcomes all investors, regardless of their accreditation status.

RealtyMogul offers robust opportunities for investing in two broad categories: buying stakes in commercial real estate through REITs and direct investment in single property deals. The single property investment deal was a mere private placement offering, while two deals were available from the company's income and growth REIT that could be pursued by both accredited and non-accredited investors.

Groundfloor

Groundfloor's wealth tech platform is focused on short-term, real-estate-based debt investments, including SEC-qualified limited recourse obligations and notes. It is available starting from a minimum investment of just $10 to both accredited and non-accredited investors.

Groundfloor investment terms range from 30 days to 18 months, thereby giving any looking for shorter-term commitments a high degree of flexibility. Groundfloor provides accredited and non-accredited investors the ability to invest on a self-directed or automatic basis, combined with a proprietary loan-grading algorithm.

Arrived

Arrived (formerly Arrived Homes) is an investment platform for the ownership of single-family residential and vacation rentals. It serves accredited and non-accredited investors, letting them pick individual properties or invest in pre-built funds for instant diversification.

Investors receive both steady, passive income through dividend payouts and through property appreciation. Arrived is also an attractive option for retirement-focused investing looking to diversify a portfolio with real estate.

CrowdStreet

CrowdStreet is the largest online real estate marketplace for accredited investors, connecting with opportunities to diversify their portfolios with pre-vetted, institutional-grade commercial real estate investments.

The real differentiator about CrowdStreet is the detailed information provided to potential investors: property details, investment strategy, target markets, estimated hold period, fund manager, and investor return structure. There is transparency that enables the investor to make the right decision.

Yieldstreet

Yieldstreet caters primarily to accredited investors, offering a diverse range of alternative investments, including real estate, legal finance, marine finance, crypto, commercial and consumer finance, and art finance. 

While most of them would require, in general, accreditation, even non accredited investors can participate in the Yieldstreet Prism fund to invest in multiple alternative asset classes all at once. What sets Yieldstreet apart is not only its flexible investment terms—starting as short as six months and going up to five years to meet different investment horizons.

EquityMultiple

EquityMultiple caters to accredited investors seeking to invest in a wide variety of assets with a minimum investment ranging from $5,000 to $30,000. The platform offers access to institutional-quality commercial real estate investments across various asset classes.

Through the existence of three ways of investing—Fund Investing, Direct Investing, and Savings Alternative Investing—EquityMultiple stands to give its investors flexibility. These investment approaches follow different investment strategies with a time horizon and minimum requirement, thus giving the investors what has to decide on.

DiversyFund

DiversyFund is one of the options for crowdfunding in real estate, targeting undervalued multifamily properties in the US with large upside potential. The minimum investment requirement is up to $500, so they are quite open to both accredited and non-accredited investors.

One of the most unique features of DiversyFund is Auto Invest. It's designed to achieve long-term appreciation through recurring investments in a multifamily fund. This is extremely useful for new real estate investors who prefer something hands-off — "set it and forget it.".

Lofty

Lofty is an emerging platform in the fractional real estate investing arena, enabling investors to purchase shares of rental properties with investments as low as $50. Imagine owning a piece of Miami real estate for that amount – Lofty makes it a reality.

With over 18 locations across the US, this platform offers diversified commercial and residential rental properties, most of which yield over 5.5% annually. Lofty is attractive to those investors who want cheap entry into the real estate market with beautiful returns and added benefits accruing from fractional ownership. 

How to Get Started with Online Real Estate Investment

Here are the steps to get started with real estate investing online:

1. Define your investment goals and risk tolerance: Determine what your financial goals are and how much risk you are ready to take. This will help you choose the correct platform and hence your investments.
2. Conduct thorough research: Search across platforms on offers, fees, and investments. Read other investors' reviews and testimonials.
3. Choose a platform: Select a platform that aligns with your investment goals, risk tolerance, and budget. Ensure it has a solid track record and a user-friendly interface.
4. Create an Account and Complete Verification: Register on the chosen platform and provide the necessary information for verification, which may include proof of identity and accreditation status (if applicable).
5. Fund Your Account:  Transfer money into the online platform account for investment.
6. Browse and Select Investments: Browse through the various investment opportunities on the platform and select a few that best fit your criteria.
7. Monitor Your Investments: Follow up on your investments from time to time, know how they have been doing, and get updates on what is happening.

You might be interested to learn the difference between digital vs. traditional real estate investing.

Wrapping Up

The future of online real estate investing has never been brighter – able to include more people with far greater ease and flexibility. Among the top platforms reviewed in this article, myriad options are available for different individual goals in investment, risk tolerance, and budget. With consideration of the right platform and making better investment decisions, you may head in the right direction toward a successful and fulfilling journey in real estate investing throughout 2024 and beyond.