This is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a commission from partner links on Listen Money Matters. All opinions are my own.
I’ve always been a hands-on investor, particularly in the realm of real estate. My wife and I own rental properties, and our cozy house is the fruit of a successful fix-and-flip venture we undertook several years ago. We’ve ventured into the exciting world of online real estate through Fundrise. So, does their platform live up to the buzz? Get ready to find out in this Fundrise review.
Real estate is both an essential part of our wealth-building strategy and something that holds particular interest for us. It’s a personal finance strategy that is, above all, focused on long-term investment growth.
We’ve interviewed Ben Miller, the CEO on our podcast, twice.
Fundrise started as an exclusive platform for accredited investors but later opened to everyone, allowing us to invest early. Since then, it has grown significantly, delivered substantial dividends, and relaunched as “Fundrise 2.0” in 2017 with enhanced features and accessibility.
We have over $130,000 of our own money invested in Fundrise. So, I thought it was long overdue to break down what they are, why you should care, and what they do well (passive income). Let’s get nerdy!
Minimum Investment:
$10
Management Fees:
1% a year
Promotion:
Free Upgrade to Core Plan
Investment Type:
eREITs
Investment Model:
Online
Accredited Investors Only:
No
Mobile App:
Yes
Minimum Investment:
$1,000
Management Fees:
0.5% of the purchase fee or $500, whichever is greater
Promotion:
Open a Free Account
Investment Type:
Single-family rental properties
Investment Model:
Turnkey
Accredited Investors Only:
No
Mobile App:
No
Minimum Investment:
$1,000
Management Fees:
1%-4%
Promotion:
Start Investing
Investment Type:
Real estate debt
Investment Model:
Online
Accredited Investors Only:
Yes
Mobile App:
No
Editor's Note
What is Fundrise?
Investing with Fundrise is available to non-accredited investors. Simply put, anyone can be a real estate investor.
And what is a REIT? A REIT, or Real Estate Investment Trust, is a company that owns or finances income-producing real estate.
Most REITs are similar to Fidelity’s FRESX in that they manage many billions of dollars in assets and thus have to invest a significant amount of money. So, to invest in new deals and manage the fund’s existing investments, they typically need to make larger bets. They don’t have time to chase smaller properties.
Significant REIT investments are often in income-producing real estate assets, like apartments, offices, or storage facilities such as Public Storage. This strategy allows REITs to generate revenue directly from rents and leases, rather than relying on third-party companies.
It seems like a flawed deal. There is little value added to it, considering a REIT is much more expensive than only buying some of Public Storage yourself – for less.
The problem is that this is pretty common, and there aren’t many real estate investment trusts that are strong picks if you’re looking to buy into the rental market.
Individuals, on the other hand, are primarily investing in smaller properties ($100k – $200k in value) that are in higher demand making it harder to generate a reasonable profit. It’s also more distressing and expensive to manage 100 properties instead of 10. That’s why the vast majority don’t go down this road.
How Fundrise Works
Fundrise fits itself right in the middle.
First, they don’t look at single large properties or baskets of many properties (like Public Storage) and instead focus entirely on deals in the low millions.
The return on these deals is higher because there is less competition. The problem then becomes how difficult and expensive it becomes to work with banks to acquire funding for these deals. That’s where the Fundrise platform fits in.
Fundrise can move quickly, providing a large amount of cash to invest in a short time window. This allows them to focus entirely on senior debt and ownership positions that dramatically reduce the risk of the investments.
A senior position means that in the event of a failed project or investment, Fundrise gets paid ahead of other lenders/owners. That’s the power of investing with a crowd; you are the bank.
Fundrise Costs, Figures, and Annual Fees
Before we get into the details, here’s a high-level view of their investment platform. In the sections below, we’ll get into Fundrise’s returns, performance, and how it all works.
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Assets Managed | $3.3 Billion |
| Number of Investors | 500,000+ |
| Minimum Investment | $10 |
| Fees | 0.85% Annual Management Fee 0.15% Annual Advisory Fee |
| Accredited Investor | No |
| Asset Types | Real Estate Debt and Equity |
Fundrise Account Types
You can open individual taxable or joint accounts, trusts, entity accounts, and self-directed IRAs through Fundrise. Because your earnings are taxed as ordinary income, placing private real estate investments inside an IRA (instead of a taxable account) can serve as a tax shelter while lowering your tax bill.
Historical Returns and Liquidity
Whenever we talk about investing, we usually discuss the average return. We can’t predict the future – year to year, things may not work out as planned.
So, how has Fundrise performed?
Performance and Average Returns:
In terms of cumulative return, it’s going well.
Cumulative is a bit tricky because it’s also a factor of how much is invested. If exponentially more people invest, but their returns are increasingly small, this graph might not look different.
The averaged annualized returns of Fundrise are equally exceptional:
| Year | Return |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 12.25% |
| 2015 | 12.42% |
| 2016 | 8.76% |
| 2017 | 11.44% |
| 2018 | 9.11% |
| 2019 | 9.47% |
| 2020 | 7.31% |
| 2021 | 22.99% |
| 2022 | 1.5% |
Liquidity:
Unlike publicly-traded REITs that often hold other publicly traded assets, all of Fundrise’s capital is invested in properties they pick. As a result, they can’t merely pull out money from a deal without selling the actual property.
However, to provide better liquidity, they have quarterly windows to allow existing investors to cash out. So, while you can’t withdraw your cash whenever you’d like – you can do it four times throughout the year without a penalty (see below).
Early Withdrawals
Fundrise investments provide some liquidity through quarterly redemption opportunities, but early withdrawals may incur costs.
If you’re liquidating eREIT or eFund shares held for more than five years, 100% of the value is returned to you without any penalties. Shares held for less than five years are subject to a 1% early redemption penalty.
Fundrise eREITS and eFunds
I think it’s important to understand what you invest in, so I’ve gone to great lengths to explain how it all works in the main sections below. That said, Fundrise makes it all way easier just by signing up.
Similar to how a
Fundrise focuses on your financial goals, categorized into four main strategies: supplemental income, balanced investing, long-term growth, and venture capital (Innovation Fund). Each strategy aligns with different return profiles; for instance, the Supplemental Income plan emphasizes income generation, while the Long-Term Growth plan targets property appreciation.
In addition to financial goals, Fundrise considers property types and locations across various sectors, including storage facilities and apartment buildings. For investments under $5,000, Fundrise selects the appropriate funds, but investors can choose their allocations for amounts above this threshold. Advanced investors can further customize their options by becoming Fundrise Pro members.
You’ll have the option to choose your portfolio strategy as soon as you make your first investment with Fundrise. Once you’ve chosen your investment plan, Fundrise allocates your funds across a diversified portfolio of residential and commercial properties.
If you’d prefer a more hands-on approach, consider Fundrise Pro. For $10/month (or $99/year) with a 30-day free trial, you’ll unlock:
- Direct investment options to invest in specific funds.
- Custom investment plans with full control over your fund allocations.
- Access to expert-level data, including Fundrise’s proprietary data and market research from John Burns Research and Consulting.
- Exclusive content from Wall Street Journal and other leading news sites.
Some of that content includes curated insights from The Wall Street Journal, which may feature snippets from WSJ Pro: Private Equity and WSJ Pro: Venture Capital. While a full subscription to each can vary in cost—potentially reaching $2,995/year—Fundrise Pro provides a valuable resource for both new investors looking to learn and experienced investors wanting to stay up-to-date. This makes it worth considering if you’re seeking high-quality market insights without the full subscription price.
With Fundrise and Fundrise Pro, you can choose between a simplified investment experience or a more personal approach, ensuring you can invest in a way that aligns with your preferences and financial goals.
eREITs vs. eFunds: What’s the Difference?
Think of an eREIT like a mutual fund for commercial real estate. It’s a diversified portfolio spread across real estate assets like office buildings, hotels, and apartments that’s professionally managed. It’s not publicly traded like traditional REITs and carries lower costs by cutting out the middleman (no brokers or commissions). Instead, all eREITs go straight to you, the investor.
An eFund works like an eREIT, except it invests in residential real estate like single-family homes, condos, and townhomes. It’s growth-focused, structured as a partnership, and avoids the double taxation of corporations.
Fundrise offers two primary investment vehicles: eREITs and eFunds.
eREITs (Electronic Real Estate Investment Trusts):
- Structure: Similar to traditional REITs, eREITs are diversified portfolios of income-generating real estate assets, including commercial properties like office buildings, hotels, and apartments.
- Management: Professionally managed to generate consistent income, typically delivering dividends on a quarterly basis.
- Liquidity: Unlike publicly traded REITs, eREITs are not listed on stock exchanges, which may result in lower liquidity. Investors should be prepared for a longer-term commitment.
- Cost Efficiency: By offering eREITs directly to investors online, Fundrise eliminates intermediaries, potentially reducing costs and enhancing return potential.
eFunds:
- Structure: eFunds are diversified portfolios focused on residential real estate, such as single-family homes, condos, and townhomes. They aim to develop and sell housing in major U.S. cities.
- Management: Structured as partnerships, eFunds are designed to be growth-oriented, targeting appreciation through the development and sale of residential properties.
- Tax Efficiency: The partnership structure of eFunds helps avoid the double taxation associated with corporations, potentially enhancing after-tax returns for investors.
Both eREITs and eFunds are integral to Fundrise’s platform, providing investors with access to diversified real estate investments aligned with their financial goals.
Fundrise offers various account levels, each providing access to different investment options:
- Starter Portfolio: Minimum investment of $10, granting access to the Flagship Real Estate Fund.
- Basic Account Level: Minimum investment of $1,000, offering additional features such as IRA accounts.
- Core Account Level: Minimum investment of $5,000, allowing for a wider selection of funds beyond the Flagship Real Estate Fund.
- Advanced Account Level: Minimum investment of $10,000, providing access to a full range of Fundrise offerings, including eREITs, the Income Fund, the Opportunity Zone Fund, and eFunds such as the Housing eFund.
- Premium Account Level: Designed for accredited investors with a minimum investment of $100,000, offering exclusive investment opportunities and priority support.
Fundrise Investment Portfolios
Income and Growth
The Income eREIT is focused on investing in debt, not all that different from how a bank collects an interest rate on a mortgage. Thus the fund is all about cash flow.
It invests using the following three core principles:
- Small Assets: We believe targeting assets that fall under the radar of big banks and investment funds allow us to achieve higher relative returns.
- Regulatory Inefficiencies: Increased banking regulations as a result of the 2008 financial crisis have opened up new investment opportunities for more flexible lenders to expand into the market.
- Urban Infill Location: Real estate assets located in the core of large cities benefit from higher demand and higher pricing due to the relative lack of supply.
The Growth eREIT focuses on equity. Unlike the Income eREIT, this fund owns properties with an eye towards appreciation.
Its primary focus is on multi-units, and it also follows three core principles:
- Workforce Housing: There is a growing need for affordably-priced apartments, referred to as “workforce housing.” However, there is a limited supply of existing apartments that meet that demand. The result is that affordable apartments face little competition from newly built apartments. We believe this growing demand and lack of supply will result in existing “workforce housing” increasing value over time.
- Low-Cost Basis: The Growth eREIT seeks to acquire properties below their replacement cost, a strategy known as “value investing.” In other words, the price paid to purchase a property is less than what it would cost someone else to build a similar property in the same location today.
- Long-Term Fixed Financing: Interest rates on loans for acquiring apartment buildings are at historic lows. By securing long-term, fixed-rate debt today, the Growth eREIT can maximize consistent cash-flow while also reducing volatility over the investment term.
Regional eREITs
Both the Income and Growth eREITs are hyper-focused on either cash flow or appreciation. The regional eREITs provide a more balanced investing approach and a way for you to invest in sections of the US that are of particular interest. As such, they’re broken into three balanced funds: East Coast, Heartland, West Coast.
Regional eFunds
Three growth-focused eFunds are available at the Advanced account level ($10,000 minimum investment) offering more advanced investing strategies and potentially higher returns. They’re broken into the Washington DC, Los Angeles, and National eFunds.
TL;DR Fundrise Review Summary
Fundrise.com provides access to an asset class normally unavailable to the ordinary investor. While they’re not considered a REIT, they are still subject to the same SEC requirements that an exchange-traded REIT must meet.
Any investment in their eFunds is spread across multiple properties, both reducing overall risk and increasing liquidity opportunities.
Fundrise Positives:
- Higher Returns: Gain access to higher-yielding real estate deals than you could individually or on other reputable sites.
- Hands Off Investing: Get the returns of sizable real estate projects without having to manage them or do the due diligence.
- Supplemental Income: Much like a
rental property , Fundrise offers supplemental income in the form of a quarterly dividend. This is easily one of the most appealing features for new investors. I mean, who doesn’t want to make money passively. - Low Fees: At a 0.85% asset management fee and 0.15% advisory fee, they are price competitive with most similar investment options, and among their non-traded peers, they are lower than over 90% of them.
- More diversification: Unlike residential real estate investments, which are more likely to be affected by stock market swings, commercial real estate is more insulated. Having access to this asset class helps further diversify your portfolio.
Fundrise Negatives:
- Limited Liquidity: You can only withdraw your money quarterly, which forces a long-term approach to investments here.
- Riskier than traditional REITs: You’re closer to each deal, and there are fewer of them. This carries more risk.
An Interview with CEO Ben Miller
We’re just a little addicted to talking to the people to create companies like Fundrise.
Our interview with Fundrise CEO Ben Miller. We cover everything discussed in this “Fundrise review” plus quite a bit more. We even dive into a bit of controversy the company had recently to find out what happened. You know we’re not shy.
If you’re interested to start investing, here are the early concepts of Fundrise and our interview with Ben before they were open to average investors, check out our episode Crowd-Sourced Real Estate Investing.
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Andrew Fiebert is a thirty-something father of twins, data nerd, and has prior Data Engineer for Barclays Capital and iHeartRadio. He's spent the past six years growing this site into a multi-six-figure business with over 500 hours of free personal finance education that reaches over 1 million people every month. Andrew has a B.S. in Computer Science and has been featured in Quartz, Forbes, Business Insider, and The Telegraph.Current Project: Making bloggers money with Lasso.
