CrowdStreet Review for 2021

With the rise of real estate investment software and real estate crowdfunding apps, investors seeking to bring balance and diversification to their portfolio have more options than ever. However, this brand-new accessibility can bring new problems such as trying to decide which real estate investment strategy is the right one? With options like REIT’s, rental properties, and peer-to-peer lending, finding a successful real estate investment comes with a lot of due diligence. For seasoned and accredited Real Estate Investors, CrowdStreet is proving to be the leading app for real estate investing. Below, in our Crowdstreet Review, we’ll show you exactly why this app is top in class for investing in real estate.

What is CrowdStreet?

Founded in 2013, CrowdSreet offers real estate equity investment opportunities for high, net-worth individuals and accredited investors. If you meet these requirements, CrowdStreet is a real estate investing app you should consider using.

CrowdStreet offers commercial real estate crowdfunding opportunities where the investor picks individual commercial properties and interact with the project sponsor, or the investor can buy CrowdStreet funds. These are composed of a diverse portfolio of real estate projects. C

We have already seen a 33% increase in rent and bidding wars on urban-based apartments. This tells us that people are rapidly returning to cities as the economy reopens. It also provides a major buying opportunity for commercial real estate investors to buy-in at a once-in-a-generation occurrence.

CrowdStreet could provide access to these opportunities and provide greater returns than their already impressive annual IRR (more on that below).

CrowdStreet Review

Our Rating:

4/5

CrowdStreet

CrowdStreet offers commercial real estate investment opportunities where the investor picks individual commercial real estate properties and interacts directly with project sponsor. It also offers a fund composed of a diverse portfolio of real estate projects. You need to be an accredited investor to participate

best for:

Accredited Investors, Real Estate Investors

Get CrowdStreet Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Low Fees
• Excellent Usability
• Excellent Customer Service
• Around a 17% IRR

Cons:

• $25k min investment
• Need to be an Accredited Investor

At Wealthplicity, we rate and rank our investment apps based upon the most important criteria to the customer. We look to keep this criterion consistent across all reviews but may adjust upon industry or offerings.

1. Investor Fees – How much does it cost to use the platform? Are there commission fees or fees on trades? How complicated is the fee structure?
2. Flexibility of Offerings and Features – Does the platform offer a wide variety of securities or deals to invest in? What other features does the platform offer beyond investing?
3. Investor Requirements – Does the investor need to be accredited? How experienced does the investor need to be? What is the minimum investment required?
4. Usability – How user friendly is the platform?
5. Transparency – How hard is to find critical information such as risk and the annual rate of return if relevant?

Who is CrowdStreet Best for?

Unfortunately, CrowdStreet isn’t for everyone, and caters to high-net worth individuals and accredited investors.

To be an accredited investor, you must have an annual income exceeding $200,000 for the last two years or have $1 million in net worth.

If you are not an accredited investor but still want to invest in real estate, there are other options such as Fundrise. Our Fundrise review shows you how you can participate in the real estate market with minimum investments.

Of course, if you are seeking to diversify your investments through other means, please check out our other reviews, listed below:

• M1 Finance Review: Best for active investors but also has robo-advisor capabilities.
• Acorns Review: Best app for beginners
• Betterment Review: Best robo-advisor
• Wefunder Review: Best Crowdfunding app

The CrowdStreet Review: Overall Ranking Criteria Fees:

CrowdStreet Fees

There are no fees to register for CrowdStreet’s platform, but fees vary by project and there is a .5% to 2.5% fee for invested capital of CrowdStreet’s fund.

Flexibility of Offerings and Features:

CrowdStreet has a good number of features and offers. TThey offer 5-15 private equity investment opportunities that allow investors to choose from single-asset projects and funds.

CrowdStreet offers a variety of deal categories that vary by risk:

• Opportunistic Deals: Deals that  target the highest returns, but also bear the most risk. These properties include ground-up development, have little to no cash flow, and often have the most complicated business plans. These have an average return of 11.8%

• Value-Add Deals: Classified as projects that aim to significantly increase cash flow and value of the property over time by making dramatic improvements to the property. These have an average return of 20.2%
• Core Plus Deals: High-quality properties that are mostly occupied but have set aside some of the monthly income for future maintenance and upgrades, meaning there is less stable cash flow for investors. These have an average return of 12.6%
• Core Deals: Stable, predictable cash flow. They are usually fully-occupied, need no major improvements, and are in major markets. These are considered the least risky investment type. No average return given.

Investor Requirements:

CrowdStreet requires a $25,000 minimum investment and the investor needs to be accredited. This means, they must have a $200,000 income for at least two years or have at least a $1 million net worth.

Usability:

CrowdStreet’s platform is revolutionary in that it now allows investors to easily access complex investments at the click of a button. Imagine 10 years ago if you wanted to invest in commercial real estate. It was primarily reserved for billionaires. So, while you still need to have a high net-worth and be accredited, the fact that you could invest in complex, commercial real estate projects is truly eye-opening.

They provide in-depth analysis and research on every investment opportunity including detailed video and interactive webinars that allow investors first-hand access to the project sponsor.

Transparency:

Finding critical information on CrowdStreet’s website was very easy. They also provided insight into their results. With 54 confirmed realized deals, CrowdStreet’s results should make any investor interested in equity investments through commercial real estate take notice. Though with an average 17.1% IRR, I would want to promote those returns as well.

CrowdStreet Review Summary:

If you are a high, net-worth individual, you should truly consider using CrowdStreet as your real estate investing app. As we mentioned in the above CrowdStreet review, the app provides unparalleled access to complex, commercial real estate deals. With returns as high as 90% and an average IRR of 17%, CrowdStreet has proven to be one of the leader in real estate investing.