Fundrise App Review: Investing In Real Estate Made Easy

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Investing money is one of the simplest and fastest ways to grow your net worth. However, between the stock market, mutual funds and more, investing isn’t always easy to figure out. But what if you could invest your money in something that could almost guarantee you higher annual returns? We’re talking real estate — and not the homebuying kind.

New investors, listen up: There’s an app out there that’s making it easier than ever to get into the real estate investment game. Fundrise is the “first simple, low-cost real estate investment platform” that allows anyone with an extra $500 to get in on this money-making venture. So if you’ve been toying with the idea of stashing your cash in an investment account, now’s the time to do it, and Fundrise can help. Since it almost seems to good to be true, we decided to test it out and report back with our findings so you can decide if it’s the right fit for you and your finances.

Before you download Fundrise, know the basics:

Fundrise isn’t technically an app for your phone. Everything is done through the company’s website, Fundrise.com.
Any United States resident over the age of 18 can use Fundrise to invest.
The minimum investment is $500 for the “Starter” plan and $1,000 for the “Advanced Portfolio” plan.
Through whichever plan you choose, your money is invested in private real estate assets located across the U.S., like hotels, apartment complexes and other forms of commercial real estate.
You’ll get the most out of your investments through Fundrise when you invest your money for at least five years.
Fundrise has low fees. The total cost for an annual advisor, portfolio diversification and asset management is just 1 percent, which is at least 0.37 percent lower than other traditional investment firm fees.
Upfront fees vary but will only go up to 2 percent, which is at least 23 percent lower than traditional investments.

There are three ways to invest with Fundrise.

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There are many reasons to invest your money. From building wealth to generating an additional cash flow, Fundrise can help you do it all. The company offers three ways to invest.

1. Supplemental Income: You’ll earn money via quarterly dividends with less appreciation. Basically, you can earn money faster and more frequently, though it may be a lower amount every time. Fundrise states on its website that this is the least popular plan with its investors, and the average investment is around $8,400.

2. Balanced Investing: This is a mix of both dividends and overall appreciation, which means you’ll make money frequently while it also continues to grow over time. This plan is the most popular with Fundrise investors, and the average investment is around $7,600.

3. Long-Term Growth: If you’re looking for the highest potential returns, this is the plan for you. With fewer dividends, your money grows via appreciation in share value. Basically, this is a strategy that will help you grow your money over several years. Fundrise states that this plan is the second most popular with its investors, and the average investment is $8,700.

If you’re not sure which one is right for you, Fundrise will help. You can take an easy quiz and answer a few questions before it suggests a plan that fits your investment interests. The quiz is super simple and easy. It’ll ask you how old you are, why you want to invest your money, what you plan to do with that money and if you have any experience investing in real estate. Then, it’ll suggest a plan for you. When we filled out the form, we were told to begin with the “Starter” plan. However, Fundrise didn’t suggest one of the three plans above prior to signing up.

Investing your money is super easy.

Swirled/Hilarey Wojtowicz

Once we signed up, it was super simple to connect a checking account to Fundrise and get started. It also gives you the option to have your quarterly dividends reinvested in your portfolio or paid out into your account.

We started with the minimum $500 in the “Starter” plan and the money was automatically invested in an apartments project in Florida. The projected annual return on this investment is about 10 percent, which means we’d make $50 per year if all goes according to plan. All of this information is available via a user dashboard, which we found intuitive and user-friendly. It really does seem too good to be true, but investing through Fundrise really couldn’t get any easier.

Pro Tip: If you’re really new to investing, Fundrise offers resources like articles and a glossary of investment terms for users. We recommend checking them out.

Overall, we can’t believe how easy it was to start investing with Fundrise. If you’re looking for a simple way to start investing and want to aim for higher annual returns on your money than the stock market or other funds, a real estate portfolio through Fundrise might just be the place for you. So once you’ve got your emergency fund in place, your monthly bills paid and your debt under control, consider investing a portion of your extra funds in Fundrise. All it takes is $500 and a little bit of patience, but your financial situation could really improve over time because of it.

Have you tried Fundrise? Share your thoughts, plus info on any other financial apps or websites that you would recommend, in our LinkedIn Group!

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