CrowdStreet Review 2024: Is it Legit? And What’s the Catch? (2024)

CrowdStreet is one of the biggest names in the online real estate investment space.

With CrowdStreet, you’ll have the option to:

• Earn passive income
• Diversify your portfolio
• Protect yourself against inflation
• Earn annual profits from 7.5% to 19.7%+
• Protect yourself against stock market volatility

But is it safe and legit?

Let’s take a deep dive into this CrowdStreet review and find out if it’s the best investment platform for you.

Bonus: Check out my interview with the CrowdStreet CIO here.

Investment options

Fees

Projected profits

What is CrowdStreet?

CrowdStreet is an online real estate crowdfunding platform for accredited investors. You can generate passive income while diversifying your portfolio in commercial real estate projects across the United States.

How Does CrowdStreet Work?

CrowdStreet uses CRE crowdfunding to help accredited investors diversify their portfolios and hedge against inflation.

CRE Crowdfunding Definition:CRE crowdfunding (aka commercial real estate crowdfunding) allows multiple investors to pool their money together and collectively invest in larger real estate projects than they could on their own.

If you invest in CrowdStreet, then you could invest in the following types of investments:

• Debt – You’re financing a loan and hope to be repaid with your principal (initial investment) plus interest
• Equity – You’re actually buying shares of a real estate project and hope to be repaid with your principal (initial investment) plus any growth from the project
• Preferred Equity – You’re investing in something that’s treated like both a debt and equity investment: You take more risk than debt investors but less risk than equity investors

Your CrowdStreet investment would be considered asset-backed.

Asset-Backed Investments Definition:An asset-backed investment is when your investment is actually backed by something tangible, like a house.

So, if – in the worst-case scenario – your investment deal falls through, you can still recapture a small portion of your original investment because you invested in an asset-backed investment.

If that were the case, then CrowdStreet would likely sell the collateral (like selling a house in foreclosure) to repay you as much as possible.

Pro Tip:Only accredited investors have access to CrowdStreet’s investments.

CrowdStreet Pros and Cons

Let’s take a big-picture look at the CrowdStreet pros and cons:

Overall Rating

Before reading further, check out my ratings in this CrowdStreet review for each of the following 6 categories:

To give a little more detail on the reason for my ratings, take a look at my breakdown below:

• Usability – CrowdStreet’s online platform (desktop version only, no phone app) is extremely user-friendly
• Projected Profits – In the last 50 years, the S&P 500 earned about 9.5% in returns. In comparison, CrowdStreet’s investments can earn up to 19.7%+
• Fees – CrowdStreet does not directly charge investors fees! And most alternative investing platforms charge north of 2% in fees. However, keep a close eye on the fees that Sponsors charge you
• Investment Options – CrowdStreet offers several different investment options – but they typically either sell out fast or only a few are offered at the same time
• Customer Service – My CrowdStreet customer service rep was responsive, well-informed, and did not push me to do anything. In fact, he suggested researching the entire platform before investing in anything – and that’s the same advice I would have given to anyone else
• Liquidity – Personally speaking, I’d prefer to have a more liquid option where I could convert my investments to cash within days instead of 5+ years, as with CrowdStreet

CrowdStreet Features

Let’s take a big picture look at CrowdStreet and their main features:

CrowdStreet Fees & Investments

Let’s take a big picture look at CrowdStreet’s fees and investment options:

Since you (the investor) are not paying fees, you might be wondering how does CrowdStreet make money?

Here’s how:

• Charging sponsor fees to use its platform
• Selling software subscriptions to its sponsors

CrowdStreet does warn, however, that some fees may already be built into the investment deal.

So before you invest, always do your research.

CrowdStreet Returns

CrowdStreet is not only appealing because you’re charged $0 in fees, but they also offer high returns.

On average, CrowdStreet’s annualized internal rate of return (aka IRR) is 17.7%.

Internal Rate of Return Definition:An Internal Rate of Return (aka IRR) is a way to predict the potential future return of an investment. IRR differs from other metrics in that IRR considers the return of your money if it were re-invested today versus if it were reinvested a year from now.

Now keep in mind that your return potential increases with the risk that you take.

CrowdStreet offers 4 main investment deals for you (which I’ll discuss more below):

• Core
• Core Plus
• Value-Add
• Opportunistic

Depending on the investment deal that you choose, you may have a higher return (since you may be taking more risk).

Here’s a better image to describe the difference:

As the screenshot above shows, the more risk you take, the more possible gains (or losses) you could have.

Another factor that can determine how high your returns can be is the length of time for which you hold your investments.

Below is a good illustration of the hold period relative to the returns (IRR) of the investments:

So far, out of 96 realized deals, only 11 yielded negative returns (about 13%).

Now, there have been some total losses, meaning the IRR was -100% on deals including:

• Hayes Court
• Red Lion Hotel in Houston
• Britannia Business Center I
• IntelliStay Courtyard in Tulsa
• Extended Stay Hotel in Baton Rouge
• Extended Stay Hotel in Overland Park

One of the deals that fell through, the Houston Red Lion Hotel, ended in Bankruptcy.

Some reasons why the Red Lion Hotel ended in Chapter 11, include:

• COVID 19
• Severe staffing shortages
• Severe mismanagement of the property
• The passing away of the previous general manager
• Steep decline in oil and gas markets, causing a lower demand for travelers in the area

While not all deals end in Bankruptcy and a -100% IRR, this example illustrates that CrowdStreet certainly does not come without its risks.

Since each investment comes with its own risk, it’s critical that you understand your risk tolerance – and do your thorough research.

CrowdStreet Deals

CrowdStreet sets itself apart from the competition by offering a large variety and high-quality deals.

In fact, CrowdStreet has raised over $3.25 billion across 647 deals – and counting.

These deals are categorized into 4 investment profiles:

1. Core
2. Core-Plus
3. Value-Add
4. Opportunistic

Let’s take a closer look at some of the CrowdStreet deals.

1. Core

The Core Deals are the least risky real estate deals offered on the CrowdStreet platform.

They provide predictable income streams – but less chance of appreciation in the future.

Below are some additional facts and features you may want to know about Core Deals:

2. Core-Plus

Core-Plus Deals are a little riskier (and thus, potentially more lucrative) than Core Deals.

As of mid-2022, 11 Core-Plus deals are fully realized.

Check out some of the deals below:

The great news is that as of mid-2022, not 1 of the Core-Plus deals have lost money.

Below are some additional facts and features you may want to know about Core-Plus Deals:

3. Value-Add

Value-Add deals are high-risk and high-return profile deals.

These properties typically require maintenance and improvements with the expectation that future cash flow will increase significantly.

It should be noted that unlike Core-Plus Deals, which so far had 100% positive returns, the Value-Add Deals are unpredictable and have had several negative returns.

Check out some of the realized Value-Add deals:

4. Opportunistic

Opportunistic Deals target the highest returns and have the highest risk.

As of mid-2022, about 14% of deals have been realized, so there really isn’t a solid track record.

Check out some of the Opportunistic Deals below:

As of mid-2022, only 3 of the 28 realized deals (or 10.7%) resulted in negative returns.

Below are some additional facts and features you may want to know about Value-Add Deals:

The CrowdStreet Vetting Process

You might be wondering how CrowdStreet finds its commercial real estate deals and whether they are actually any good.

The good news is that CrowdStreet really does stay true to one of it’s mission statements:

Uncompromising commitment to quality.

- CrowdStreet Mission Statement

And it’s true, about only 5% of deals make it through to CrowdStreet’s marketplace.

There are 4 steps that take place to list a real estate deal on the CrowdStreet platform:

• Sponsor Approval – Background checks, track record review, and sponsor designation
• Deal Approval – Sponsor Q/A, offering memo, investment committee, and review
• Quality Control – Market data verification, 3rd party report, and verify assumptions
• Document Review – Operating agreement, subscription agreement, and private placement memorandum

CrowdStreet actually further condensed these 4 steps into 3 actionable categories:

1. Evaluating the firm
2. Evaluating the asset
3. Evaluating the deal materials

Continue reading to find out more about CrowdStreet’s vetting process.

Step #1: Evaluating the Firm

The very first step focuses on the sponsor.

Sponsor Definition:A CrowdStreet Sponsor is a company that is bringing a real estate deal to the table in hopes of having investors like you invest.

CrowdStreet’s goal is to ensure that the sponsor has a good track record and a positive history of successfully executing deals similar to the one they are bringing to the marketplace.

Some steps include:

• Background checks
• Track record review
• Sponsor designation

The next step is concerned with evaluating the deal and the asset.

Step #2: Evaluating the Asset

Next, CrowdStreet performs its due diligence, which essentially takes a closer look at the actual deals that are being offered.

In plain English: CrowdStreet makes sure the offering is not fraudulent.

Of the many factors, CrowdStreet reviews a company’s:

• Market
• Experience
• Track record
• Business plan
• Overall strategy
• Management team
• Alignment of interest

Here, CrowdStreet’s goal is to gather as much information as possible for investors if the deal is offered on the CrowdStreet platform.

Step #3: Evaluating the Deal Materials

In this last step of the process, CrowdStreet verifies the sponsor’s assumptions, verifies the market data, and offers an operating agreement to the sponsor.

Some of the items that are reviewed include:

• Zoning report
• Loan documents
• Property condition report
• Property management agreement

This final step scrutinizes the technicalities and the legalese before approving or dismissing an offering.

Where CrowdStreet Invests

As of mid-2022, more than 647 deals have been funded.

These deals are located across 250+ cities in the United States.

As you can see, a majority of the top investment opportunities are located in income tax-free states such as:

• Texas
• Florida
• Nevada
• Wyoming
• Tennessee

A majority of the deals are located in Texas, which CrowdStreet believes is the No. 1 real estate market.

It is CrowdStreet’s belief that Austin, aka “Silicon Hills,” is the up-and-coming market in Texas.

Of the various real estate deal offerings, CrowdStreet mainly invests in:

• Senior housing
• Student housing
• Office properties
• Industrial properties
• Hospitality buildings
• Multi-family housing

As always, make sure you do your thorough research before investing your money.

CrowdStreet Liquidity

Liquidity is a big issue when it comes to alternative investments.

Liquidity Definition:Liquidity refers to the rate at which you can convert an asset into cash. The faster, the better.

While the average lock-up period for CrowdStreet deals typically hovers around 3 to 5 years, there are deals that can take longer.

For example, some CrowdStreet deals (pictured below) could take up to 10 years to liquidate!

Since CrowdStreet does not [yet] have a secondary market (where you could sell your share of the investment for a discount), you’ll have to wait until the end of the hold period.

CrowdStreet investments are not like investing in the stock market, where you can sell your stocks and have your cash within a few days.

CrowdStreet Risk Tolerance Questionnaire

One of the most important documents when investing is the Risk Tolerance Questionnaire.

Risk Tolerance Questionnaire Definition:A risk tolerance questionnaire (aka RTQ) is a set of questions for the client to help the investment advisor understand the client’s investment preferences.

Some examples of such investment preferences include:

• Portfolio size
• Investment time horizon
• Comfort level with taking risk
• Willingness to sustain market volatility

When you first sign-up and create your investment account, you’ll be asked a few questions so that CrowdStreet can help tailor your investment options to your answers.

This RTQ is found when you click on:

• My Account
• Investing Preferences

From there, if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you’ll see the “Investment Objectives” section.

The 3 main questions you’ll have to answer include:

• Your total investment contributions per deal
• How much risk you can take in your portfolio
• Your total investment contributions in the next 12 months

It’s not required for you to complete these questions, but I think they’re a good way for CrowdStreet to help filter out the best possible deals for you.

CrowdStreet Customer Service Review

If you’re looking to invest in new deals, you’ll typically see a pop-up box, so you can schedule a one-on-one call with a CrowdStreet rep to learn more about that investment.

Personally speaking, I thought that was a pretty cool customer service experience.

Why?

Because I, as the potential customer, won’t have to go searching through information about that particular investment.

Instead, I’ll have a CrowdStreet rep talk to me and help explain some of the important details about that investment.

You can schedule a call with your CrowdStreet rep virtually at any time – even on the same day if you wanted.

I am a pretty big fan of that.

Pro Tip:When you schedule a call with one of the CrowdStreet representatives, they’ll call you on your phone.

CrowdStreet Usability & Interface

To be very honest with you, I think CrowdStreet did a good job in designing the user interface.

It’s user-friendly and it does a good job of displaying the most important information in an organized fashion.

One thing I would mention is that the user interface may be a little busy for first time-users – there’s a lot of stuff going on.

The most important tabs are:

• My Account
• Marketplace

The standard or “home” view is the “Marketplace” tab (which you can see in the screenshot above).

You can access “My Account” when you hover over your name, on the top right of the screen:

Here’s what I really like about the CrowdStreet interface:

• It’s easy to invest
• Easy to link your bank account
• You can easily schedule a call with an associate

Always make sure to invest only as much as you are willing to lose.

CrowdStreet Safety Features

Safety is a big concern for CrowdStreet, which takes many measures to protect its clients’ personal information.

I’ve listed 2 steps CrowdStreet takes to secure your data:

1. Two-factor authentication
2. Encrypted personal information

Check it out:

1. Two Factor Authentication

With CrowdStreet, you can establish 2FA (Two Factor Authentication).

You can do so simply by clicking on “My Account” and then “Security.”

If you choose to enable the 2FA, you’ll have to input your phone number.

CrowdStreet will send you a verification code every time that you log in.

2. Encrypted Personal Information

Your personal information is encrypted to industry standards.

Also, not every CrowdStreet employee will have access to your information – only a limited number of personnel will have clearance to view your data.

CrowdStreet Educational Resources

Do you want to start diversifying your portfolio, but want to learn more about alternative investments first?

CrowdStreet understands that every investor is different – that’s why the platform has created a list of educational resources for curious minds.

Is CrowdStreet Right for You?

CrowdStreet might be a good option for you if:

• You’re accredited
• You don’t need liquidity
• You’re looking for diversification
• You want to earn passive income
• You’re comfortable taking some risk
• You’re already contributing to retirement accounts

Alternative investment platforms like CrowdStreet are typically designed for intermediate to advanced investors.

So, if you’re just starting out with investing (like paying off credit card debt, not yet maxing out your 401(k), etc.), CrowdStreet probably would not be a good fit.

If you’re a new investor, consider investing in index funds or at least first build a solid financial foundation.

How to Open an Account with CrowdStreet

First, head to the CrowdStreet website, and click “Create An Account,” in the top, right-hand corner.

Pro Tip:You will not have to upload financial documents, W-2 forms, etc. to prove that you are an accredited investor.

However, you will have to verify your accredited status in 1 of 2 ways:

1. Using the website VerifyInvestor.com through your CrowdStreet Portal
2. Uploading a letter written by a third party (your CPA, attorney, wealth advisor, etc.) to your CrowdStreet account

CrowdStreet even provides you with a letter template in both PDF and Word formats, which look something like this:

After you create your password and submit the information, you’ll be taken to your account Dashboard Straight away!

It literally takes 5 seconds to open your user dashboard.

Let’s check out your user dashboard.

When you first log in to your dashboard, you’ll be asked a series of questions that are like your Risk Tolerance Questionnaire (check out the RTQ section of this post to learn more).

Once you finish answering these 4 questions, you can then select whether you want an automated tour of the CrowdStreet platform.

Once you’ve had some time to adapt to the CrowdStreet platform, it’s time to complete some additional steps before investing.

You’ll want to click on “My Account” under the section that says “Hi [Your Name].”

In my case, you’ll see that I still need to verify my:

• Address
• Date of birth
• Social Security Number

Once you’ve verified your information, the next step that you’ll want to complete is likely setting up your investment accounts.

Here, you have many options to choose from, such as:

• IRA
• Trust
• Partnership
• Corporation
• Joint account
• Sole Proprietor
• Individual account
• Multi-Member LLC
• Single-Member LLC
• Retirement 401k Plan

And as with any account application, you’ll have to complete more information to set up the investment account.

Pro Tip:There’s a cool tool under the “My Account” tab, that’s called “Investing Preferences,” where you can filter out your favorite investment deals.

The CrowdStreet Marketplace

Assuming that you’re all set up, it’s time to check out the deals.

You can do so by clicking on the “Marketplace” tab at the top of your dashboard and scrolling through the deal offerings.

On the Marketplace tab, you can sort your search by many factors, such as:

• Closing Soon
• Recently Posted
• Recently Updated
• Minimum Investment (Low to High)

The minimum investments are $25,000 and can range up to $250,000 (check it out below):

Deal Offering Walkthrough

If you’re more of a “typical” accredited investor and want to check out the $25,000 minimums for now, then check out my walkthrough of a deal offering:

Since Miami is practically in my backyard, I figured I would show you a walkthrough of the Art88 Miami Apartment deal offering.

If you want to learn a little more about the potential investment opportunity, you can check out a recorded webinar, which is posted at the top of the deal page:

The webinars typically run for 50 to 60 minutes and address high level questions about the investment properties.

Next, you’ll want to take a look at some of the basic data that’s listed to the right of the screen:

In this data table, you’ll want to make sure to review several key pieces of information including:

• SD-IRA Investments – Can your investments be held in a tax-deferred vehicle (like a self-directed IRA)?
• Targeted Equity Multiple – How much in cash distributions should you expect to make?
• Targeted Investment Period – For how long should you expect to keep your money locked up?

These are all serious questions you need to start asking yourself if you’re planning to invest with CrowdStreet.

If you keep scrolling through, you’ll see the table contents.

I’d probably take a closer look at both the Investment section and the Business Plan details.

If you’re looking for just a simple (and easy-to-read) overview from the CrowdStreet analysts themselves, then you may just want to click on the “CS Snapshot Review” section.

Below is a screenshot of how this section could look:

Another neat thing about the Offering Summary section is the Hypothetical $100k investment section.

CrowdStreet helps model out your projected cash flow and targeted returns over the years of the investment deal.

In other words, the goal for this particular investment property would be to help investors earn a 17% (or more) IRR.

Of course, one of the most important sections is also the “Fee” tab.

This is the section that details the financial data – and my first stop is always the fees tab, because I want to know how much I’m paying the sponsor.

So while CrowdStreet does not directly charge you any fees for using the platform, you’ll likely pay fees to the Sponsor with whom you’re investing.

Speaking of the Sponsor, let’s take a closer look at the Sponsor for this particular Miami investment property:

While it’s important to understand the financial aspect of each investment property, it’s also critical to understand the broader aspects such as:

• Leadership structure
• Historical track record
• How the Sponsor is viewed in the media

As an investor, it would be good to understand the type of property that you’re investing in.

For example, you may want to know the details of the floor plans.

Of course, it would also help to understand the comparables to similar properties in the area.

For this Miami investment property, you can view how rent compares – and the potential opportunity to increase rents in the future (which would mean more cash flow for investors like you).

If you’re interested in investing in a property, just make sure that you do so before the closing date.

Once a property has closed its doors to investor funding, you will not be able to access the investment details:

As you can see in this image, the Miami investment property closed its doors to the public.

Always make sure to do your research first before investing.

How to Fund Your Investment

This is where CrowdStreet differs from other platforms:

CrowdStreet cannot actually take funds from your accounts and send them to your investment Sponsor.

Investment Sponsor Definition:The real estate investment firm handling your future investment. This firm is separate from CrowdStreet.

Instead, you will have to work with your bank directly to move funds from your account and invest with your Sponsor.

Typically, you’ll have to follow a 4-Step process to fund your investment:

1. Make an offer
2. Link your investment account to your offer
3. Submit any necessary documentation
4. Select a funding method to start investing

This process can be better described by the image below:

Make sure to click the “Confirm Funds Sent” button, which is at the bottom, right of the screen.

This will notify your Sponsor to expect your funding.

Benefits of Real Estate Crowdfunding

Thanks to modern technology, real estate crowdfunding platforms like CrowdStreet can connect Sponsors with a much wider range of people.

Here are some real estate crowdfunding benefits:

• Convenience – Invest online, in real-time, right from the comfort of your home
• Geographic Diversification – Access real estate deals across the country and tailor your search based on your preferences
• Direct Investment Opportunities – By investing, you can now directly buy into the action of the real estate project (versus indirectly investing through REITs, ETFs, or mutual funds)
• Transparency – All the information about a property is directly at your fingertips. You can compare and contrast each project’s fees, projected cash flow, etc. to best determine which investment opportunity suits you
• Lower Minimum Investment Thresholds – Thanks to real estate crowdfunding, minimum investment requirements have come down from several $100,000 or even several $1 million
• Portfolio Diversification – Thanks to the reduced minimum investment requirements, a $100,000 (for example) investment can now be used across 4 properties ($25,000 each), while before crowdfunding, $100,000 may not even have been enough to invest in 1 property
• Passive Income Generation – investing in real estate can also help you generate income (through rents) and you can also earn a potential profit through capital appreciation (selling the property for a profit)

As you can see, there are many benefits to investing in real estate crowdfunding – but there are also many cons – like lack of liquidity (check out the pros and cons section for more info).

I can never stress enough that you need to do your research before investing.

Taxes & CrowdStreet

A majority of the CrowdStreet deals are found in states with no income taxes, such as:

• Texas
• Florida
• Nevada
• Tennessee

Unless you hold your investments in a tax-deferred account (like an IRA), then taxes may become a real issue for you.

For example, you’ll have to pay taxes on:

• Passive income
• Profits from the sale of properties

Keep in mind that CrowdStreet will send you your tax documents, and you have the choice to either receive them via email or via mail.

Pro Tip:To minimize any potential tax issues in taxable investment accounts, consider looking for real estate properties located in income tax free states.

That way, you can avoid any potential state tax issues.

Of course, always make sure to loop your CPA into the picture as well.

Exclusive Interview with the CrowdStreet CIO

I have something that no other CrowdStreet review has done before: An exclusive interview with CrowdStreet’s Chief Investment Officer Ian Formigle.

Check out our conversation below:

Q: What is Your CrowdStreet Story?

A: It all started back in 2011 when co-founder Darren Powderly first had the idea of CrowdStreet on the heels of the GFC (Global Financial Crisis of 2008).

Darren was looking for a way to infuse capital into the real estate world.

In other words, how can real estate be more broadly held?

Then, with the JOBS Act and Title II going live in the Fall of 2013, crowdfunding for real estate became a possibility.

This is where the private real estate “country club” investment model is disseminated to the public.

So, CrowdStreet incorporated and set out to build a platform for the public since you can do large commercial real estate transactions on platforms like CrowdStreet.

In April 2014, CrowdStreet’s marketplace was launched.

And that’s when I got to know Darren in 2014. It made abundant sense to join CrowdStreet.

Since then, we have done over 650 deals and I serve as the key decision-maker on those deals.

At the end of May 2022, we hold just under $3.3 Billion of invested equity, 649 deals have closed, and we have worked with 305 different companies.

The total value of all real estate deals is worth about $25 Billion.

Our aim is to continue to bring private real estate to individuals.

Q: Who is Your Typical CrowdStreet Investor?

A: The average investor on the CrowdStreet platform has invested about $50,000.

And, at the end of May 2022, about 68% of investors have invested in more than 1 real estate deal.

We see that the average repeat investor has about 6.7 investments on our platform, and the average portfolio is about $350,000.

Since April of 2014, we have worked to provide exclusive access to real estate deals to individual investors across the country.

With our transparency and the fact that the information is all online, investors can make an informed decision and invest in hours.

The fact that we provide easy access to formerly exclusive real estate deals has resonated well with investors.

Investors also appreciate the communication, reporting, tax documents, and updates from the real estate sponsor.

Q: What does the future of CrowdStreet look like?

A: We are continuing our efforts to invest in growing the platform.

We had a major expansion in 2018 with the RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) platform, also known as CrowdStreet Advisor.

CrowdStreet Advisor privately manages accounts for individuals who want to invest on the marketplace.

So, investors are assigned an advisor to help them build their portfolio and receive continued recommendations and advice from that advisor.

We’ve also recently introduced funds on the CrowdStreet platform.

Funds may be a better fit for clients who do not want to take the investment decision into their own hands and rather have a committee select which investments are to be held in each fund.

These funds gravitate around multi-family, and industrial development deals.

We generally hold between 6 to 10 assets that fit the fund investment mandate to diversify the fund itself.

So, as of now, we have 3 ways to invest with CrowdStreet:

1. You invest in hands-off funds
2. You pick and choose the individual funds you want to hold in your portfolio
3. You join the CrowdStreet Advisor side and become a private client

Overall, we started where we could, we learned and grew, and the ultimate goal is to continue to broaden access (to real estate deals) over time.

Q: What is your advice to new CrowdStreet investors?

A: After opening an account, begin educating yourself.

There are 2 primary ways to do so:

First, sign up for webinars and attend deal webinars and just listen to the sponsors.

You will start educating yourself quickly on what these projects or groups look like and what they are trying to achieve.

After listening to these webinars, you’ll start hearing patterns.

Second, CrowdStreet has tons of content on the website. So, start reading the content and click on things that are interesting.

Plus, our investor relations team is happy to have conversations with you.

Deals are launching every week and the first thing that investors fall pretty to is the shiny and attractive deals. Just make sure you take your time to understand whether it’s the right deal.

Learn, show up, take time to educate yourself, get oriented, understand what resonates with you (for example, an individual deal versus a fund), and be patient.

Then, you can make a decision so you are ready for success.

Is CrowdStreet Worth It?

Not many people can say they invest in exclusive commercial real estate deals.

CrowdStreet is a game-changer.

Now, accredited investors can invest directly in real estate properties without going through an expensive hedge fund or property managers.

Here’s how you can get started:

1. Sign-up to CrowdStreet
2. Verify you are an accredited investor
3. Select your real estate deals and start investing

If you decide to invest with CrowdStreet, then it’s important that you only invest as much as you are comfortable losing.

CrowdStreet Alternatives

If you don’t qualify as an accredited investor, or if CrowdStreet isn’t the right real estate platform for you, then check out Fundrise 👇

Worried that investing in commercial real estate is not the right next step for you?

Here are other, more specialized and potentially lucrative alternative investments:

• Fine art
• Fine wine
• Farmland
• Rental homes
• Cryptocurrency
• Small businesses
• Alternative assets
• Private real estate
• Stock market analysis tool
• Your child’s financial education

Just remember to always do your research – no matter the investment type – before you commit financially.

CrowdStreet Review: The Bottom Line

If you:

• Want to diversify your portfolio
• Don’t mind locking up your money
• Don’t mind taking a little more risk
• Have extra cash sitting on the sidelines

…Then check out CrowdStreet.

As long as you’re an accredited investor, you can expect minimum investments to start at $25,000.

Pro Tip:One of the best rules of thumb is to invest up to 10% of your net worth in higher-risk, alternative investments.

Just remember that many non-traditional investments come with unique risks not normally known to “just” S&P 500 investors (for example).

Some unique risks you may encounter include:

• Illiquidity
• Market risk
• Default risk
• Minimal to no regulation

With that said, CrowdStreet’s potential returns range up to 20% or more, with average returns at 18.3%.

Caution:Never invest more than you are willing to lose - and thoroughly do your research before investing money.

Now I’d like to hear from you:

What are your thoughts on CrowdStreet?

Would you consider investing with this platform?

Let me know in the comments section below.