Fundrise Review 2024: Pros, Cons and Features to Know
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Our Take
5.0
Reviewed in: Dec. 2024
Period considered: Nov. - Dec. 2024
The bottom line:
on Fundrise's website
AD
Paid non-client promotion
Pros & Cons
Pros
$10 minimum investment.
Open to nonaccredited investors.
Easy-to-use website.
IRA accounts available.
Cons
Highly illiquid investments.
Fees can be difficult to understand.
Compare to Other Advisors
Fees 1% other fees may apply | Fees 0% - 2.5% management fees; other fees apply. | Fees 0.5% - 1.5% other fees apply | Fees 1% to 1.25% management fees; other fees may apply |
Account minimum $10 | Account minimum $10,000 | Account minimum $5,000 | Account minimum $5,000 |
Promotion Advisory fee waiver for 12 months | Promotion None no promotion available at this time | Promotion Earn a special 1% return boost on your first investment | Promotion None no promotion available at this time |
Learn more on Fundrise's website | Learn more on Yieldstreet's website | Learn more on EquityMultiple's website | Learn more on RealtyMogul's website |
AD Paid non-client promotion |
NerdWallet doesn’t invest its money with this provider, but they are our referral partner – so we get paid only if you click through and take a qualifying action (such as open an account with or provide your contact information to the provider). Most importantly, our reviews and ratings are objective and are never impacted by our partnerships. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here’s how we make money.
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Full Review
Fundrise is an online investment company that lets average — read: not wealthy — investors buy into real estate, venture capital and private credit investments.
Fundrise's main products are real estate investment trusts (REITs), which generally invest in income-producing real estate, either through buying and managing buildings or by holding mortgages.
Investors purchase shares of Fundrise's funds by investing in one of its core plans: Supplemental Income, Balanced Investing, Long-Term Growth or Venture Capital. Fundrise determines the mix of REITs and funds in each plan, as well as the underlying properties. In the case of the Venture Capital plan, clients get access to private technology companies.
Fundrise is best for
Investors with a long-term outlook.
Those seeking diversification outside of stocks and bonds.
Investors willing to do their own due diligence.
What the Nerds think 🤓
"The platform is also user-friendly, easy to navigate and scored well in our transparency assessment — we like to see fees, liquidity details, risk and other key insights clearly displayed and Fundrise meets that challenge."
Fundrise at a glance
Reviewed: Dec. 2024
Period considered: Nov. - Dec. 2024
Investor requirements | None. Investments are open to nonaccredited investors. |
Investment minimum | $10 minimum, though higher account and investment minimums may apply depending on the plan. Retirement accounts require a $1,000 minimum investment. |
Redemption options |
|
Fees | Advisory fee: 0.15%. Supplemental Income, Balanced Investing or Long-Term Growth Plans: 0.85% flat management fee. Innovation Fund (Venture Capital Plan): 1.85% flat management fee. |
Investment selection | Investors choose among four investment strategies, which hold a varying assortment of eREITs, eFunds and other funds. |
Website transparency | This is our judgement of how easy it is to find critical information on the Fundrise website, including platform fees, account minimum and redemption options (if offered). |
Investment transparency | This is our judgement of how easy it is to find critical information about investment offerings, including investment fees, risks, risk mitigation efforts, the process for vetting investments and how investment returns are distributed to investors. |
Customer support options | Email and ticket-based support Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm Eastern time. |
Fundrise features you should know
Available to nonaccredited investors: While many online real estate, venture capital and alternative asset platforms are available only to accredited investors — defined in U.S. securities law as having a net worth of more than $1 million, not including the value of a primary residence, or annual income of at least $200,000 for individuals or $300,000 for a couple — many of Fundrise’s products are available to all investors. However, the platform notes that accredited investors may have access to additional investments, and due to regulatory fundraising limits, occasionally nonaccredited investors will be suspended from investing in eREITs to ensure those limits are not exceeded.
Low investment minimums: If you like the idea of getting into private real estate deals but don’t have big money to play with, Fundrise might suit you.
Redemptions: Redemptions can be tricky with real estate and alternative asset platforms, as many investments are illiquid for an extended period of time. However, with Fundrise, the Flagship, Supplemental Income and Innovation Plans impose no early redemption penalty.
For eREIT and eFund shares, Fundrise offers a redemption program that allows investors to sell shares back to Fundrise, but there is a 1% fee if you have not held your shares for at least five years.
Fundrise may suspend or delay redemptions during periods of extreme economic uncertainty. Other companies in this space have similar practices, and it's something worth knowing as you look into investing in real estate.
Investment plan options: Fundrise offers investment plans that provide varying levels of risk and potential returns. The plans automatically allocate your investment over Fundrise's funds (one or several, depending on the plan). There is a quiz to help you identify the plan that is right for you. Though you can change plans at any time, doing so won't change existing investments — it will only apply to new investments, including reinvested dividends. Here's a quick of Fundrise's plans:
Fundrise investment plan | Investment goal |
|---|---|
Supplemental Income Plan | Produce quarterly dividends by investing in projects that earn regular income. |
Long-term Growth Plan | Generate appreciation rather than regular income/dividends by investing in assets that are expected to increase in value over time. |
Balanced Investing Plan | A hybrid of Long-term Growth and Supplemental Income that balances appreciation over time with regular dividends. |
Venture Capital Plan | Generate appreciation over time by investing in high-growth private technology companies before they go on the public markets. |
Non-traded REITs: Fundrise's REITs don’t trade on a public exchange — they’re highly illiquid. That means there's no guarantee there will be buyers for investors who want to sell shares. (Check out this warning from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for more on risks to watch for with non-traded REITs.)
Alternatively, you can invest in publicly traded REITs, which trade on an exchange like a stock. Many top brokers offer a large selection of REITs.
» Prefer a brokerage? See NerdWallet's top picks for online brokers.
Possible additional fees: Fundrise says it saves investors money by creating a relatively direct link between investors and real estate. There’s no broker-dealer acting as a middleman at Fundrise, and that saves on costs. However, with any real estate deal, there are costs that are difficult for investors to see. While Fundrise clearly notes its asset management and advisory fees, Fundrise also notes that its funds reserve the right to charge additional fees, such as development or liquidation fees, for work on specific assets. While these fees may be found in the dense offering circulars, they're not easily accessed on the main site.
Fundrise Pro: Fundrise also offers an additional service called Fundrise Pro, which gives more hands-on investors the ability to customize their portfolio. For example, clients could make direct investments in specific funds, or build custom allocations and set automatic future contributions based on those allocations. Fundrise Pro does come with an additional cost of $10 per month,
» Compare before investing: Best real estate crowdfunding platforms
How to open a Fundrise account
Signing up takes about 10 minutes, if that, assuming you’ve already read the lengthy investor disclosures (and you should). You provide your address, phone number and Social Security number, and then choose whether to fund your account via an ACH transfer (i.e., linking your bank account), by entering your bank information on your own or by using a wire transfer.
Is Fundrise right for you?
There's a lot to like about real estate as a way to diversify your portfolio, and the Fundrise platform is easy to navigate.
But it's also true that crowdfunded real estate platforms such as Fundrise have yet to be tested during a real-estate driven downturn. For example, in the event of a housing crash, Fundrise could be forced to postpone redemptions for some investors. (There are unknowns here, so if you’re risk-averse, know that there’s more than one way to invest in real estate — we outline five methods here.)
We should also note that while the Flagship, Innovation and Income Funds don't carry liquidation penalties, other investments may impose an early redemption fee of 1%. Investors concerned about this might prefer investing through a standard brokerage account, which gives you access to a wide range of investments. (Here's how to open a brokerage account, and what to consider before you do.)
If you already have a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds, and you have time to let your money sit for at least five years, then investing via a platform like Fundrise can be one way to add real estate to your portfolio. Just be sure you're aware of the risks and do your own due diligence.
» Related: Understand different types of real estate investments
How do we review real estate platforms?
NerdWallet’s comprehensive review process evaluates and ranks companies that allow U.S. customers to invest in real estate, primarily through non-traded REITs or private equity. Our aim is to provide an independent assessment of providers to help arm you with information to make sound, informed judgements on which ones will best meet your needs. We adhere to strict guidelines for editorial integrity.
We collect data directly from providers through detailed questionnaires, and conduct first-hand testing and observation through provider demonstrations. The questionnaire answers, combined with demonstrations, interviews of personnel at the providers and our specialists’ hands-on research, fuel our proprietary assessment process that scores each provider’s performance across eight factors. The final output produces star ratings from poor (one star) to excellent (five stars).
For more details about the categories considered when rating brokers and our process, read our full methodology.
See Fundrise advisors fee and account disclosures here. The funds in Fundrise’s standard portfolios pay a 0.85% annual asset management fee. In addition, investors pay a 0.15% annual investment advisory fee. For details on other situational, potential fees that may be borne by the individual funds and eREITs, please see the disclosure in each offering document available at fundrise.com/oc. You can also learn more about Fundrise’s fees here.
on Fundrise's website
