Real estate crowdfunding lets you buy a slice of rental homes, apartment buildings, farmland, or real estate loans online, often starting at $10 to $100. Fundrise, Arrived, and Groundfloor are open to any U.S. investor, while platforms like EquityMultiple, FarmTogether, and AcreTrader are limited to accredited investors. Here’s how they compare, and which platforms froze investor money in 2025 and 2026.
This list has been part of how we think about becoming a real estate investor with $10,000 or less since 2016. A lot changed in that time. Several platforms we once recommended have closed, frozen redemptions, or stopped serving individual investors, so this update rebuilds the list around who can actually invest today.
What Is Real Estate Crowdfunding?
Real estate crowdfunding is when individual investors pool money online to fund a real estate project or buy shares of a property or real estate fund. The platform finds the deals, handles the paperwork, and pays you your share of rent, interest, or sale proceeds. It works like other forms of crowdfunded investing, but the asset is real estate.
The JOBS Act of 2012 opened the door, and the SEC’s expanded Regulation A rules, adopted on March 25, 2015, let platforms sell shares to non-accredited investors. That’s why you can now buy into a portfolio of rental homes for less than the cost of a share of most real estate stocks and REITs.
What you give up is liquidity. Most crowdfunded real estate can’t be sold on a stock exchange, so your money is tied up until the platform buys your shares back or the property sells. Treat it as one piece of a broader set of alternative investments, not a replacement for index funds.
Who Can Invest: Accredited Vs. Non-Accredited
Anyone 18 or older in the U.S. can invest on a Regulation A platform like Fundrise or Arrived. Private deals sold under other exemptions are limited to accredited investors. The SEC defines an accredited investor as someone with a net worth over $1 million excluding their primary residence, or income over $200,000 ($300,000 with a spouse or partner) in each of the past two years. Holding a Series 7, 65, or 82 license also qualifies. Our accredited investor explainer covers how platforms verify it.
Non-accredited investors do face a cap. In a Tier 2 Regulation A offering that isn’t listed on an exchange, a non-accredited investor can put in no more than 10% of the greater of their annual income or net worth. Someone earning $60,000 with a $40,000 net worth could invest up to $6,000 in that offering. That limit is a useful guardrail for anyone starting to invest in real estate with $500 or so.
How Does It Work?
Every platform falls into one of two models: you own a share of the property (equity) or you lend money secured by it (debt). With equity, you earn rent and any gain when the property sells, and you share in any loss. With debt, you earn interest, and your return depends on the borrower repaying. A real estate investment trust (REIT) or fund can hold either.
Most platforms take fees from the investment before paying you, so you won’t see a bill. Fundrise charges about 1% a year on its standard plans, and EquityMultiple runs 0.5% to 1.5% plus deal-level fees, according to NerdWallet. Those costs compound the same way investment fees eat into any portfolio, so compare them before chasing a projected return.
Related:
How Investment Fees Can Hurt Your Investments (Significantly)
How Do You Make Money?
You make money in real estate crowdfunding the same two ways you do with any real estate investment:
- Appreciation, when the property or fund is worth more at sale than at purchase.
- Income, from rent or loan interest, paid out as distributions.
Neither is guaranteed. Projected returns on a deal page are the sponsor’s estimate, not a promise, and the 2025 and 2026 freezes covered below show that distributions can be cut and redemptions can stop. Only invest money you won’t need for at least five years, and read the offering circular before you commit. Our list of passive income ideas shows where real estate fits next to lower-maintenance options.
You can also hold some of these platforms in a retirement account. Fundrise offers IRAs, and accredited investors can use a self-directed IRA for private deals. Taxes depend on the structure: REIT shares and partnership-style deals report income differently, and some private deals send a Schedule K-1 that can arrive after the regular filing deadline.
Best Companies In Real Estate Crowdfunding
The platforms below are open to new investors as of October 2026. The first three take non-accredited investors. The last three are for accredited investors only. We left off platforms that have frozen redemptions or stopped taking new money (see the next section). For a wider list, see our Fundrise alternatives.
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Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms Compared, October 2026
| Platform | Minimum | Non-Accredited? | Annual Fees | Getting Money Out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fundrise | $10 | Yes | About 1% (0.15% advisory + 0.85% management) | Quarterly redemptions, can be limited or suspended |
| Arrived | $100 | Yes | 0.15% per quarter on single-family homes, plus a sourcing fee | Hold until the home sells, or sell to other Arrived investors |
| Groundfloor | $10 | Yes | No upfront fee, 1% on Flywheel portfolio distributions | Paid back as loans are repaid |
| EquityMultiple | $5,000 | No | 0.5% to 1.5%, plus deal-level fees | Private deals often hold 5 to 7 years |
| FarmTogether | $15,000 per farm, $50,000 for the fund | No | Varies by offering | Fund: 2-year lock-up, then quarterly |
| AcreTrader | $15,000 per farm | No | Varies by offering | Hold until the farm sells |
| RealtyMogul | Closed to new REIT money | Paused | — | Share repurchases suspended April 21, 2026 |
Source: Company websites and SEC filings, NerdWallet. The College Investor.
Fundrise
Fundrise is the easiest starting point for non-accredited investors. The minimum is $10, and standard plans cost about 1% a year: a 0.15% advisory fee plus a 0.85% management fee, according to NerdWallet’s review. You pick a plan (supplemental income, balanced, or long-term growth) and Fundrise spreads your money across its funds.
Fundrise offers quarterly liquidity. The Flagship and Income funds don’t charge an early redemption penalty, but Fundrise can limit or suspend redemptions in extreme market conditions. Check out our Fundrise review for returns and the plan details.
The College Investor is a non-client promoter of Fundrise. The College Investor receives compensation if you open an account at Fundrise after clicking through a link on this page.The College Investor is a non-client promoter of Fundrise. The College Investor receives compensation if you open an account at Fundrise after clicking through a link on this page.
Arrived
Arrived lets you buy shares of individual single-family rentals and vacation rentals, or invest through its Single Family Residential Fund and Real Estate Income Fund, starting at $100. You don’t need to be accredited, but you do need to be a U.S. citizen or green card holder living in one of the 50 states.
Arrived charges an asset management fee of 0.15% of the purchase price per quarter on single-family homes and 0.25% of net assets per quarter on its residential fund, plus a one-time sourcing fee built into the offering price. You can hold until the home sells or sell your shares to other Arrived investors. Read our full Arrived review for how individual homes have performed.
EquityMultiple
EquityMultiple offers commercial real estate deals in preferred equity, debt, and common equity, plus funds and its short-term Alpine Notes. It’s only open to accredited investors, and investments start at $5,000.
Fees run 0.5% to 1.5% a year plus deal-level costs, according to NerdWallet. EquityMultiple says private placements typically require holding periods of at least five to seven years, so this is money you lock away. Read our full EquityMultiple review.
Groundfloor
Groundfloor is a debt platform. You lend money to real estate investors who buy and renovate properties, and you earn interest when the loan is repaid. It accepts accredited and non-accredited investors, with a $10 minimum per investment and $100 for some portfolios.
Groundfloor doesn’t charge upfront investing fees. Its Flywheel portfolio takes a 1.0% management fee out of distributions. The risk is borrower default, so spread small amounts across many loans. Our Groundfloor review covers how defaults have been handled.
FarmTogether
FarmTogether sells fractional ownership of U.S. farmland to accredited investors. Individual farm offerings start at $15,000, and you become a limited partner in the farm. Its Sustainable Farmland Fund starts at $50,000 with a two-year lock-up and quarterly liquidity after that.
Farmland earns rent from farm operators plus land appreciation. It moves slowly and doesn’t track the stock market closely, which is the appeal for diversification. Read our FarmTogether review and our explainer on how to invest in farmland.
AcreTrader
AcreTrader is another farmland platform for accredited investors. Its current farm listings start at $15,000, and it also offers a farmland fund with a $150,000 minimum. You earn a share of rent and any gain when the farm sells.
AcreTrader has also offered timberland and farm debt financing tools. Expect to hold an investment for years. Read our full AcreTrader review.
Platforms That Froze, Closed, Or Changed
Several platforms that used to top lists like this one stopped taking new money or stopped letting investors out between 2023 and 2026. We moved them here so you know what happened, and so you don’t sign up for something you can’t use. If you already own shares in one, our RealtyMogul review walks through what existing investors can do.
RealtyMogul
RealtyMogul’s two REITs stopped accepting new investments on July 11, 2025, when its broker-dealer withdrew its registration, according to the Income REIT’s September 2026 filing.
The board then suspended the share repurchase program as of April 21, 2026, according to RealtyMogul’s FAQ, so current shareholders can’t sell back. The Income REIT’s net asset value was $6.79 per share as of June 30, 2026. Read our RealtyMogul review for the full timeline.
Roofstock
Roofstock started as a marketplace for buying whole single-family rentals that already had tenants. Its RoofstockOne fund, which we used to recommend, stopped taking new money in August 2023 and wound down after that, according to The Real Estate Crowdfunding Review.
Roofstock merged with property manager Mynd in May 2024, and its homepage now leads with acquisitions, property management, and asset management services. It’s no longer a crowdfunding option, but it can still be a tool if you want to buy a whole rental. Check out our Roofstock review for the details.
Streitwise And Willow Wealth
Streitwise suspended its offering on June 25, 2026, and its redemption plan on July 1, 2026, according to its semiannual SEC report. See our Streitwise review.
Yieldstreet, which offered real estate and other private deals, rebranded as Willow Wealth in October 2025 after around $208 million in investor losses, according to Crowdfund Insider. Our Willow Wealth review has more.
How To Check A Platform Before You Invest
Most real estate crowdfunding offerings that take non-accredited money file reports with the SEC, and those filings tell you more than the marketing page. Before you invest, look up the offering on SEC EDGAR and read the latest semiannual report (Form 1-SA) and any current reports (Form 1-U). That’s where RealtyMogul and Streitwise disclosed their freezes, months before most reviews caught up. Then compare what you find with our crowdfunding platform reviews.
Check four things:
- Redemption terms. How often can you sell back, at what discount, and can the platform suspend redemptions? Almost all can.
- Whether the offering is still open. A paused offering means less new money to pay out redemptions.
- Distribution history. A falling payout rate is an early warning.
- Sponsor track record on private deals. Read our CrowdStreet review for why the sponsor matters as much as the platform.
Fractional ownership has trade-offs of its own, and we break them down in the pros and cons of fractional real estate investing.
Final Thoughts
Real estate crowdfunding is the cheapest way to get into real estate without buying a property, and you no longer need to be accredited to do it. Fundrise and Arrived are the simplest starting points for most readers. Groundfloor fits if you’d rather lend than own. Accredited investors who want individual deals can look at EquityMultiple, FarmTogether, and AcreTrader.
The trade-off is liquidity, and 2026 made that concrete. Invest money you won’t need for five years or more, keep it to a slice of your portfolio, and read the SEC filings before you commit. Smaller platforms like Ark7 and Concreit exist too, so use the same checklist on them.
Have you had a good experience with any of these real estate crowdfunding sites?
Real Estate Crowdfunding FAQs
Can Non-Accredited Investors Use Real Estate Crowdfunding?
Yes. Fundrise ($10 minimum), Arrived ($100), and Groundfloor ($10) all accept non-accredited investors. Private deal platforms like EquityMultiple, FarmTogether, and AcreTrader are limited to accredited investors.
What Is The Minimum To Invest In Real Estate Crowdfunding?
Minimums range from $10 at Fundrise and Groundfloor to $100 at Arrived, $5,000 at EquityMultiple, and $15,000 per farm at FarmTogether and AcreTrader. Our real estate investing ideas for $500 covers the low-dollar options.
Can I Get My Money Out Of Real Estate Crowdfunding?
Sometimes, on the platform’s schedule. Fundrise offers quarterly redemptions, Arrived lets you sell to other investors, and private deals often lock money up for five to seven years. Any platform can suspend redemptions, as RealtyMogul did on April 21, 2026.
Can I Invest In U.S. Real Estate Crowdfunding From Canada?
Usually not. Arrived, for example, is open only to U.S. citizens or green card holders who live in the 50 states. Check each platform’s eligibility page, and see our alternative investment ideas for options that may be easier to access.
Is Real Estate Crowdfunding Safe?
It’s riskier than a publicly traded REIT fund because you can’t sell whenever you want and platforms can fail or freeze. Several did between 2023 and 2026, including RealtyMogul and Streitwise. Keep it to a small share of your portfolio and compare it with real estate investing alternatives before committing.
Why Isn’t (Platform) On This List?
We only list platforms open to new investors with current, verifiable terms. Platforms that froze or closed are covered in the section above, and others with smaller track records are in our Fundrise alternatives roundup.
Have you had a good experience with any of these real estate crowdfunding sites?
Editor: Robert Farrington
Reviewed by: Claire Tak
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