All Forum Posts by: Saul L.

Hello @George Dai

Welcome to BP. There are quite a number of RE crowdfunding investors here- and always good to meet someone else active in the space. I have  been investing since end of 2015- although in fewer platforms than yourself- (Pol, RM, RS, FtF and Acquire. )- On the one hand multiple platforms gives one access to diverse opportunities and there is always something available, but on the other hand the portfolio also begins to become a bit unwieldy to manage.

As an investor with experience in so many different platforms it would be interesting to hear your opinion as to comparing their strengths/weakness, advantages/disadvantages. Which ones would you recommend ? Are any of them clearly ahead of the pack or is it a matter of personal preference.

IMO no point being afraid. Take your share and walk. The sooner you distance yourself the better, and if your name is not on the papers it will be pretty difficult to pin anything that may or may not crop up in the future. 

If he is willing to give you back your share of the investment, and your name is not on any of the paperwork, what's the problem. Take it and walk away.

As an out if state investor, who doesn't know the areas, and isn't on the ground, I highly  reccomend you stay away from Detroit. It's block by block over there and those returns are only on paper and won't materialize.

Read as much as you can- Educate yourself on the basic concepts and there are plenty,- legal, financial, construction, management, land lording etc etc etc.  Suggest getting a formal qualification - college or others. Once you feel confident- Try finding a mentor- offering to work in exchange for learning. 

Find your first good deal- dont let lack of funding discourage you- find the right deal, (maybe a small flip, maybe something else) - show you know what you are doing and you will find investors who will help you. Be prepared to work for free or even lose money on your first deal. You will also make mistakes and thats fine- JK Rowling put it aptly -loosely quoted-  only those that dont ever do anything dont  fail- and in that case they have failed by default.

@Levi Halperin - you have come to the right place if you want to learn about US real estate- although in your position it would probably be a lot easier to get started in the Israeli market at first.

Start working your way through the valuable info over here- a good place to begin would be the podcasts.

You sound really dejected in your posts - Dont be. You are still very young and have plenty of time ahead of you. The fact that you already know what interests you and where you are striving to be -is admirable. Most 18 year olds I know have got everything except that on their minds.  With focus and determination there is no reason why you wont achieve your goals.

(BTW your opening appears to have been erased ?)

Be very wary of Detroit. It's block by block over there and if you don't really ( and I mean really) know the area, don't go near it.

Hi Amanda,

I am an investor with them (amongst others) and pretty happy so far.

There are a fortune of threads on BP regarding crowdfunding and PoL specifically. Do a search.

The disadvantage of HML with such a small amount through a CF site is the minimum amount for each investment of around 5K. (aside from having to be accredited). This means you would be sinking all your capital in one or max two opps- and if you bet on the wrong horse you may lose a large chunk or all of your investment.

You may want to look at Lending Club or Prosper. You can spread 10K over literally hundreds of loans at your desired risk level, with very strong statistical forecasts as to the rate of default. If you build the portfolio correctly you can easily earn over 12-14% after any defaults. The disadvantage may be in the time it will take for you to liquidate when you decide you need access to the cash.

See my comments below. It would appear you have some serious misconceptions regarding the CF space. I would suggest taking a look at @Ian Ippolito's website- Its a great place to get the overall picture.

Originally posted by @George P.:

i'll never participated in a "crowdfunding" thread, but i've always been curious about a few things. so let me ask the "newbie crowdfunding" questions..

1. crowdfunding is basically like buying a mutual fund, correct? 

No. There are fund type opportunities but there are also specific RE investment, in specific properties- debt or equity. All the info should be provided down to the assessors full report for the property, sponsors background , history and credit. - just as you would want to have available for any RE opp you were considering on your own.

2. this "fund" has financial info that's "kinda controlled by SEC, but with so many loopholes that it can be like deciphering Indiana Jones stones, right? You have to study the information and decide for yourself. 

You should always do the DD yourself. That is no different for CF than it is for any REI.

3. how do you get paid? yearly, monthly? 

It varies generally from monthly interest payments for debt, to quarterly or monthly for equity. There are also opps that only pay on exit (not my preference)

4. how do you know they are even investing? they could be spending the money on trips. 

They could theoretically but they wouldn't last long. As I said do your own DD on the platform once and then on each opp that you are considering.

5. who's "they" btw? can u see "them"?

 Definitely - the top tier sites are fully transparent, their teams have an online presence, you can visit their offices and meet with the principals 

6. can you tell them what your money should purchase? 

You have full control in picking and choosing the opps you want to participate in and at what level of exposure. 

sorry for the newbie questions. it seems attractive to get into a "fund" that pays out 11% with no work.... really attractive. but so many questions out there, it's difficult to decide to do it.