Overall:
Platform Provided Due Diligence:
Platform Fees:
Quality of Deals:
URL - Realty Mogul
Fees - 1-2% annual management fee
Phone - 310.907.7129
SEC REG - USES 506(b) - Open Investments can NOT be advertised or publicly discussed
Realty Mogul is a real estate crowdfunding platform for accredited investors. It is one of the largest and most active real estate crowdfunding portals. Jilliene Helman founded the company in 2013 and now has over 12,000 active accredited investors that have invested over $36 million dollars in almost 100 properties. Realty Mogul has raised over $10 million in venture capital, making it one of the highest capitalized firms in its niche.
Realty Mogul is the middle man for both equity and debt deals between the sponsors/developers and the registered investors on their platform. The company sets up unique LLC’s for every investment. The standard fee to investors is 2% yearly administration fee. The fee has been reduced to 1% on some deals. All projected IRR and cash on cash returns are net of all fees. Projected IRR’s have ranged from 8% to 20+%. Average term for debt deals is 6-12 months and 3-10 years on equity investments.
Realty Mogul has an in house investment committee that vets and approves all projects that are offered on their site. WealthForge is their broker-dealer partner that provides compliance and regulatory oversight. They utilize regulation 506b for the vast majority of their offering. The 506b regulation does not allow advertising and accreditation is self-certified. In contrast 506c offerings allow general solicitation, but requires the real estate crowdfunding platform to verify accreditation credentials.
When it comes to learning about Realty Mogul, read investors’ reviews too.
In a break from a number of different real estate equity crowdfunding platforms, RealtyMogul allows accredited and non-accredited investors to participate in its investment programs. RealtyMogul says that its not only financed in excess of $2 billion in property value, but it has paid out more than $172 million to its investors. Its registered member base consists of more than 200,000 accounts.
Different types of property are up to invest in and purchase, with many of them being commercial plots, multi-family apartments, industrial areas, and others. There are two public non-traded real estate investment trusts that a nonaccredited investor has access to. However, there are a few more hoops these investors will have to jump through to further qualify, which we’ll expand upon below. Nevertheless, property equity purchase is a great way to make money, especially for any investor who usually doesn’t get a chance to invest their money in a large-scale property purchase like a multi-family dwelling. Meanwhile, accredited investors have private placement investment access as well as any public non-traded REIT.
In the end, RealtyMogul is best for an accredited investor who is looking for private placements, any non-accredited investor who is looking to invest in public, non-traded REITs, and investors with an interest in real estate equity purchase that extends beyond a typical publicly traded REIT. Remember, these are not private REITs that you’re investing in - so read the fine print! In general, account minimums are set at $5,000, redemption options include a no-penalty program with a three-year holding period, and a 1% to 1.25% management fee. As always, additional fees may apply in specific circumstances.
Support for Non-Accredited Investors: Non-accredited investors, who are any individuals that cannot meet either the $1 million net worth or an annual income of $200,000 over the last two years, are often left out of many investment opportunities. However, this isn’t the case with RealtyMogul, as it provides support for non-accredited investors through providing access to two public, non-traded REITs. These are known as MogulREIT I and MogulREIT 2. However, in order to be eligible, these non-accredited investors need to be “qualified” by RealtyMogul, which means that their investment in the company’s common shares can’t represent more than 10% of their net worth or income. An accredited investor, meanwhile, upon their application being reviewed, approved, and verified, does not need to meet any such qualifications before their property investment purchase.
As mentioned above, RealtyMogul has two public, non-traded REITs on offer. In addition, the company offers private placements as well. Many of these investments focus on commercial real estate, office buildings, multi-family residences, and related real estate projects. In regards to its two REITs, they are:
MogulREIT I: an LLC that both invests in and manages a portfolio of commercial real estate investments. This REIT is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but is not traded on any exchanges (hence it’s public but non-traded status). MogulREIT I typically makes investments in commercial real estate-related equity and debt assets across a number of different property types, These include multi-family dwellings, office space, industrial buildings, self-storage facilities, and retail-zoned buildings. This REIT typically pays dividends monthly..
MogulREIT II: also a public, non-traded REIT, MogulREIT II focuses its investment activities on common and preferred equity investments in multi-family apartments. Dividends are typically paid quarterly. The dividends on these multi-family dwellings are historically lower than MogulREIT I but are considered to have better value appreciation by RealtyMogul.
Meanwhile, RealtyMogul’s long term private placements, which are reserved exclusively for its accredited investors, offer different opportunities. These investments include opportunity zone eligible diversified funds and investments. In many cases, such investments are generally exempt from SEC registration and are quite often not required to be subjected to a number of investor protection laws and regulations. Investment in these placements therefore carries higher risk with a commensurate higher potential reward. Always do your due diligence before choosing any investment.
Additional investment process opportunities offered by Realty Mogul include 1031 exchanges, which are exclusively available to an accredited investor only. 1031 exchanges are strategies for deferring capital gains tax payments from property sales. These investments tend to get extremely complicated, so if you do want to pursue a 1031 exchange, make it your business to speak to a certified public accountant beforehand to ensure you’re not exposing yourself to any unwanted tax liability.
Each investment will carry a different minimum investment. However, the lowest minimums on Realty Mogul investment products is at or around $5,000. Be sure to take a good look at the prospectus documents for each investment in order to confirm investment minimums.
When it comes to liquidity, most real estate crowdfunding platforms lock away your investment for a few years at the very least. This is true of RealtyMogul, as public, non-traded REITs are illiquid investment types. However, Realty Mogul distinguishes itself through a buyback program that offers some shareholders the opportunity to sell their investments in MogulREIT I and II back every quarter after at least 12 months from their initial investment. Investors will have no choice to sell your shares at a reduced price in order to avail themselves of this option, however. Additionally, any buybacks are at RealtyMogul’s discretion, and may be limited to capital availability constraints.
When they’re accepted, investments are bought back by RealtyMogul at a specific percentage rate. The figure is dependent on the lesser of two factors: its current net asset value or its purchase price. These percentages fluctuate depending on how long it’s been since you’ve made your investment:
98% for less than two years
99% for between two and years three years
100% three years or more
0% for investments less less than one year
It might not be that nice to receive compensation and lose that 1% or 2% of your purchase monay, this is still some welcome flexibility in the case of emergency situations where an investor needs to access substantial cash in a hurry. That being said, you should only invest money in a RealtyMogul REIT that you can afford to purchase and then lock away for the full liquidation period, whatever it may be (typically 3 years or more).
Realty Mogul shares ambitious return targets for its investment products. However, it’s important to point out that the actual return on any property investment will vary. There are never any guarantees that you’ll earn a return on an investment, or even that you’ll break even after the investment term - you might actually lose equity on a property after fees are taken into account. That being said, RealtyMogul has shared the following targets:
Private placement Investments: These investment opportunities are set up to distribute on either a monthly or a quarterly basis. Annualized returns can range from as low as 0% and as high as 15% per year, depending on the investment type and business plan. If you don’t have a high risk tolerance for property investing, these placements might not be for you.
MogulREIT I Returns: This public, non-traded REIT has historically paid monthly distributions. Annualized return rates have been between 7.7% at the lowest and 8% a t the highest. These are net returns after fees have been taken into account.
MogulREIT II Returns: This REIT, which focuses almost exclusively on multi-family equity property investing pays quarterly, with historic performance equating to an annualized approximate 4.5% from January 2018. Like MogulREIT I, these performance figures are post-fee net gains.
There are individual fees associated with each of RealtyMogul’s asset classes. Specific investing opportunities within each asset class have associated fees as well. This makes it important to review the Offering Circular of each investment before signing on the dotted line to know which fees you’ll be expected to pay. While there is some fluctuation in these fees, a private placement investment is typically around 1%; MogulREIT I and II charge fees of 1% and 1.25% of total property equity value respectively.
RealtyMogul offers standard customer service experience. Not only is there a highly robust FAQ for self-service, the company also offers phone and email support every day during regular business hours.
RealtyMogul had its official launch in 2013, making it one of the newer players in the real estate crowdfunding market. This means that, while its initial reporting has shown positive growth in its investments, it’s still a relative newcomer- its track record as an investment platform is yet to develop more clearly. As a newer platform, there may be some more risk than other, more well-established ones; at the same time, there’s no such thing as a risk-free investment. Either way, it’s always a good idea to take a close look at real estate crowdfunding overall before choosing a platform to invest in, whether it’s RealtyMogul or not. As always, do your due diligence and review all your options before making any final choice.
This RealtyMogul review offers lots of good points to this personal finance crowdfunding platform. RealtyMogul gets our approval for letting a non-accredited investor enjoy many of the same opportunities that accredited ones have without having to maintain a net worth of 1 million excluding the value of their home. It’s true that a nonaccredited investor does have to remain qualified by the platform to avail themselves of real estate investing. However, with investing in real estate products or services as a way to make money is often reserved specifically for people with incredibly deep pockets, RealtyMogul allows investors of all stripes to invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs). With a typically low $5,000 minimum buy in to these long term property deals, it’s also much more accessible than some other equity crowdfunding platforms as well.
Apr 14, 2021
I've done 3 private placement deals there and have been impressed with the seriousness and level of DD performed by RM. The webinars are better and more informative than the other platforms in that you get to meet sponsor management personnel in person, as opposed to just a run-of-the-mill PPT presentation. Investors get to see and hear the people. I don't mind the slow pace of deals coming out at all. I wasn't looking for a deal assembly line anyway.
Aug 26, 2018
Decent platform. Deal flow is fair (currently offering 4 deals in addition to their 2 REITs). Some of the investments they offer are 1031 eligible which are a little harder to find. However, the 1031 eligible deals seem to offer less attractive returns so they didn't seem worth the potential tax advantage. Investment minimums are generally around $25k except for the REITs are $1k. I have a little money in the REIT and it pays 8% annual returns. Payments have been timely, but 8% is less attractive than other investments.
Nov 01, 2017
As a beginner and non-accredited investor Realty Mogul had great customer service - they were willing to hold my hand on calls and speak to the different offerings available, as well as the market in general and what it takes to be an accredited investor. Their 'MogulREIT I' fund just lost 2% NAV due to offering costs, which I think could have been more clearly noted (up to 3% offering costs was mentioned in the offering circular).
Jul 10, 2017
After the launch of their REIT, there have been few private placement deals offered, and I don’t find them as attractive as the ones directed into the REIT. I currently have a position in three deals taken prior to the launch of the REIT. One is performing as expected, one slightly below and one suspended payments fourth quarter 2016.
Jun 05, 2017
Given the firm's emphasis on their REIT offering - I have noted that the quality of new deals has decreased significantly. Though they perform solid vetting and due diligence, I have found that other platforms do a better job on this than they do.
May 03, 2017
I have been investing in RM for 4 years and have had 20 deals that have gone full cycle. Most of my investments were in debt offerings which yielded an average of 7% return which is not great but this site was one of the original REC sites so there was some bumps at the outset.
The model has shifted at RM to a REIT offering and they are not offering too many individual deals.
I think they do a good job at RM but I am not interested in the REIT offering so I am not using the site as much anymore.
Feb 10, 2017
I liked that they reduce the platofrom fee from 2% to 1%. They have a great investor relation guy in Heath Binder. If they had more guys like Heath there, it would be a stronger platform. Deal flow is low of late.
Feb 03, 2017
My 1st 2 crowd RE investments were made via RM and I felt they were responsive to my questions and didn't try to really sell me on any specific deal at the time. Adding their platform fee to the investment raises cost to me but I would still consider investing w/them again if the deal was right.
Jan 30, 2017
I agree Realty Mogul is a good platform for the novice real estate investor. They have a strong investor committee that screen investments. A few suspect deals have slipped through. Until recently they charged a 2% annual fee on typo of the sponsors fees. That was enough incentive to find deals elsewhere. They seem to have lowered that to 1% which is more reasonable. Now that they have gone the eReit route, deal flow has slowed to a trickle.
Jan 30, 2017
I had hoped that RM would provide better than average deals because of their own due diligence process, but I have found that their deals seem no better / worse than what I find elsewhere. Two equity deals I have with them are well below pro-forma. The third is too soon to tell.
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URL - Realty Mogul
Fees - 1-2% annual management fee
Phone - 310.907.7129
SEC REG - USES 506(b) - Open Investments can NOT be advertised or publicly discussed
Realty Mogul is a real estate crowdfunding platform for accredited investors. It is one of the largest and most active real estate crowdfunding portals. Jilliene Helman founded the company in 2013 and now has over 12,000 active accredited investors that have invested over $36 million dollars in almost 100 properties. Realty Mogul has raised over $10 million in venture capital, making it one of the highest capitalized firms in its niche.
Realty Mogul is the middle man for both equity and debt deals between the sponsors/developers and the registered investors on their platform. The company sets up unique LLC’s for every investment. The standard fee to investors is 2% yearly administration fee. The fee has been reduced to 1% on some deals. All projected IRR and cash on cash returns are net of all fees. Projected IRR’s have ranged from 8% to 20+%. Average term for debt deals is 6-12 months and 3-10 years on equity investments.
Realty Mogul has an in house investment committee that vets and approves all projects that are offered on their site. WealthForge is their broker-dealer partner that provides compliance and regulatory oversight. They utilize regulation 506b for the vast majority of their offering. The 506b regulation does not allow advertising and accreditation is self-certified. In contrast 506c offerings allow general solicitation, but requires the real estate crowdfunding platform to verify accreditation credentials.
When it comes to learning about Realty Mogul, read investors’ reviews too.
In a break from a number of different real estate equity crowdfunding platforms, RealtyMogul allows accredited and non-accredited investors to participate in its investment programs. RealtyMogul says that its not only financed in excess of $2 billion in property value, but it has paid out more than $172 million to its investors. Its registered member base consists of more than 200,000 accounts.
Different types of property are up to invest in and purchase, with many of them being commercial plots, multi-family apartments, industrial areas, and others. There are two public non-traded real estate investment trusts that a nonaccredited investor has access to. However, there are a few more hoops these investors will have to jump through to further qualify, which we’ll expand upon below. Nevertheless, property equity purchase is a great way to make money, especially for any investor who usually doesn’t get a chance to invest their money in a large-scale property purchase like a multi-family dwelling. Meanwhile, accredited investors have private placement investment access as well as any public non-traded REIT.
In the end, RealtyMogul is best for an accredited investor who is looking for private placements, any non-accredited investor who is looking to invest in public, non-traded REITs, and investors with an interest in real estate equity purchase that extends beyond a typical publicly traded REIT. Remember, these are not private REITs that you’re investing in - so read the fine print! In general, account minimums are set at $5,000, redemption options include a no-penalty program with a three-year holding period, and a 1% to 1.25% management fee. As always, additional fees may apply in specific circumstances.
Support for Non-Accredited Investors: Non-accredited investors, who are any individuals that cannot meet either the $1 million net worth or an annual income of $200,000 over the last two years, are often left out of many investment opportunities. However, this isn’t the case with RealtyMogul, as it provides support for non-accredited investors through providing access to two public, non-traded REITs. These are known as MogulREIT I and MogulREIT 2. However, in order to be eligible, these non-accredited investors need to be “qualified” by RealtyMogul, which means that their investment in the company’s common shares can’t represent more than 10% of their net worth or income. An accredited investor, meanwhile, upon their application being reviewed, approved, and verified, does not need to meet any such qualifications before their property investment purchase.
As mentioned above, RealtyMogul has two public, non-traded REITs on offer. In addition, the company offers private placements as well. Many of these investments focus on commercial real estate, office buildings, multi-family residences, and related real estate projects. In regards to its two REITs, they are:
MogulREIT I: an LLC that both invests in and manages a portfolio of commercial real estate investments. This REIT is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but is not traded on any exchanges (hence it’s public but non-traded status). MogulREIT I typically makes investments in commercial real estate-related equity and debt assets across a number of different property types, These include multi-family dwellings, office space, industrial buildings, self-storage facilities, and retail-zoned buildings. This REIT typically pays dividends monthly..
MogulREIT II: also a public, non-traded REIT, MogulREIT II focuses its investment activities on common and preferred equity investments in multi-family apartments. Dividends are typically paid quarterly. The dividends on these multi-family dwellings are historically lower than MogulREIT I but are considered to have better value appreciation by RealtyMogul.
Meanwhile, RealtyMogul’s long term private placements, which are reserved exclusively for its accredited investors, offer different opportunities. These investments include opportunity zone eligible diversified funds and investments. In many cases, such investments are generally exempt from SEC registration and are quite often not required to be subjected to a number of investor protection laws and regulations. Investment in these placements therefore carries higher risk with a commensurate higher potential reward. Always do your due diligence before choosing any investment.
Additional investment process opportunities offered by Realty Mogul include 1031 exchanges, which are exclusively available to an accredited investor only. 1031 exchanges are strategies for deferring capital gains tax payments from property sales. These investments tend to get extremely complicated, so if you do want to pursue a 1031 exchange, make it your business to speak to a certified public accountant beforehand to ensure you’re not exposing yourself to any unwanted tax liability.
Each investment will carry a different minimum investment. However, the lowest minimums on Realty Mogul investment products is at or around $5,000. Be sure to take a good look at the prospectus documents for each investment in order to confirm investment minimums.
When it comes to liquidity, most real estate crowdfunding platforms lock away your investment for a few years at the very least. This is true of RealtyMogul, as public, non-traded REITs are illiquid investment types. However, Realty Mogul distinguishes itself through a buyback program that offers some shareholders the opportunity to sell their investments in MogulREIT I and II back every quarter after at least 12 months from their initial investment. Investors will have no choice to sell your shares at a reduced price in order to avail themselves of this option, however. Additionally, any buybacks are at RealtyMogul’s discretion, and may be limited to capital availability constraints.
When they’re accepted, investments are bought back by RealtyMogul at a specific percentage rate. The figure is dependent on the lesser of two factors: its current net asset value or its purchase price. These percentages fluctuate depending on how long it’s been since you’ve made your investment:
98% for less than two years
99% for between two and years three years
100% three years or more
0% for investments less less than one year
It might not be that nice to receive compensation and lose that 1% or 2% of your purchase monay, this is still some welcome flexibility in the case of emergency situations where an investor needs to access substantial cash in a hurry. That being said, you should only invest money in a RealtyMogul REIT that you can afford to purchase and then lock away for the full liquidation period, whatever it may be (typically 3 years or more).
Realty Mogul shares ambitious return targets for its investment products. However, it’s important to point out that the actual return on any property investment will vary. There are never any guarantees that you’ll earn a return on an investment, or even that you’ll break even after the investment term - you might actually lose equity on a property after fees are taken into account. That being said, RealtyMogul has shared the following targets:
Private placement Investments: These investment opportunities are set up to distribute on either a monthly or a quarterly basis. Annualized returns can range from as low as 0% and as high as 15% per year, depending on the investment type and business plan. If you don’t have a high risk tolerance for property investing, these placements might not be for you.
MogulREIT I Returns: This public, non-traded REIT has historically paid monthly distributions. Annualized return rates have been between 7.7% at the lowest and 8% a t the highest. These are net returns after fees have been taken into account.
MogulREIT II Returns: This REIT, which focuses almost exclusively on multi-family equity property investing pays quarterly, with historic performance equating to an annualized approximate 4.5% from January 2018. Like MogulREIT I, these performance figures are post-fee net gains.
There are individual fees associated with each of RealtyMogul’s asset classes. Specific investing opportunities within each asset class have associated fees as well. This makes it important to review the Offering Circular of each investment before signing on the dotted line to know which fees you’ll be expected to pay. While there is some fluctuation in these fees, a private placement investment is typically around 1%; MogulREIT I and II charge fees of 1% and 1.25% of total property equity value respectively.
RealtyMogul offers standard customer service experience. Not only is there a highly robust FAQ for self-service, the company also offers phone and email support every day during regular business hours.
RealtyMogul had its official launch in 2013, making it one of the newer players in the real estate crowdfunding market. This means that, while its initial reporting has shown positive growth in its investments, it’s still a relative newcomer- its track record as an investment platform is yet to develop more clearly. As a newer platform, there may be some more risk than other, more well-established ones; at the same time, there’s no such thing as a risk-free investment. Either way, it’s always a good idea to take a close look at real estate crowdfunding overall before choosing a platform to invest in, whether it’s RealtyMogul or not. As always, do your due diligence and review all your options before making any final choice.
This RealtyMogul review offers lots of good points to this personal finance crowdfunding platform. RealtyMogul gets our approval for letting a non-accredited investor enjoy many of the same opportunities that accredited ones have without having to maintain a net worth of 1 million excluding the value of their home. It’s true that a nonaccredited investor does have to remain qualified by the platform to avail themselves of real estate investing. However, with investing in real estate products or services as a way to make money is often reserved specifically for people with incredibly deep pockets, RealtyMogul allows investors of all stripes to invest in real estate investment trusts (REITs). With a typically low $5,000 minimum buy in to these long term property deals, it’s also much more accessible than some other equity crowdfunding platforms as well.
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