Real estate as an asset class is a long-term investment. This includes REITs, whether they’re publicly traded, non-traded or eREITs. The opportunities for capital appreciation, portfolio diversification, and regular distributions are alluring; however, distributions are never guaranteed.
While not the same as investing in real estate directly, REITs are much more passive and allow you to invest in properties outside your geographic location. Fundrise can be a way to diversify into real estate without the massive amounts of capital or management headaches involved when doing it yourself.
While I am a real estate investor, REITs have never appealed to me for several reasons — primarily because of the front-end load and ongoing fees. Fundrise takes the sting out of those investing fees with its 0.85% asset management fee.
And the fact that Fundrise only takes $10 to get started makes it an excellent way for investors to dip their toes into real estate investing.