Why and How to Diversify with Real Estate – REITS and Real Estate Crowdfunding
Don’t let the headaches of real estate investing keep you from diversifying your portfolio into one of the best long-term assets.
Despite what you might hear on the 3:00 am infomercials, real estate investing is hard work.
Barbara explained in an earlier post about why she gave up being a landlord decades ago because of the constant headaches.
I can relate. I started buying rental property early in my 20s. I had worked as a commercial real estate agent and wanted in on the cash returns and seemingly endless appreciation that was just getting started in 2002.
I soon realized why real estate investing is far from the passive income strategy many websites make it out to be. Have you ever been called at 5am to light someone’s pilot light on a water heater? I have…many times.
Wondering? Should I Buy Foreclosed Real Estate?
Besides the constant tenant issues, there’s also the cost of managing your own rental properties. Between regularly having to clean up a property to keep the city off my back and literally renting an industrial dumpster every time someone moved out, I wasn’t seeing the cash flow dream real estate is supposed to be.
But that doesn’t mean I’ve sworn off real estate investing. Few assets have created as much legacy wealth as property. It’s a great tax break and a must for reducing the risk in your overall wealth.
I just had to change my strategy.
Contents
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Why You Still Need to Invest in Real Estate
There are three reasons why, despite all the problems, you should still invest in real estate.
First, real estate is a critical source of diversification for your investment portfolio. Diversification is the idea that assets-think broad investment categories like stocks and bonds-react differently to the economy and other events. When stock prices fall through the floor because of slow economic growth, bond prices typically rise and you’re not left worrying whether you’ll ever be able to retire. We must note that rarely, as in 2022, both stock and bond prices do move in tandem.
Real estate values generally keep up with inflation, something that can destroy bond values. Real estate has relatively limited supply and consistent demand, which makes it less volatile than stocks.
Bonus; Pros and Cons of REIT Investing (Real Estate Investment Trusts)
Real estate investing also offers solid returns over the long-run. Property appreciation generally rises just above inflation and provides an immediate cash flow return.
The Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund (VNQ), a REIT that covers the U.S. real estate market has earned an average annual 10-year return of 7.37% (as of SEptember 2022), including reinvested dividends.
Despite a price decline when the real estate bubble burst in 2008, and the 2022 market draw downs, real estate has been a sound long term investment.
Finally, real estate investing offers a tax break you don’t get with many other assets. Direct ownership of real estate allows you to write-off mortgage interest as an expense, lowering the profit you’re required to report for taxes. For another deduction on your taxes, you are allowed to depreciate the value of the property, even though the market value might have increased.
The combination of expenses and depreciation often means that real estate can provide a tax shield for other investment income.
If you’re not up to taking on the ownership and management of rental real estate, there are other ways to capture the income and appreciation potential of this asset class.
How to Invest in Real Estate Without the Hassle
So if direct ownership is out of the question for all but the most committed real estate investors, how can you still get exposure to the asset class?
I like three options for real estate investing, one of which will reduce the hassle of direct ownership while the others may eliminate it completely.
1. Real Estate Investment Club
Start a Real Estate Investment Club of industry experts and investors might not make property investing completely stress-free but it will help you get answers when needed. You can join an existing club or start one by looking for real estate investors in your area. Get together enough investors and other industry experts like contractors, mortgage brokers and lawyers will join and offer their advice. Each member of the club can keep separate investments or pool their money for joint properties.
To get started you might search on Facebook for various real estate investing groups. You can also speak with local realtors to uncover potential real estate investment clubs. This is a great way to get your feet wet in real estate investing – with the support of others.
2. Real Estate Investment Trusts
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a great way to get indirect ownership in real estate. These funds hold hundreds and even thousands of properties along a specific type or geographic theme. The company is professionally managed and avoids paying corporate income taxes if most of the cash flow is paid out to investors. That means you receive high dividend yields and a nearly stress-free way to invest.
Barbara has invested in REITs for many years. They are so much easier to manage than owning real property – just buy and sell on public exchanges. She owns several broadly diversified REITs covering the US and global markets.
Those who want to specialize and niche down can choose REITs from these sectors:
- Office
- Industrial
- Retail
- Lodging
- Residential
- Timberland
- Healthcare
- Self-storage
- Infrastructure
- Data center
- Mortgage
3. Real Estate Crowdfunding
Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms are becoming something of a middle-ground between direct ownership and REIT investing. Developers and investors apply to post their real estate project on one of the websites which verifies property and investment materials. Individual investors can browse the available projects and invest as little as $1,000 in either debt or equity. The developer manages the property and remits cash flow to the website which then deposits it into investor accounts.
Real estate crowdfunding is growing in popularity with options for small investors like Groundfloor (a debt crowdfunding platform for real estate flippers) and Diversyfund (with three investment opportunities).
Another real estate crowdfunding platform, Peer Street offers accredited investors the opportunity to invest in a variety of types or real estate debt. Investing in crowdfunded real estate debt is like serving as the bank, and receiving regular cash flow.
Fundrise offers all investors access to a stable of private real estate deals with as little as $10 to get started.
In fact the number of real estate crowdfunding sites is exploding with the possibility to invest directly in a wide range of various types of real estate. As with any type of investing, it’s wise to review the platform and weigh the potential gains vs losses.
Diversify With Real Estate Wrap up
I still own a couple of residential rentals but am only investing new money in REITs and in crowdfunding projects. There are disadvantages and benefits to each investing method. I still like the pride of ownership and tax breaks I get from direct ownership but love the stress-free returns of REITs. Crowdfunding is a newer opportunity but has its own advantages as well like the ability to diversify across different property types and locations easily.
Real estate crowdfunding takes many forms.
Real estate investing doesn’t have to cause you to lose sleep or stress out. Different options to invest in real estate can give you exposure to an asset class that will diversify your portfolio and provide solid returns without all the hassle of traditional investing. Consult your financial advisor for how real estate investing fits with your wealth plan and consider an accountant to make sure you get all the tax benefits.
Related
- Pros and Cons of REITs
- Should I Buy Foreclosed Real Estate?
- Pros of Being a Landlord
- Are You Cut Out to Buy a Fixer Upper?
- PeerStreet vs Groundfloor
- FarmTogether vs Acretrader – Invest in Farmland
- Fundrise vs REITs – Which Is Best?
By, Joseph Hogue, CFA is an investment analyst and blogger. He runs five websites in personal finance, investing, making money and crowdfunding along with his work as a freelance equity analyst. He is a veteran of the Marine Corps and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
Disclosure: Please note that this article may contain affiliate links which means that – at zero cost to you – I might earn a commission if you sign up or buy through the affiliate link. That said, I never recommend anything I don’t personally believe is valuable.
