by Joe Firmin 4-Minute Read
As a new investor, it’s common sense to believe there exists a wide range of experience levels in the real estate investment world. But when you start digging into potential investment opportunities and realize that sometimes only accredited investors are allowed into certain deals, it feels like a total slap in the face.
That slap starts to sting when you learn that there’s no online class or certification you can take to become “one of them.”
So, what then? Go back to watching another HGTV episode? No!
Shout-out to All the Non-accredited Investors
If you’re not an accredited investor, and you’re reading this right now, you’re already ahead
Most newbie investors start out just googling terms like “multiple streams of income,” “passive income” and “financial freedom,” being completely unaware of accreditation and other complicated nuances that some investments require. Beyond that, most people are just dreaming of “one day” when they reach a milestone like a promotion or a raise because they believe that milestone will allow them to invest. So consider yourself ahead of the curve. Fist bump - #respect...
Investing in Real Estate When You’re Not Yet An Accredited Investor
As all the angels in the bible say… “Be not afraid!” - Take this article as encouragement, because it stinks finding out that some real estate opportunities are not available to you… But, there exists an alternate bevy (such a great word) of diverse opportunities that even non-accredited investors can dive into! So let’s see ‘em!
Below, you’ll find 8 ways ANYONE can invest in real estate.
- House hacking
- Buy and hold rentals
- Fix-and-flips
- BRRRR Strategy
- Private Lending
- Joint Venture Partnerships
- Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms
- Private Real Estate Syndications
None of these require you to be an accredited investor AND you can still build passive income.
House Hacking
House hacking is one way many people “accidentally” become landlords. They might find a place with an upstairs and downstairs unit, for example, and quickly decide to rent out one portion of the home. (Think duplex, live in one side, rent the other.)
That rental income helps pay for the mortgage on the property as a whole and boom!
This is a great option for real estate in a steeper priced area, it is open to non-accredited investors, requires a moderate level of work, and is a long-term investment with low risk.
Buy and Hold Rental Properties
Most people are familiar with how having a rental property works. You buy a home and rent it out… duh.
The greatest perk to these types of investments is that you’re in charge. You can choose to manage it all yourself or hire a property management firm, you can choose when to buy and when to sell, and you get to decide on renovations. The alternate to this power though, is the responsibility. Everything rests on your shoulders and when things go wrong that’s on you too.
Rental properties are definitely open to non-accredited investors, require a moderate level of work, and are long-term investments with a low-to-moderate risk. The key is to treat it like a business though.
Fix-and-Flips
No, turn off HGTV… You can do this. If you really like detailed, hands-on investments, then this is the one for you. This is a short-term purchase where you repair and remodel the property and “flip” it (ideally for a profit).
The downside is that it might take substantial capital to get started, especially if you’re in an expensive area. The cost to purchase the property, plus the value to fund the rehab, plus the money to cover the mortgage payment until the property sells should all be set aside prior to making the deal.
You also face immediate market volatility and may have to hold the property longer than expected or sell for less than expected, which would cut into your potential profit.
Fix-and-flips require high-touch hands-on presence and carry a higher risk than some other options presented in this article. They are highly rewarding if you have the right system in place and love seeing the fruits of your labor.
BRRRR Strategy
The BRRRR strategy is a combination of the buy-and-hold and the fix-and-flip options. It stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. Click that link to buy the great book that outlines step-by-step the whole process…
The first half of the strategy looks just like a fix-and-flip. You buy a property cheaply that needs work or is really distressed and give it face-lift.
The second half of the strategy looks much more like a buy-and-hold. Once renovations are complete, you find residents. Once rented, you do a cash-out refinance and repeat the process with another property. Recycling your cash. Rinse and repeat…
Assuming after renovations were complete, the property’s value increased substantially, you may be able to pull out all your original capital when you do the cash-out refinance. The BRRRR strategy is extremely powerful, open to non-accredited investors, requires a high level of work, and is a long-term investment option with moderate-to-high risk. This was my first excursion into real estate investing.
Private Lending – Be the Money
One side of real estate investing that can easily be overlooked is investing in debt. This is where you loan someone money to, say, complete a fix-and-flip. You don’t have to be hands-on in the home purchase, renovations, or home selling process, nor do you have to be an accredited investor.
Most beginner investors are still working full time. Combine that lack of time (but a surplus of money) with a cash-strapped dynamo ready to do all the work and has the experience, and you have a deal.
As an example, you could loan the go-getter the fix-and-flip money for 12 months at 10% interest. They turn the house around within the 12-month period, and you earn 10% on the loan. Your risk is relatively low because it’s backed by the property (be sure to have a lien), your workload is low, and you don’t have to be accredited for these short-term investments. Just get an attorney to help draft your documents.
Joint Venture Partnerships
If single-family homes sound B-O-R-I-N-G, multifamily or other commercial real estate might be up your alley. If you also have the capital plus some skills to contribute, you might be a great potential joint venture partner.
A JV partnership is where a small group invests together and the property renovations and management tasks are split up between them. Each person has an active role with no passive investors.
This type of opportunity is open to non-accredited investors, has a high level of work, a moderate level of risk, and a flexible timeline depending on the project.
Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms
Real estate crowdfunding platforms are much like Kickstarter, but for real estate. These platforms contain opportunities for a variety of projects from fix-and-flips to large-scale value-add multifamily projects. One such platform is Groundfloor.
You invest capital in exchange for portion of the returns without having to do any of the work – similar to debt investing but these platforms do the paperwork and find the go-getters. Some of these platforms are for accredited investors only, some are not (like Groundfloor).
There are also REITS, but they don’t give you benefits of direct ownership of real estate. They are great vehicles for passive investing and typically require low minimum investments with low risk and a low threshold of work involved.
Private Real Estate Syndications
Group investments where people pool their resources to invest in a large asset is a real estate syndication deal. At first glance, this may sound a lot like a joint venture situation. However, JV investors each have a specific, active role in managing the property. In a real estate syndication, most of the investors are passive - meaning they won’t be hands-on with the property renovations or making any big decisions.
Many big-timer real estate syndications are only open to accredited investors, due to SEC regulations. However, there are a wide variety of opportunities open to non-accredited investors as well.
Since the opportunities for non-accredited investors aren’t able to be publicly advertised, you have to know someone who’s part of a general partnership to gain access. This is where, as a non-accredited investor, you have to be willing to network with people to find deals that will be open to your non-accredited capital. You can also just be blessed enough to know someone offering one of these opportunities (like True Freedom Capital.) 😊
These deals require a low level of work (research and connection upfront) and carry low risk as a long-term investment, but high potential rewards.
Takeaways
If you’re a newbie investor and, perhaps, not accredited at this point, serious props to you. You’re reading this article exhibits serious ahead-of-the-curve-ness on the way to building passive income.
The 8 ways we examined today (out of the infinite number of possibilities) you can invest in real estate as a non-accredited investor are:
- House Hacking
- Buy and Hold Rentals
- Fix-and-flips
- BRRRR Strategy
- Private Lending
- Joint Venture Partnerships
- Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms
- Private Real Estate Syndications
Realizing that certain opportunities are not available could get you down. But just because a deal is available to accredited investors, doesn’t mean it‘s that great and often, there are faster and more powerful ways for non-accredited investors to accumulate wealth through real estate, especially with some work.
If you decide you are a hands-off investor, interested in passive real estate investment opportunities, join our Freedom Network. It’s absolutely free to join with no commitment necessary, seriously. If you don’t join, we won’t be able to send you opportunities (sorry, SEC rules). So join today! Not sure how it will work? Check out this post to understand the logistics.