Alternative Real Estate Funds for Cash Investors

Real estate has long been considered a strategic investment – not only does it allow investors to potentially earn income, leverage debt to build equity, strive to build wealth, and potentially hedge against inflation, but it also can offer various tax breaks.

However, real estate investing is not for everyone. It generally requires a large capital investment to get started and is limited to those who are ready to engage in active management.

Those looking to access the potential benefits of real estate investing, seek to earn income, and diversify their portfolios, all while investing in passive real estate investment opportunities, can consider turning to alternative funds. In this article, we explore alternative real estate investment funds available for today’s cash investors and review examples of funds offered historically by Perch Wealth.

Alternative Investments: Funds, Syndications, and DSTs

One alternative is to invest in a commercial real estate syndicate or fund. However, investments in funds, syndications and DSTs are typically illiquid. This can have an investor's capital tied up from three to seven years or longer, depending on the anticipated business plan and hold period. Those looking to preserve more liquidity opportunities have a few other options if interested in adding real estate to their portfolios.

Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs)

Delaware Statutory Trusts allow accredited investors to co-invest in institutional-quality real estate alongside many others. This lowers the barrier to entry and allows for indirect ownership (the IRS still treats it as direct ownership for tax purposes), while the property is otherwise managed and overseen by an experienced third-party sponsor.

Real Estate Investment Trusts

A REIT, which stands for "real estate investment trust," is a corporation that owns and/or manages income-producing commercial real estate. There are many types of REITs. Most will focus on a specific product type (e.g., retail, hospitality, multifamily housing, senior living facilities, student housing, office, self-storage, industrial and the like) or geography (e.g., commercial real estate in the Northeast vs. Southwest).

When an individual buys a REIT share, they are purchasing a share of the company that owns and manages the rental property. Shares of publicly traded REITs can be purchased and sold as easily as other stocks, even on a daily basis, thereby providing significant liquidity to investors.

REITs typically have well-defined investment parameters. They then invest in real estate that meets those parameters. By law, REITs are required to return 90% of profits to investors in the form of dividends.

Interval Funds

An interval fund is a type of closed-end fund that offers liquidity to investors at stated intervals - typically quarterly, semi-annually or annually. This means investors can sell a portion of their shares at regular intervals at a price based on the fund's net asset value. However, there is no guarantee that investors can redeem their shares during a given redemption period. As such, interval funds should generally be treated as long-term investments but in turn, will usually seek to offer an illiquidity premium in exchange.

Interval funds can be used to invest in many securities and asset classes, including but not limited to real estate. A single interval fund is not limited to investing in a single asset class; in fact, they can invest in various assets as a means of diversifying their holdings.

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Other Income Funds

There are dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of different types of investment funds. These include equity funds, bond funds, money market funds, mutual funds, and hedge funds. Many investors have started investing in real estate through one of these types of funds.

A real estate income fund is a specific subset of funds that is focused exclusively on investing in income-generating real estate. Real estate income funds provide another entry point for those looking to invest cash in large commercial real estate portfolios. Real estate income funds are particularly appealing to retail investors who want to own institutional-quality real estate that would otherwise be out of reach to them.

A real estate income fund pools capital from many investors, and then the fund's sponsor oversees all of the fund's activities - from due diligence and underwriting, to property renovations, stabilization, ongoing management and eventually, disposition. Depending on the nature of a real estate income fund, the fund can have different investment minimums as well as lengthy hold periods and therefore, the capital invested should be considered illiquid during that hold period.

Are you ready to consider investment options that seek to provide greater, more predictable returns on your investments? If so, it might be time to consider investing in a high-yield real estate fund. Contact us today. We are happy to discuss available options with you to determine which combination of investments would be best for you based upon your specific investment objectives.

General Disclosure

Not an offer to buy, nor a solicitation to sell securities. Information herein is provided for information purposes only and should not be relied upon to make an investment decision. All investing involves risk of loss of some, or all principal invested. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Speak to your finance and/or tax professional prior to investing.

Securities offered through Emerson Equity LLC Member: FINRA/SIPC. Only available in states where Emerson Equity LLC is registered. Emerson Equity LLC is not affiliated with any other entities identified in this communication.

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