RealtyMogul Enters New Territory with REIT Launch

The online real estate crowdfunding marketplace has hit another milestone with the introduction of its first CRE fund.

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Jilliene Helman, RealtyMogul.com

Jilliene Helman, RealtyMogul.com

Los Angeles—2016 is turning out to be a year of firsts for RealtyMogul.com. In May, the online marketplace for commercial real estate investing became the first commercial real estate crowdfunding platform in the U.S. to fully fund $200 million, and now it has broken new ground internally with the introduction of MogulREIT I, its first commercial real estate fund.

RealtyMogul.com’s new investment vehicle fits the company’s main objective like a glove. “At RealtyMogul, our goal is to offer a fair and simple way for people to invest in real estate, and our core purpose is ‘Access through Innovation,’” Jilliene Helman, CEO of RealtyMogul.com, told Commercial Property Executive.

MogulREIT I opens the door to a new group of investors: everyone. Well, practically everyone. Investors in the REIT must meet the conditions to be a qualified purchaser under Regulation A, which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission amended in 2015 as dictated by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act. “From the beginning, we’ve known that we wanted to launch a fund, so we needed to think about how best to structure it and how to use technology for the benefit of our investors,” Helman noted. “The passage of the SEC’s Regulation A+, aimed at bringing retail investors into the crowdfunding fold, provided a moment of opportunity for us to introduce MogulREIT I as a non-traded REIT for non-accredited investors.”

With an investment of as little as $2,500 in MogulREIT I, individuals can have access to curated and pre-vetted private real estate investment opportunities. The fund, which was devised to have low fees, will put money into a variety of commercial real estate sectors, including multifamily, office, retail and self-storage. Debt and equity investments are on the table as well.

“Crowdfunding is a great tool for allowing more people to invest in real estate, and the mix of regulatory and technological developments made this a great time to launch our fund,” Helman added.

You May Also Like