One of my goals in 2020 is to learn about as many passive real estate investment opportunities available. I have over $500,000 of capital that should be returned over the next two years. The capital will be reinvested in various real estate opportunities to sustain and grow my passive income portfolio.

Because I want to diversify my real estate exposure to non-coastal markets, I thought it would be good to do some research on Streitwise, a real estate platform which is focused on secondary non-gateway markets that have the potential to generate higher dividends.

Streitwise approached me last year to do a review but I was too busy at the time. Now, with another year of operating experience under its belt and the economy gradually opening up in 2H2020, let’s see how they are doing and what their plans are going forward.

After publishing my post, Focus On Trends: Why I’m Investing In The Heartland Of America, a couple readers pointed out that Fundrise, one of the leading real estate crowdfunding platforms, actually offers a Heartland eREIT.

Further, on February 13, 2019, Google announced they are investing $13 billion in heartland real estate to expand their offices and data centers. The trend to the heartland is real!

One of the unique things about all of Fundrise’s eREITs™ is that you don’t have to be an accredited investor ($200K+ income, $1M+ net worth excluding primary residence) to invest due to Regulation A+ of Title IV of the JOBS Act.

Regulation A+ is a type of offering which allows private companies to raise up to $50 Million from non-accredited investors. Think of Reg A+ like launching a mini-IPO, but with lower fees than the traditional IPO process.

Given I’m bullish on the heartland for the next 20 years, the Heartland eREIT™ sounded like a promising investment. 

I wanted to provide a review, even though the Heartland eREIT™ is no longer available, because the review will give an idea of the innovative thinking by Fundrise as we invest in the new 2020 decade.

Fundrise is all about creating different types of eREITs for investors to diversify with less volatility into real estate. Hence, the Heartland eREIT review is pertinent to all Fundrise eREITs.

My grandfather used to own a small, 8-acre fruit and plant farm on the western side of Oahu. It was a magical place nestled next to the majestic Waianae mountain range. The farm was part of his retirement income strategy as he rented out a portion of the land to his neighbors who grew green onions.

When I was going through my quarter-life crisis in 2001, I thought about quitting finance altogether and moving to my grandfather’s farm to help him maintain the crops. I longed for a simple life where I’d clear the brush and water the trees in the early morning, eat mangos and papayas for brunch, take a midday nap, box up the fruit to sell at the local grocery store, and then go surfing in the early evening before coming home.

Unfortunately, I never made the move. And as my grandfather grew older, the weeds started to overtake much of the plantation and we eventually sold the property. In retrospect, I wish I had at least taken a sabbatical to live on the farm and help out my grandfather.

Given my connection with farming, I was intrigued when Artem Milinchuk, founder of FarmTogether, asked if he could sponsor me to do some research about the benefits of farmland investing. Here’s a post about what I learned about the asset class.