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If you’ve looked at house prices recently you know how fast real estate values have shot up over the last couple of years. And although property can also drop in value, historically, real estate has been an exceptional investment with significant upside.

Thanks to many recent innovations, you can invest in real estate without being wealthy or living in “the right market”. Here are 6 ways to start investing in real estate today — for as little as $10!

Disclaimer: All investments have a degree of risk. While we do our best to honestly provide accurate information on each of these investments, it is up to you to do further research and determine if these investments are right for your risk tolerance level.

1. Invest in Real Estate via Crowdfunding

Real estate crowdfunding makes it easier than ever to invest like the 2%. By using technology to partner with other investors from across the country, you can become an investor in a wide range of properties with as little as $10! Here are a few great platforms to get started:

  • Groundfloor: With Groundfloor you become the bank for property flippers. Investors interested in buying and renovating a property need fast access to cash — and are often willing to pay 7-12% for one or two years to get the funding the need. When you sign up for Groundfloor you can invest as little as $10 in hundreds of new property deals every year.
  • Fundrise: If you have a little more money, and actually want to own equity in property, Fundrise allows you to invest as little as $100 in a regional fund used to purchase apartment complexes, flips, and single family investment properties while earning a typical dividend of 6-9% and benefiting from appreciation when the properties are sold.

2. Invest in REITs through the Stock Market

If you already have an investment account like WeBull or Robinhood, you can buy into hundreds of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) to gain access to a variety of property investments. Each REIT typically has it’s own focus (single family homes, restaurant properties in a specific region, apartment complexes, etc.) and is required by law to distribute 90% of it’s profit every year.

This means that most REITs pay a strong annual dividend while still having the ability to appreciate in value over time.

You can find REITs on all of the popular investing apps like WeBull, Robinhood, and M1Finance.

3. Invest in Long-Term Rental Properties (Ideally Managed by Others)

Buying a traditional rental property has been the most common way to invest in real estate over the last century. And while many other opportunities exist, it can still have the strongest upside. When you buy an investment property with 20% down that makes money for you every month, after the mortgage is paid off you now have an asset worth hundreds of thousands of dollars!

And while it is still common to buy investment properties where you live, sites like Roofstock make it easier to invest anywhere in the country while using a property manager to oversee the daily operations of your investment. Specifically for someone living in a high cost area, accessing cheaper property elsewhere in the country can be a more reasonable path to owning a rental investment.

4. Invest in Short-Term Vacation Rental Properties

Short-term vacation rentals have become incredibly popular thanks to Airbnb and VRBO. And with hundreds of TikTokers and Instagrammers bragging about their full-time living from a couple of Airbnb properties, this can be an attractive investment.

However, short-term rentals can be risky as a change to local laws or an economic recession can result in the inability to rent out the property.

Many Airbnb investors start with a small property or renting out their current home — and then expand from there based on their market and interests. Or, if you want a vacation home that can help pay for itself, then a short-term rental in your dream vacation location may be a reasonable investment!

5. Invest in Real Estate Notes

If you have a bit more money to invest, and like the idea of an investment backed by property, without having to manage the property yourself, then you may want to try mortgage note investing using a platform like Paperstac.

In short, with a mortgage note you become the bank for a homeowner, and they pay you every month — with interest. You can often earn a consistent 10-12%+ return on what you lend.

As long as the borrower makes their monthly payments, there’s nothing you need to do. If the borrower stops paying, you are able to repossess the property (or provided extended terms to the borrower) — ensuring your investment is safe.

While this can be risky if you don’t know what you’re doing, with a bit of research and a cautious start, mortgage note investing can be very lucrative.

6. Invest in Virtual Real Estate with Cryptocurrency (the Metaverse)

Perhaps you’ve heard about the recent virtual properties being sold for millions of dollars and are wondering how to get in on this. Although this is certainly a gamble at this point — it can pay off well for those who choose the right metaverse to join.

Right now three of the leading metaverse cryptocurrencies (used to build out these meta worlds) are Solana (SOL), Decentraland (MANA), and The Sandbox (SAND). Use a platform like Coinbase to either purchase these coins or buy ethereum to transfer to another platform where you can buy these coins, and you’ll be well on your way to earning your crypto millions if you choose right.

Currently, this is probably the riskiest of these real estate investments (and isn’t real estate in the traditional sense), but it is very possible that some people will make their fortunes from these properties as people did with domain names 20 years ago.

Conclusion: Start investing and make it consistent

Regardless of which investment strategy you choose (for real estate or otherwise) the important thing is that you invest consistently. Over time your wealth will grow and you’ll find yourself in a much better financial position than you are today. And as long as you diversify your investment across multiple investments, you can reduce the risk associated with your investments.