Patch of Land?

[Rika Non]

Anyone have any experience with the peer to peer real estate lending sites?

I'm looking at Patch of Land and wondering what the MMM take on this is?
https://patchofland.com/

[RWD]

This looks very interesting. I've made real estate loans (first trust deed) before but I funded the loan in its entirety (smallest loans available are $20k+, most are much bigger). Allowing smaller investments via crowdfunded helps an investor diversify. Prosper (where I lost a couple grand...) and Lending Club don't have any collateral backing their loans, as far as I know, so I'd sleep better investing at Patch of Land.

However... It looks like I don't meet the minimum requirements for investing. From the FAQ:

Why do you limit investments to accredited investors only?

Federal securities law requires that securities issued by private companies to their investors must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unless the offering qualifies for an exemption from registration.

One exemption from registration is available if the company offers securities only to accredited investors in a private placement offering. Accredited investors are defined by the SEC as (1) an individual who has earned at least $200,000 annually for the past two years and reasonable expectation of earning at least that amount this year; (2) a couple that has earned $300,000 annually for the past two years and reasonable expectation of earning at least that amount this year; or an individual with a net worth of more than $1 million excluding the value of his/her primary residence.

Patch of Land is a private, password-protected network for accredited investors in order to meet these requirements.

I'm sure there are a decent number of people on this forum who meet the accredited investor criteria though.

[thedayisbrave]

I've wanted to get into this for a while, but I too am not an accredited investor yet.

There's another real estate crowdfunding site that just started up called Groundfloor.

[RWD]

I've wanted to get into this for a while, but I too am not an accredited investor yet.

There's another real estate crowdfunding site that just started up called Groundfloor.

Hmm, looks like GROUNDFLOOR (don't know why they put it in all caps...) has much lower minimums ($100). Currently only available in Georgia though:

When will GROUNDFLOOR offer investments in my state?

Before the end of 2014, we plan to open offerings in states beyond our pilot market of Georgia. The precise timing and sequence for any particular state depends on our discussions with regulators. Even if you can't invest yet, pre-register today to be updated on our progress and participate in our community.

[Jack]

There's also another Georgia company called CrowdVested (I started a thread on it here if you want to search). I almost invested with them -- I live near their first project and thought it was a good one -- but decided not to due to the investment's lack of liquidity. (Once you've invested, that's it -- there is no secondary market, and there is no way out until the managers decide to sell the property again.)

[Rika Non]

I do meet the accredited investor category.

The really pessimistic part of me thinks that restriction to accredited investors is just a way to shift through the masses for the better marks though.  (I was scammed once with a fraudulent property management company).

For now I am going to lurk with then for a little bit.  I am interested in any stories both positive or negative from people who have invested with any of the iterations of peer-to-peer.

Thank you.