Disclaimer: It is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a fee from companion hyperlinks on REtipster.com. All opinions are my very own. The knowledge contained herein neither constitutes a proposal for nor a solicitation of curiosity in any securities providing; nevertheless, if a sign of curiosity is offered, it could be withdrawn or revoked, with out obligation or dedication of any sort previous to being accepted following the qualification or effectiveness of the relevant providing doc, and any provide, solicitation or sale of any securities will likely be made solely by the use of an providing round, non-public placement memorandum, or prospectus. No cash or different consideration is hereby being solicited, and won’t be accepted with out such potential investor having been offered the relevant providing doc. Becoming a member of the Fundrise Platform neither constitutes a sign of curiosity in any providing nor entails any obligation or dedication of any sort. The publicly filed providing circulars of the issuers sponsored by Rise Firms Corp., not all of which can be presently certified by the Securities and Change Fee, could also be discovered at www.fundrise.com/oc.
Get Began With Fundrise
In 2017, I made a video and weblog put up explaining how Fundrise works.
As a part of this evaluate, I made a decision to speculate $1,000 of my very own cash with the corporate so individuals may see precisely the way it labored, and we may test in on that funding annually to see the outcomes.
Since then, I’ve been monitoring the progress and returns from that funding by placing collectively annual video updates exhibiting the dividends and the way a lot the cash has grown.
My purpose with these annual opinions isn’t to persuade anybody to speculate with Fundrise. My purpose is to tell you of this funding technique and the distinctive reality that you just don’t must be an accredited investor to take part.
What Is Fundrise?
Fundrise is an actual property investing platform that enables traders to speculate smaller quantities of cash into not a single property, however into “swimming pools” of actual property.
It makes actual property investing accessible to a broader viewers by permitting traders to contribute smaller quantities than conventional actual property investments.
Individuals make investments with Fundrise primarily for comfort, decrease entry prices, and the potential to earn passive revenue by actual property. Actual property is commonly thought of a secure funding in comparison with extra risky markets like shares.
The First 12 months With Zero Principal Left
After withdrawing my authentic $1,000 principal funding in 2022, that is now roughly the fourth 12 months I have been in a position to see how the remaining reinvested dividends carry out on their very own.
After all, my funding efficiency doesn’t decide YOUR returns in the event you resolve to make investments with Fundrise. Each eREIT performs in a different way, and the efficiency will differ annually.
Even so, this evaluate will provide insights into how Fundrise performs as an organization, particularly in comparison with different funding choices just like the inventory market, mutual funds, or related web sites.
It is a variety of enjoyable to see the precise returns on this funding and never only a theoretical image of what is alleged to occur.
Fundrise Efficiency Replace for 2026
Once I first invested my $1,000 six years in the past, I instructed Fundrise to robotically reinvest all of my dividends (fairly than sending them to my checking account). It is a large a part of why $735.20 of “worth” stays within the account. This quantity can be considerably decrease if I did not reinvest these dividends.
Get Began With Fundrise
As of April 2026, the leftover funds after withdrawing my authentic $1,000 funding (with all dividends robotically reinvested) have been a little bit of a blended bag. The long-term efficiency seems respectable on paper, however the previous few years inform a really totally different story.
Runaway inflation, adopted by continued greater rates of interest, has taken its toll on the U.S. actual property market, and it reveals in its efficiency over the previous few years. Whereas earlier years (particularly 2017–2021) confirmed robust efficiency, 2024 was weak, 2025 was worse, and 2026 thus far isn’t off to an ideal begin.
In whole, the account reveals a few 75.7% return over roughly 9 years, which comes out to round an 8.3% annualized return. Not horrible, but additionally not notably spectacular given the time horizon.
One other factor price noting is that the dividends themselves have been fairly small, typically only a few {dollars} at a time, so this isn’t precisely a high-cash-flow funding.
The screenshots above had been taken in early 2026 and solely symbolize a partial 12 months of efficiency thus far.
Is ~75.7% a Good Return Over 9 Years?
It is dependent upon the way you have a look at it. On the one hand, this required zero effort, a serious benefit. Alternatively, once you think about inflation (particularly over the previous few years) the true return is probably going a lot decrease than it seems.
I actually may have made way more cash over this time if I had put it into my land investing enterprise, as an example, however the benefit of one thing like Fundrise is that it is passive.
The tradeoff right here is comfort vs. efficiency. Extra lively actual property methods can produce greater returns, however additionally they require extra time, effort, and threat.
Fundrise’s enchantment is not within the excessive returns. The enchantment is the passive nature of this funding and the truth that it requires nothing apart from the preliminary {dollars} I put into it.
RELATED: What Is “Passive Revenue” Precisely?
The Largest Drawbacks to Fundrise
As many individuals have talked about within the YouTube feedback over time (and I must agree), the most important disadvantage to investing with Fundrise is the truth that I am unable to shortly or simply money in my shares earlier than the five-year holding interval except I need to pay the penalty for redeeming the shares early.
This five-year penalty additionally applies each time I robotically reinvest my quarterly dividends. In different phrases, each reinvested dividend begins its personal new 5-year lockup interval, which may make liquidity much more restrictive over time.
While you examine this lack of liquidity with the inventory market, Fundrise seems much less interesting.
One other vital limitation is that you don’t have any management over how your cash is invested; you are relying solely on fund managers to make these choices.
On the identical coin, there’s something to be stated for diversifying your investments into actual property fairly than staying strictly within the inventory market, as most “regular” traders do. Even when the returns aren’t considerably greater, there may be worth in merely having your {dollars} unfold out amongst totally different asset lessons.
Ought to You Make investments With Fundrise?
I am not right here to provide you funding recommendation; I am right here to share my Fundrise funding story so you’ll be able to perceive the real-world penalties (for higher or worse) of investing in these sorts of eREITs.
If you happen to’re questioning whether or not it is a good time to begin with Fundrise, the trustworthy reply is—I don’t know. Like every funding, timing issues, and it’s unattainable to foretell the place returns will go from right here.
Fundrise appears effectively conscious of the place issues are at. Yow will discover this of their Newsfeed, the place they frequently put up their findings, analysis, and clarify how issues are going.
It is vital to do not forget that whereas Fundrise gives an accessible and relatively low-effort strategy to dip into actual property investing, it is not with out its dangers and limitations, notably in liquidity and fluctuating returns.
Get Began With Fundrise
Whether or not you make investments with Fundrise or not, ensure that it aligns together with your monetary targets and threat tolerance.
Keep curious, keep knowledgeable, and, as all the time, make investments correctly.
