Real estate crowdfunding platforms offer an amazing opportunity to generate extra income, but only if you are investing on the right platform. Here is a detailed Origin Investments review, one of the popular such platforms.
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of real estate investment? Is it the troublesome tenants? Tax management? Constant repairs and improvements?
All that probably makes you realize that owning a property by yourself is not an easy task. However, there’s a way you can make your way into real estate without putting up with all the hassle.
Platforms like Origin Investments let you take part in crowdfunding investment projects.
Here, you invest as much as you want privately and generate some passive real estate revenue for yourself.
Remember, whenever there’s money involved online, things can get a little tricky. You want to be as safe as you can with your money.
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Origin Investments Review
We’ve compiled this Origin Investments review to help you understand all the aspects of this platform so you can make an informed decision. So let’s dive in.
What is Origin Investments?
Origin Investments is a real estate investment firm founded back in 2007. Based in Chicago, the company has its offices in major US cities, including Denver, Houston, Orlando, Nashville, and Charlotte.
The company has been in business even before the JOBS Act 2011 came into effect, which made online crowd investment legal. Before that, the company used to work with no more than a hundred investors for each private real estate placement.
From 2011 onwards, the company used its untethered crowdfunding strategies, cutting edge technology, and unmatched customer service to attract more investors.
Today, Origin Investments is one of the most reliable online crowdfunding sites that help accredited investors make private real estate investments. You’ll learn more about the site as we go further into this Origin Investments review.
How Does Origin Investments Work
Typically, real estate was regarded as an incredibly tedious investment option. Origin Investments works by eliminating the need for time-consuming paperwork and exhausting details, simply by automating technology processes.
The platform uses three main investment steps to make the process work.
First of all, you can register on the site and review the funds quickly, although investment is only for accredited investors.
Secondly, it allows you to use their research portal to look into each fund’s strategies and specifics. You can also compare the investment options with each other to pick the best one.
Thirdly, Origin Investments guides you flawlessly through the investment process through its assistance feature. Here, a professional team member will be available for you to get all the help you need.
How to Sign-up for Origin Investments
Signing up for Origin Investments is a piece of cake. It will take you less than five minutes to complete the process and create your account.
All you have to do is provide some contact details and fill out a questionnaire about yourself. These questions include your net worth, risk tolerance, and a few personal ones.
After that, you will get your dashboard on the site to start viewing and imploring upon investment opportunities.
Investment Options On Origin Investments
This is perhaps the most significant part of our Origin Investments review. Like the rule of thumb, you may want to assess their investment options before working with them.
So, here’s an overview of the investment options available on Origin Investments.
IncomePlus Fund
The IncomePlus Fund option on Origin Investments has a $100,000 investment limit. It is an open-end investment system that helps you create a steady stream of income that lowers the tax impact and gives you downside protection.
The problem with closed-end funds is that you won’t be able to generate a steady income. You have to wait until the property has gone through its complete business plan until you return.
In comparison, this open-end option won’t keep you waiting. IncomePlus Fund aims to provide you about 9-11% annual returns. They distribute these returns every month, so you can get about 0.5% per month.
Another benefit is that you can invest in this fund at various time points. This means you can diversify your capital by investing in a high-quality real estate asset portfolio.
It also has a “buy, fix, and hold” option that lets you stay in the system for as long as you want. That’s unlike other investment funds, where you’d be forced to withdraw when the assets are sold.
Distribution Reinvestment Plan (DRIP)
Another great option that Origin Investments offers is the Distribution Reinvestment Plan, also called (DRIP). You can receive your distribution through cash or have it wired to your account with most crowdfunding sites.
However, Origin Investments has a third option through which you can reinvest your distributions immediately as soon as you receive them. This way, you can put your revenue to use at once and generate more income through investments.
Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ)
This is a unique program formulated by Origin Investments that lets you invest your funds into needful communities’ economic development. Here, the investors join by rolling their capital gains from other investments into QOZ investment funds and receiving amazing tax advantages.
This fund’s portfolio is mainly created by combining new development projects. This way, you can get good returns even before counting the QOZ tax benefits. The platform will diversify the portfolio automatically between properties that produce a steady cash flow for the investors when the properties are completed.
You can start investing in this policy, starting with a minimum of $100,000.
Origin Investments Features
Apart from their unique and profitable investment funds and options, the Origin Investments platform has great features to make things easy for its users.
We’ve listed the ones we liked here so you can check them out.
Origin Investments Mobile App
Origin Investments platform has a handy mobile app called Path by Origin Investments. You can easily download the app on your smartphone and log in with the same credentials you used on the site.
The app helps you monitor your investments and the changes in your balance whenever you want. Besides that, you can use the app to explore the private real estate options, just like you would on the web version.
Also, you can look through the due diligence documents of your closed funds on the app. The best part is, the app is free to download for members on Apple or Android devices.
Origin Investments Customer Support
This is one of the best features of Origin Investments. Unlike other investment platforms that only provide a generalized approach to customer support, Origin Investment tries to help each of their users on a personal level.
As soon as you sign in to your Origin Investments account, you will receive an email address where you can reach out wherever you need any help on the platform.
This email is not a generalized customer service link, but a personal contact that links you with a team member from the platform itself. You can communicate with your personal advisor through email or even schedule calls for investment consultancy.
Besides that, if you have a minor query that needs immediate solutions, you can send an instant message to their team through the platform. You will receive a prompt reply from the online messaging system to help solve your query.
Also, you can call the platform through the phone number provided on the site.
Origin Investments Resources
If you’re an amateur investor, you’ll love the educational resources on Origin Investment. The platform has a comprehensive learning section with valuable learning resources referring to real estate and investing.
Whether you’re an investor or not, you can browse through the resource section and get all the information you need. What’s more, you can also find productive webinars on the website that lets you learn directly from its creators.
Furthermore, you can navigate these resources easily as they are organized according to experience level and popularity. This way, you can make an informed decision every time you choose to invest in the site.
Security Policy
We can't complete our Origin Investments review without talking about security, can we?
One thing you should definitely check before joining an investment website is their security policy. With Origin Investments, you don’t have to be worried about your personal data.
The website uses Amazon Web Services to encrypt the interactions between its users and the webserver. Also, everything, from your passwords to sensitive information on the site, is fully encrypted.
Moreover, the platform authenticates people on their Investor Portal through Extended Validation Certificates. Their team monitors that investor portal at all times to diagnose and combat any malicious intervention.
Origin Investments Fees
The most important part of this Origin Investments review is the fee you have to pay. Believe it or not, Origin Investment charges a lower fee than the private equity industry standard. The industry’s standard charges are 2% annually, while Origin Investments takes only 1.25% of your net asset value.
This means, if you invest a minimum of $100,000 on the platform, you will have to pay $1,250 at the end of your first year using the site.
But, investors who invest less than $250,000 will have to pay 2% fee for their first year. After that, the 1.25% rate remains the same for them as well.
The platform uses the fee it charges to cover fund set up expenses, including legal and accounting expenses. Also, if you use investment options like IncomeFund or QOZ, you’ll have to pay some acquisition and performance fees. T
he percentages of these charges depend on the investment option you choose.
Pros of Origin Investments
Now that we’ve reached the end of our Origin Investments review, it’s time for the final showdown. Keeping in mind all the features and profitable investment options on the platform, here are the pros of Origin Investments you should keep in mind.
Founded by Real Investors
Origin Investments is founded by two co-founders, who are the largest investors in all their funds. This ensures that all their funds will have timely returns. Recently, they funded IncomePlus and QOZ with $10 million and $56 million, respectively.
Experienced Team
The backing team at Origin Investors comprises of professionals with tons of real estate and asset management experience. They provide the best below-market deals and help reduce investor risk for their clients in every way.
Dependable CrowdFunding Services
Origin Investment has high-quality investment options that are trusted even by high-net-worth investors.
Personal Assistance
The platform provides one-on-one interaction to their users which you’ll rarely find in any other crowd investing platform.
Diversification Opportunities
Origin Investments let you diversify your investment to the optimal level. With each fund you invest in through the platform, you’re actually investing in lots of properties associated with the target areas.
No Demands for Additional Capital
Once your investment amount is decided, the platform will never ask to contribute extra capital to keep your projects running.
Cons of Origin Investments
Before our Origin Investments review comes to an end, you should know both sides of the coin for an honest representation. Here, we’ve listed the cons of the platform so you can decide whether you want to go for it, or not.
High Minimum Investment Limit
To become an investor with Origin Investments, you need to contribute at least $100,000 whether you choose the IncomePlus or QOZ Fund. This range might be a little high for new investors.
Fewer Investment Deals
At Origin Investments, there are usually only one or two funds available for investment at one time.
Only Accredited Investors
The platform only allows accredited investors to invest through their platforms. This means it’s a no-bounds option for non-accredited investors looking to diversify their portfolios.
Final Words
That wraps up our Origin Investments review. Overall, we think the platform is amazing, ensuring investment safety and the ability to create a steady income stream for yourself. The platform charges a low fee compared to the private equity industry standards, which means you’ll be paying less for more benefits.
Besides that, the crowdfunding site offers multiple investment options along with immediate portfolio diversification. You can also learn all you need about investment from their educational center.
All this, combined with their security features and handy mobile app, makes Origin Investment a smart choice for beginners.
However, that might not be the story for everyone. The platform has a high investment threshold and does not allow non-accredited investors to join in. Make sure you complete your due diligence about any other investment portal you go for so that you don’t fall into a scam and lose your funds.