One of my friends once told me, if you don’t understand it, get started small. Get your skin in the game and you’ll begin to track it daily and read about it. This was specific to stock investments and today, I have a better understanding of how to invest in stocks I’m familiar with.
I want to invest in Real Estate, but I can’t afford it.
As a basic investor, I have put most of my investments in the stock market in ETFs and mutual funds that follow the S&P 500. They’re slow growth funds, that aren’t as risky as individual stocks. I let time do the work since I have about ~30ish years until traditional retirement. So I’ve always wanted to invest in real estate, but the amount of money I would need is large. So I’m trying an alternative to learn.
Why I’m starting to invest in REITs: Real Estate Investment Trusts…
My goal is to follow the same process as I did with stocks and document the growth and comment on what I observe. This will allow me to understand what REITs are, and answer the big question, will this provide me benefit over time. I figure it’s a good experiment to try than sit on the sidelines. And I could ask people, but it might be good to learn by myself – much like I did with stocks in 2015. And yes, I invested in stocks much later than most people; the ones that have told me so.
Since I can’t directly invest in Real Estate property, I’m going to invest in REITs because it allows me to put a significantly smaller amount. There are pros and cons, but as I learn, I’ll write more about that.
What are REITs?
REITs, short for “Real Estate Investment Trusts” are companies that own a diversified portfolio of real estate property and lets individuals invest with smaller sums.
My initial investment in REIT
I’m going to start what Fundrise.
The minimum investment for Fundrise is $1000 on their basic account level. I placed the order aka my initial deposit was on July 20, 2021. It’s been about ~10 days and I’ve gained $1.27. Not bad for not doing anything, but I’m rather curious how it will grow for the next few years. For detailed documentation, I’m going to take a snapshot of my account everyday, mention the increases the previous day, and do small deposit every week. Still decided on what that deposit amount might be, but will let everyone reading my blog, basicworth.com what I plan to put in.
Stay tuned…