With some services we recommend, vetting/due diligence is relatively easy because of the nature of the business. The services take place relatively rapidly for the categories of insurance, student loan refinancing, mortgages, and even financial advisors, and many readers use each of those services in any given month. But due to the long-term nature of real estate investing, this process is dramatically more difficult, so this real estate company list is more of an “introduction list” than a “recommended list.” You'll still have to do due diligence on these companies before you begin partnering with them.
For most of these companies, you'll need to be an accredited investor (an earned income of at least $200,000 for the past two years or a net worth of more than $1 million). In case it isn't crystal clear, The White Coat Investor has a business relationship (either flat fee ads or an affiliate relationship) with each of these companies.
The White Coat Investor is also proud to introduce our No Hype Real Estate Investing course, which will provide the framework for developing further knowledge and experience as you progress in your real estate investing career. We call it an introductory course because there is always more to learn. But this is no short, superficial course. There are over 200 lectures/videos adding up to more than 27 hours of content by over 15 different instructors. We think it just might be the best real estate course on the planet.
The partners listed below are separated into 5 investment types
Interested in real estate?
Get our monthly real estate newsletter with tips and strategies to maximize your returns and introductions to exclusive investment opportunities.
Featured Real Estate Partners
Private Real Estate Funds
One of Dr. Jim Dahle's favorite ways to invest, a private fund provides a great deal of professional expertise in selecting and managing investments, and it offers ready diversification between deals. While equity funds are usually quite illiquid, some of the debt funds do provide significant liquidity after a year. Minimum investments generally range from $50,000 to $1 million per fund.
One subset of this category is what I call an access fund provider. In exchange for an additional level of fees, this type of platform helps you choose a fund and reduces the cost of entry to the fund (often to something like $25,000), and it may even provide other special incentives for investors going through the platform, such as a reduced fund fee.
DLP Capital
12X Inc. 5000 honoree DLP Capital is a private real estate investment firm focused on transforming lives through the building of thriving communities. Through its sponsored funds, DLP finances, develops, constructs, and operates safe, attainable rental housing for America’s working families. The firm’s unique impact investing approach—which blends social impact with market-rate, non-concessionary targeted returns ranging from 9% to 13%—allows investors the potential to achieve success with significance.
DLP Capital’s four sponsored funds are evergreen, offer liquidity, and provide investors diversification away from public equities.
Details about DLP Capital
MLG Capital
Over the course of the last 35 years, MLG Capital has consistently delivered attractive, tax efficient returns for investors by investing in private real estate. MLG invests via a series of funds that target both geographic and asset class diversification.
Details about MLG Capital
Wellings Capital
Wellings Capital seeks to help accredited investors passively protect and grow their wealth through investing in self-storage, mobile home parks, multifamily and more throughout the country. Over 1,000 accredited investors, including many from WCI, have invested in Wellings Capital funds, which aim to provide value to investors in three primary ways:
- Instant diversification across private real estate asset types, operators/sponsors, geographies, properties, and strategies
- Extensive, professional due diligence on operators and properties
- Structured investments, including preferred equity and JV hybrid equity, which are intended to maximize returns while attempting to reduce downside risk
Wellings recently launched their 7th and 8th diversified commercial real estate funds.
Details about Wellings Capital
Black Swan Real Estate
Black Swan Real Estate is a physician-owned investment firm offering accredited investors unique, long-term opportunities to build wealth through passive investments. Led by Dr. Elaine Stageberg, a psychiatrist, and Nick Stageberg, a former tech professional, Black Swan has developed an investor-first model with no GP-level fees and a radical alignment of incentives. Their vertically integrated team manages 1,600 units and $375M in assets across Minnesota and Washington, ensuring close oversight from acquisition to property management. By prioritizing investor education and alignment, they have built a track record of strong returns with no failed return targets or capital calls, providing investors with options for indefinite holds and fixed returns. Black Swan's offerings provide flexibility for high-income professionals, including an indefinite hold strategy that returns all invested capital and allows investors to benefit from cash flow, appreciation, and tax advantages for years. Their reputation as a trusted resource in the physician community and their commitment to excellence in real estate make them a valuable partner for investors looking to secure long-term financial freedom.
Details about Black Swan Real EstateTurnkey Real Estate
When you go through a turnkey real estate company, you own the real estate directly and singly. You get all the benefits (depreciation, control, profits) and all of the downsides (risk, lack of diversification, illiquidity). However, the company builds (or fixes up) the property and puts a tenant in it before selling it to you. They then manage the property and often even sell it for you when you're ready to be done. Somebody who might be interested in turnkey properties is less interested in control, is a less experienced real estate investor, and is probably less of a DIYer. While there are fees for this service, it is a great way to reduce the hassle of direct ownership, especially in locations away from your local area.
Southern Impression Homes
#1 in Build to Rent / Built by Investors… For Investors.
Most clients come to us concerned with rising interest rates, inflation and even the potential of a coming recession. For the right investor, our system delivers amazing results to help overcome those issues quickly and completely. $900 Mil assets under management. $56 Mil in annual recurring revenue. $185 Mil in equity for our investors. 1,000+ Current Investors. 9000+ units developed. 10,000+ active housing residents. We build new construction rental properties in high growth markets in Florida. Our strategy creates ongoing cash- flow, real estate appreciation and favorable tax incentives. Let us help create long term wealth for you and your family.
Details about Southern Impression HomesReal Estate Syndicators
Ever wanted to own an apartment complex or, say, the Empire State Building? Unless you have tens of millions of dollars just lying around, joining a syndication might be a good place to start. A real estate syndication is when a group of investors pools together their money to raise capital to purchase a property. Since it's more than just your money at work, you can be involved in more lucrative deals than you could otherwise afford by yourself (and yes, the Empire State Building was purchased this way by more than 3,000 investors in 1961). The sponsor of the deal, aka the person who manages it, and the investors then make money through rental income and property appreciation. Syndication deals can run from 3-10 years.
A syndication is a passive real estate investment, but at the same time, it's not passive at all. There is a tremendous amount of due diligence required initially. Before you cut that check to get in on the deal, you had better make sure your due diligence has been completed. But after the money has been sent, your work is essentially done, and you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the flight. Either way, by banding together with dozens of other investors, you get a lot of the benefits of direct ownership with little hassle.
Mortar Group
Mortar is a vertically integrated investment management firm that invests in secure multi-family real estate investment opportunities in prime New York niche neighborhoods.
Our fully integrated in-house design, development, and asset management expertise has resulted in dozens of successful privately syndicated deals. This, combined with skin-in-the-game co-investments and in-depth local neighborhood knowledge, helps us mitigate risk and maximize investor returns, while allowing investors to diversify and deploy capital conservatively in projects and divest risk throughout the real estate lifecycle.
Preferred by investors seeking high yields but steady return may find investing with Mortar in New York real estate as an unique solution in the alternative investments market.
Details about Mortar GroupReal Estate Investing Platforms
These companies are most commonly thought of as online crowdfunders that connect real estate syndicators/developers with investors. Although you still usually need to be an accredited investor, minimum investments are generally lower than going directly to the syndicators.
EquityMultiple
EquityMultiple offers a unique wealth-generation ecosystem, built on real assets. Build a stronger, more diversified portfolio. EquityMultiple has achieved net aggregate return (IRR) of 18.7% on behalf of investors (from inception through 6/20/22).
Details about Equity MultipleREITs
Many investors know about REITs from their publicly traded cousins available in an investment such as the Vanguard REIT Index Fund. REITS have a unique legal structure that requires them to pay out essentially all of their profits each year to investors. Although somewhat comparable to funds, REITs have a different tax treatment and generally have more liquidity and lower investment minimums. You may not even have to be an accredited investor to invest in these.
There are public REITs, like the one at Vanguard, but you can also invest in the private REITs listed below. Private REITS aren't purchasing the same properties that the larger, publicly traded REITS are buying, and they're likely to be far more Main Street than Wall Street. A private REIT is a diversification play into a different aspect of the real estate market with smaller properties. These can be attractive to busy high-income professionals who are not interested in purchasing, owning, managing, and selling properties themselves.
Fundrise
Fundrise offers REITs and funds to non-accredited investors.
Fundrise has completely transitioned over to a REIT/fund structure offered to non-accredited investors. They now have seven REITs/Funds with various focuses, including income, growth, and various geographic areas. Minimums are the lowest, just $10.
Dr. Dahle has one past investment (preferred equity) through Fundrise, which performed exactly as expected. The White Coat Investor earns a commission if you sign up with Fundrise.
Details about Fundrise