You can now invest in real estate for $1 directly from your phone

Whether you’re an avid real estate website browser who loves to spend their downtime scanning real estate listings, an investment-advice Youtube video junkie, or someone who knows nothing about investing in property but wants to put your money in secure spaces — there’s a new tool for you on the market.

The popular (and accessible) investment platform addy — a service that allows you to literally invest in property for as little as $1 — is finally available in app form, making investing in real estate easier, quicker, and that much more attainable. The fintech company is also launching the new addyverse, an interactive portfolio that displays your stakes in the city virtually. Basically, investing is getting more straightforward and more fun.

“It’s no secret that real estate is designed for the wealthy, which makes quality investment opportunities out of reach for most everyday people,” says Michael Stephenson, co-founder & CEO of addy. ”In fact, some of the more lucrative opportunities are in a category called institutional-grade commercial real estate (think entire apartment buildings, commercial complexes and business parks) and the average Canadian has no idea that these opportunities exist. They simply trade from one wealthy individual to another and are never listed publicly. That’s where addy comes in. ”

The company sources and offers opportunities to invest in these types of properties to everyone with a starting amount of $1 — eliminating the barrier of entry due to income, age, or any other hurdles. What’s not to love about that?

How do they do it? addy’s real estate team built relationships with large real estate investors across the country providing access to hard-to-reach deals that are then made available on their platform. Basically, if addy makes a $500,000 investment into a property, they then take that $500,000 investment and divide it into $1 increments. That way, addy members can partake in the investment for however much makes sense to them (up to a max of $1,500 per property). And since addy invests in each property as well, they have just as much skin in the game as investors.

Removing all the groan-worthy elements of investing — like not having absurd amounts of capital, the large level of risk if you’re unsure of what you’re doing, the headaches of being a landlord, or not having the knowledge of how to renovate or flip properties — addy offers that kind of “why not?” solution. All residents over the age of the majority in BC, Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario can invest between $1 to $1,500 on any addy property — as the maximum investment amount exists to get as many people as possible involved in the investments. If an addy member wants to invest more than $1,500 in real estate, they can invest in multiple properties or join as an accredited investor.

This is a block of 40 two- and three-bedroom townhomes in Airdrie, Alberta, just outside of Calgary; it just arrived on addy. (addy)

Being a membership-driven platform, there are no hidden fees, as the goal of the operation is accessibility. This means you avoid the costs you find in typical real estate transactions — like management fees, transaction fees, and the promote or lift on the property. Instead, for $25 per year, members get an all-access pass to every investment opportunity that addy offers — with a 100% moneyback guarantee.

An additional benefit to membership is access to the addy community on Discord where you can connect over current offerings on the platform, talk all things real estate, and dive into alternative investing topics like DAO and crypto. The company already listed 25 properties and counting on its platform and has raised over $10M from thousands of Canadians who are now real estate owners earning passive income, with a total asset value of nearly $500 million.

“I run a very successful investing platform but had limited knowledge of real estate,” said Brandon Beavis, founder of the Investing Academy. “I gave the addy platform a test drive before sharing it with my network and loved how simple it was to get started. The deals that are offered on the platform are ones that I would never find on my own and I particularly like that all of the heavy due diligence when it comes to vetting the property is handled by their team of experts. Plus the community built around it on Discord is incredible, you can get an answer to pretty much anything real estate-related.”

This is a boutique hotel — currently available on addy — will undergo renovations to become a 26-room smart hotel in the heart of Montreal. (addy)

With it all becoming that much easier with addy’s new iOS app (and an Android one coming soon), as a member you would be able to invest in commercial real estate in Canada, opt-in on notifications for every property that drops on the addy platform, and learn about investing as you go — all from your phone. And to make it a little more fun, the addyverse portfolio feature will visualize all your investments in one place, with a mini prop appearing in your city with every building you have stakes in — you can even personalize how it looks.

If you’re frustrated with the state of the real estate market, looking to dip your toe into the world of investing but don’t know how, or you don’t have a large sum of money, you’re who addy is looking for. To learn more about addy, visit their website addyinvest.com, and download the new iPhone app here for a simple and fun way to invest in real estate.