Groundfloor: Invest In Homes

The app provides almost no details about the status of loans that are in default. You used to dead able to click on a defaulted loan and see a timeline of activity for the loan, including foreclosure and other relevant information. Now all of that is gone. If I click on a loan that’s in default, nothing happens. Also, app users should stay away from loaning money to any real estate project in Florida or any other state that has a long drawn out foreclosure process, as you can be waiting 3 or more years to get anything back (assuming that Groundfloor will ever pass any of it back to you if they get it). Also, if a debtor defaults, Groundfloor users do NOT continue accruing interest on the outstanding loan until being paid back, unlike virtually all other loan arrangements. Users would be better served by simply buying U.S. Treasuries, as the overall default rate on Groundfloor will most likely lead to losses which will drop the total return slightly below holding treasuries.

First of all, I am re-writing my review as I may have been somewhat unfair in my last one. The new layout does look much cleaner than before the update. My investments and distributions are easier to find now, and the app has a more modernized look and feel. However, now all of a sudden I can't invest in LROs like I used to. It used to be a $10/property minimum investment. Now when I go to the "Additional Products" section after selecting Invest, I just get a popup that says "We have something for everyone" without any indication of what to do. I don't know if this is a mistake or misunderstanding on my end, but the LROs used to be my primary investment. The Flywheel Portfolio does provide more frequent distributions, but the amounts vary dramatically. Instead of pulling all my money out, I've decided to give GroundFloor another chance. As a software developer myself, I can understand needing to work out the kinks whenever a new iteration is released. Because the new UI looks so good, I'll give it 4 stars instead of my original 3. I would have given 5 if it was made more clear what was going on with individual property investments.

Groundfloor is a really unique app - they make real estate loans you can invest in. The loans are used to fix up properties and then sell them so they can repay the loan. You can invest in a bunch of these and earn a high yield. If you’re an accredited investor they have some other options too with even higher yields. I like how when you get repaid you can reinvest the money to keep compounding. It’s a great way to invest in real estate with the security of having the investment backed by real, physical houses.