FAQ's

Upon purchasing shares of a company, the company receives your cash investment and you receive a percentage ownership in the property of your choosing.

No. REITs are large corporations that offer a wide variety of real estate investments. REIT investors have absolutely no control over investments made by the REIT managers and, therefore, investors cannot get specific information about the investment properties where their money is vested. With Blockshares, investors can choose individual properties in which they invest, giving added transparency and control over investment selection and location.

In addition, REITs are such large entities that they can rarely participate in many of the smaller investments that Blockshares includes in its’ marketplace, such as smaller retail centers and multi-family buildings.

As experienced real estate professionals, the Blockshares team evaluates each property investment opportunity thoroughly. We have developed a rigorous check-list of criteria that an investment property must fulfill before it can be introduced to the Blockshares network. This property criteria check-list has been developed based  on our successful projects completed over the past 20 years.

At Blockshares, every investment is screened in-house. We go to great lengths to fully understand the variables of each transaction including the deal structure, market statistics, property parameters, and track record of the real estate investment company. This process includes background, criminal and credit checks to mitigate the risk of fraud. Blockshares cannot guarantee that certain investment objectives will be achieved, but our goal is to present a reasonable filter prior to presenting any investment opportunity.

Blockshares offers investors access to opportunities that were previously only available to institutional investors or ultra-wealthy individuals. By providing direct access to these opportunities, Blockshares is able to provide investors with a larger pool of investment options. Additionally, investors are able to purchase shares in several projects in different geographic markets, allowing diversification of an investor’s portfolio. This allows a new class of investor to benefit from rental income and investment property appreciation. Also with Blockshares, that hassle of property management (rent collection, maintenance, trash removal, etc.) is removed from the equation, so there’s no management headaches typically associated with investment properties.

Yes. We ensure the security of our members and our data and utilize SSL. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is the standard security technology for establishing an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. This link ensures that all data passed between the web server and browsers remain private and integral. SSL is an industry standard and is used by millions of websites in the protection of their online transactions with their customers. If you would like more information, please read our Privacy Policy.

One benefit of investing with Blockshares is that you are investing in physical assets in the United States, an actual property as opposed to a stock or bond or other non-physical asset. However, as with any investment, investing in real estate presents certain risks and there is no guarantee of future outcomes.

Apartment buildings, offices buildings, retail centers/stores, medical buildings, homes, and condominiums.

When you invest in an opportunity through Blockshares, you are purchasing an interest in an LLC. The LLC itself will own a specific investment property. An LLC gives you liability protection, shielding your personal assets from the investment.

Decisions in an LLC are governed by a document called an “operating agreement”. While every operating agreement is slightly different, they usually include a managing member and limited members. The managing member typically makes all of the day-to-day decisions and the limited members act as passive investors on the transaction. For example, the managing member would determine how much profit to distribute to the investors or whether to hold or sell the property. In some cases, the manager may be required to present a decision to the investors and the investors may be allowed to take action if the manager defaults on the terms of the agreement or is grossly negligent.

Blockshares operates LLCs that could be managed by a replacement manager. Blockshares would appoint an agent, such as a national bank or trust company, to manage the LLCs in the event Blockshares is unable to manage them.

Depending on the property type that you invest in, the distributions will be paid out either monthly or quarterly or in one lump sum when the project is complete. The majority of the properties initially listed on Blockshares will be existing, cash flowing assets where investors will begin to receive checks monthly intervals following their original investment.

These payments can be made in either of two ways: check by mail or ACH transfer to your bank account. The choice is yours.

The real estate investments listed at Blockshares are private transactions in physical properties around the United States. The investments are not traded on public stock exchanges and cannot be easily sold or traded.

During the term of the investment periodic payments (usually monthly or quarterly) will be sent to via ACH or check for your share of the rental income on that property. Furthermore, different properties have different expected “hold periods”. A hold period is the anticipated time investors will be involved with the investment until it is re-sold, and range from less than 6 months up to 5 years. It is important to read the investor documents for a deeper understanding of the hold period for each investment. Each investments expected hold period is clearly explained under the financials section of each property on the Blockshares website.

Federal securities law requires that securities issued by private companies to their investors must be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unless the offering qualifies for an exemption from registration.

One exemption from registration is available if the company offers securities only to accredited investors in a private offering. Blockshares is a private, password-protected network for accredited investors in order to meet these guidelines.

Accredited Investors are defined by the SEC as having $200,000 of annual income per individual ($300,000 per couple) with the expectation of that continuing, OR a net worth of more than $1 million, excluding the value of the primary residence.

When investors commit to invest in an opportunity, those commitments are held at our partner bank where the funds are FDIC insured until the minimum investment amount has been funded. Once the minimum is reached, the closing process will occur. Therefore, your investment is not final until the minimum investment target has been reached. Once the investment target is met, the money is transferred for the sole purpose of the specific property you are investing in, and you will receive a copy of the final closing documents. If the minimum is not met, 100% of your investment monies are returned directly to you, with absolutely no fees or hidden charges.

At Blockshares it is our goal to ensure that timely updates are provided to all investors. These updates will be at least quarterly, in many cases monthly, and you may also receive intermittent updates when newsworthy developments occur at your property (i.e: a large lease was signed, the property is going to be sold). Updates will be provided via email and via your investor dashboard.

In addition, you will receive tax documents every year that you have a distribution from a real estate investment on Blockshares.

Yes. The minimum investment is $5,000.

Blockshares investments do not have capital calls. A capital call is where the investor is required to commit more money to the property, beyond the initial investment. Rather than requiring an additional investment, if a particular property were to require additional capital it is possible that investors shares may be diluted.

While we cannot provide legal or tax advice and recommend you speak with your own accountant or attorney, one of the benefits of investing in real estate through Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) is that they can be taxed as partnerships and it allows for the entity to be “pass through”. For example, profits, losses and depreciation can be passed through to the investors, as applicable.

The JOBS Act was signed into law on April 5, 2012 by President Obama and is currently under an SEC rulemaking period. The JOBS Act was meant to enable crowdfunding for all investors, both accredited and non-accredited.

Blockshares is not currently impacted by this act because we are currently only open to accredited investors and rely on legal structures and exemptions that existed before the JOBS act. In the future, when the SEC completes its review and drafting of the updated regulations, Blockshares may provide access to non-accredited investors for qualifying investment opportunities. Until such time, Blockshares will only be available to accredited investors.

No. Blockshares is a facilitator of real investments, not an investment manager. We only present opportunities that have experienced, professional managers in place to manage the assets after the closing. Blockshares doesn’t hold the capital or the investments, but rather the investments are all placed in LLC’s which will own physical assets, being real properties located in the United States.

The real estate investments available on Blockshares are private transactions and are not traded on public stock exchanges and thus cannot be easily sold or traded. Prior to investing, you should consider the likelihood that you will be holding this investment for an extended period of time. Every investment will have a different anticipated holding period, which could range from a few months to several years. This hold period will be clearly explained on the Blockshares website under each investments financial information.

The round is first come first serve. Blockshares is dedicated to transparency and to the idea of democratizing real estate investing, as such, the first people to subscribe to the investment will be awarded shares in that investment. After it’s 100% funded, no more shares will be sold.

Blockshares is not only a real estate company, we’re also a technology company. Key components of our crowdfunding platform are unique and proprietary and have been filed with United States Patent and Trademark Office, and other international patenting regulatory bodies.