In this podcast episode, I speak with Ben Miller, Co-Founder and CEO of Fundrise. We discuss the various opportunities and risks he sees for real estate and stock investors over the next 12-24 months.
For the several years that I’ve known Ben, he has always demonstrated a more measured outlook than other CEOs and investors I’ve spoken with. Like me, he’s in his mid-40s and went through the 2000 Dotcom bust while working in tech. Then he experienced the real estate downturn starting in 2008 while working in real estate.
As a steward of capital, I would rather have someone who is more cautious than someone who is not. We are more interested in hitting singles and doubles on our way to financial independence rather than home runs. Avoiding major blowups is one of the keys to being a successful long-term investor.
I also like Fundrise because we both believe in investing in the Sunbelt region. In 2016, I wrote the post, Focus On Trends: Why I’m Investing In The Heartland Of America. My thesis was that Americans would “spread out” to lower-cost areas of the country thanks to technology. Today, Fundrise predominantly invests in residential and industrial real estate in the Sunbelt region.
Fundrise was founded in 2012. It is a vertically integrated private real estate platform that manages over $3.3 billion in equity for over 400,000 investors.
Since 2016, I have invested $810,000 in various private real estate funds and individual deals. My main goal is to diversify away from expensive coastal city real estate and earn more passive income.
Listen To The Podcast Episode With Ben Miller, CEO Of Fundrise
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I hope you enjoy this deep-dive episode with Ben Miller. Fundrise is a proud partner and sponsor of Financial Samurai. You can sign up for Fundrise here and invest with as little as $10.
Discussion Points:
- The history of the founding of Fundrise
- Savings and Loan crisis and its impact
- The pros and cons of being conservative
- Mental model for identifying and investing in mega trends
- Prediction of a recession in 2H 2024, “It’s not that you’re not active (in a recession), it’s what that activity is.”
- Why the Fed can’t do its job better
- Why there’s a window of opportunity to lend for construction loans and refinances
- Capital constraint, not opportunity constraint for lending deals
- Why the Income Fund looks the most attractive currently with a $10 minimum
- The launch of the Opportunistic Credit Fund with a minimum investment amount of $100,000
- Why investing in the right sponsor is everything
- Why it’s more attractive to invest in value versus risk today
Related posts:
Private Real Estate Crowdfunding Learning Center
Private Real Estate Investing: Seven Takeaways After Seven Years
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