Roofstock
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Author: Kaitlyn Short
Roofstock is building the world's leading real estate investment marketplace. The company's mission is to make ownership of investment real estate accessible, cost-effective and simple.
Roofstock's marketplace allows consumers to buy or sell a rental property with tenants already in place. Investors can purchase single-family rental properties (in their city or another market) or use the platform to build a diversified portfolio of SFRs.
Top Ranked Companies
The Good
- Free Sign Up
- 30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee
- Homes Already Have Tenants
- Matched with a Property Manager
- Fees
- Resources
Free Sign Up
Signing up for Roofstock is entirely free.
All you need to do to create an investor profile is answer a few questions. Once answered, Roofstock will develop a customized dashboard and property recommendations based on your profile.
30-Day Satisfaction Guarantee
Roofstock offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee to investors. This means, if you're not satisfied with the purchase, you can contact Roofstock, and they'll start the refund process.
Keep in mind that you may run into a few extra costs or fees, but the fact that you can even get a refund for a real estate property is practically unheard of.
Homes Already Have Tenants
One of the best things about Roofstock is that the homes they sell already have tenants. This is a nice perk for investors who want an immediate steady flow of income.
Matched with a Property Manager
With Roofstock, you can take advantage of one of the company's affiliated property management companies or act as the landlord/ property manager yourself.
We appreciate the flexibility Roofstock offers to consumers. It might be a good idea for clients who are new to the industry to work with an affiliated property management company. While more experienced clients may want to take on that responsibility themselves. Whatever the case, Roofstock allows you to choose.
Fees
Roofstock charges a marketplace fee to buyers and a commission to sellers, as follows:
- Buyers — $500 or 0.5% of the purchase price, whichever is greater. This goes towards services such as transaction support, certification and guarantees.
- Sellers — 3% of the sale price of $2,500 (whichever is greater) on tenant-occupied and vacant properties. This fee goes towards services for sellers, including certification, underwriting, consultation, custom marketing plans, and transaction management.
Resources
If real estate investments are something new to you, we recommend checking out Roofstocks blog, webinar series, and academy. The blog provides a lot of information and is an excellent resource for investing in real estate.
Roofstocks webinar series is another great resource for learning about market overviews and other investment information.
The Roofstock Academy provides one-on-one coaching from professionals, on-demand lectures, and support from your community of fellow investors.
The Bad
- Large Down Payment
- Risks
Large Down Payment
Investors who can't outright purchase a property will have to look into mortgage options.
While there are many lower-priced homes, a 20 percent down payment (along with closing and other costs)may cost you well above $20,000 in many cases.
Risks
You don't need to be an accredited investor to buy a property with Roofstock. However, we encourage all investors to do extensive research on all properties they are interested in buying. Unless you live close to the rental property, you are purchasing a house without seeing it. There is a risk that the pictures might miss something important, the neighborhood might be in decline, or a defect might appear after closing.
The Bottom Line
Roofstock is best for active investors who want to buy and sell actual rental properties. The process of working with Roofstock is simple; it's free to create a profile and submit an offer.
Roofstock's platform is great for new investors as non-accredited investors are welcome. Plus, investors can start earning passive income right away, as most of the homes on Roofstock already have tenants renting.
One thing to keep in mind is that your fees are determined by the property (or properties) you've invested in. This means you could have a fairly substantial down payment. Also, as a rental property owner, you'll need to have a savings account with some funds for unexpected repairs and maintenance.
