addy Invest Review

When it comes to investing, real estate tends to be one of the most lucrative options. But, let’s be honest. Real estate is expensive and property prices just keep getting higher and higher during the pandemic. Many people now assume that investing in real estate is out of reach but that may no longer be the case thanks to a new tech start-up, addy. For as little as $1 (plus the $25 annual fee), you can invest in real estate. Interested? Read my addyinvest.com review for the full details.

How does addy work?

While the idea of real estate investment being accessible to all sounds great, how does it actually work? The process can be broken down into 3 steps.

Step 1: addy will identify a real estate investment opportunity. The addy acquisitions team, investment committee, and Board of Directors (which all have plenty of experience in the real estate industry) make the investment decision.

Step 2: addy then divides the investment into $1 increments. So, for example, a $500,000 investment would then be 500,000 units each valued at $1.

Step 3: Those $1 units will then be sold on the addy platform. Investors can decide how much they would like to invest. They can choose to invest as little as $1 or go up to $1,500.

addy’s mission is to enable every human to own property by reducing the barrier to entry down to $1.

How much does addy cost?

addy has two membership types. Charter members pay $25 a year and gives you access to all properties. There’s also a Believer membership that’s $500 for 5 years which gives you some extra perks.

As for how much you can invest, as I mentioned above, addy allows investors to invest as little as $1 or up to $1,500 per property. The $1 minimum is to help remove any investment barriers and they have placed a cap on investment amounts in order to enable more investors and keep it accessible. If you would like to invest more, you can choose to invest in more properties.

When you do choose to invest, there are GP (General Partner) fees. The General Partner is the group responsible for finding the property, managing it and focusing on the outcome. The fees a GP charges include:    

  • Asset management fees
  • Acquisition fee
  • Management fee
  • Mortgage guarantor fee

These fees will vary depending on the property and are broken down within the Offering Memorandum that addy provides.  The offering memorandum (OM) is the document that addy has pulled together that summarizes the details of this investment opportunity. Each property has a different estimated term, estimated return and estimated distribution schedule

How do I make money with addy?

There are two ways to make money with addy.

The first is by the sale of the property. In this case, when the property is sold any appreciation is divided up and paid back to the investors on top of the original investment principal.

The second way to make money with addy is via rental income. When the tenants of the property pay rent, any excess cash flow is distributed among the investors.

As mentioned above, each property has an offering memorandum (OM) which will provide the details of how this works for each specific investment property.

How do I get started with addy?

Ready to get started with addy?

Visit the addy website here and go to ‘Invest Now’.  You can read up on the different properties, look at photos, compare risk which ranges from core (conservative) to opportunistic (high risk), learn about the return schedule and more. When you decide which property you are more interested in, you can click the orange ‘Invest Now’ button. If you haven’t signed up for an account yet, you can do that next. If you already have an account, you will be asked to log in.

Once you have your account set up, have funded your wallet and are logged in, you will be presented with several due diligence documents as well as the offering memorandum (OM). When you have gone over all of this information, you will need to move your funds over from your addy wallet and sign. Once this is completed, you are considered an investor in the property.

addy also has a referral program so you can sign up via a friend if they’re already invested. Once you have your account, you can start referring people. Referring people earns you credits which can then be used to redeem for things such as swag, a mystery box, and even $2,000 in travel credit.

What is addy?

addy operates under the tagline ‘real estate for everyone’. Their goal is to provide an opportunity for everyone to get into real estate. To experience homeownership without having to also then struggle with the life-altering sacrifices that come with homeownership. Essentially, addy wants you to be able to have a life, enjoy that life, and still be able to afford to invest in real estate.

CEO and co-founder Michael Stephenson got into real estate investing in 2003 and he and his family have reaped those benefits. He recognizes that in the current economic climate, young people face more barriers than he did and, with the help of addy, he hopes to knock some of those barriers down and make real estate investing accessible to all regardless of income, age, or other conflicts.

Michael Stephenson and his co-founder, Stephen Jagger, realized that part of this issue was the lack of technological innovation in this field. So, they created addy, a technology platform that, in their own words, ‘seamlessly facilitates thousands of investment transactions into real estate deals previously unattainable to an ordinary investor.

Investment decisions are made collectively by the addy real estate team, investment committee and their Board of Directors which has a track record of investing in and managing real estate.

addy Invest review 3

What kind of addy real estate properties am I investing in?

addy is not a real estate investment trust (REIT) which means that the properties they choose and purchase are identifiable. You can see the address. You can drive by and take a look. Everything is transparent- you pick the properties that you are interested in investing in. You can take a look at current available and past investment properties here.

Can I sell my property to addy?

The addy acquisitions team is actively looking for a variety of property types for real estate investment purposes. You can learn more about what addy looks for when buying a property as well as the process on this page. If you want a more traditional selling experience, you could check out Properly.

Where is addy available?

At this time, addy is only available to investors in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. They hope to expand to investors across other provinces in the future. However, your province of residency does not affect where you can invest. You can live in Ontario and invest in Vancouver properties.

Curious where your province stands? Check out this page to learn more about how to unlock your province.

Is addy safe?

You have to treat addy like any other investment; it’s not safe but it’s also not dangerous. It is worth noting that addy is a co-owner in each property, so it’s in their best interest to make the smartest possible decisions. Not just to keep customers happy, but also to benefit themselves as well.

About Barry Choi

Barry Choi is a Toronto-based personal finance and travel expert who frequently makes media appearances. His blog Money We Have is one of Canada’s most trusted sources when it comes to money and travel. You can find him on Twitter:@barrychoi

9 Comments

  1. mdjg on June 12, 2021 at 10:49 AM

    for as little as $1 is deceiving. You need to understand that after you fund your wallet with Addy, you also need to pay an annual membership fee with Addy to be able to invest in their properties.

    • Cameron Rogers on July 4, 2023 at 9:12 PM

      Now the membership is optional. It comes with some nice perks but anyone in an eligible province can invest without a paid membership. (varies by deal but BC, AB and ON are always offered now).

  2. CS on August 3, 2021 at 11:27 AM

    Just like a lot of people, when I first heard the pitch …” $1.00 to invest in Real Estate “, I thought it was deceiving , it’s hard to fathom. However, I was ( still am ) very fascinated with this very interesting , unconventional but brilliant of an idea. Furthermore , having the option of investing in Real Estate for $1.00 is a no brainer. Granted, there’s a ” once in a year membership fee of $25.00 ” , it is ( my take , research your own ) a very low cost to pay as compared to all the rest of investment opportunities out there cause it’s a given that I just would not invest a $1.00 if I pay a $25.00 fee. I have 1 year to do the investing, how generous is that !
    Understanding addyinvest.com ‘s Vision : ” Real Estate for Everyone ” and their Mission : ” To enable every human to be a homeowner” … made me understood the reason why. For as little as a $1 …is not just a pitch, not an ordinary pitch; it tells a story of ordinary people or about anybody who has a $1.00 to start investing as $1.00 removes the “Barrier” because everyone has a $1.00

  3. Dr Donaldson on October 10, 2021 at 4:10 PM

    They need to make an app

    • Cameron Rogers on July 4, 2023 at 9:12 PM

      iOS app is available for the last year or so.

  4. James on February 17, 2022 at 6:57 PM

    Article was written on Feb 1, 2022 but these comments are from late 2021. How did the comments get there before the actual article, lol.

    • Barry Choi on February 17, 2022 at 6:58 PM

      James,

      The article was originally written last year but was updated earlier this month.

  5. Michael R on February 10, 2023 at 2:48 PM

    My question is for rental properties, if you say invest $100, how much per month are you likely (roughly) to bring in? In other words how long until you get your investment back?

    • Cameron Rogers on July 4, 2023 at 9:16 PM

      It all depends on the property. Some deals are cashflow oriented with regular distributions while others are developments where we can expect to get returns when the condos are sold or the commercial building is sold. Generally it is hard to get good cashflow from buying a piece of real estate in Canada (via addy or any other way) and most of the return comes from Capital Appreciation captured on sale.

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