Some California residents may have long dreamed of being able to invest in commercial real estate. Previously, doing so was beyond the financial reach of most people. With the passage of the JOBS Act in 2012 and the advent of crowdfunded investing, commercial real estate is now in the grasp of a greater number of people.
The JOBS Act removed some restrictions on the advertising of securities offerings. When this happened, commercial real estate investment options could then be advertised. Crowdfunding became a way through which investors could then pool their resources to buy in to property, often with investments that were a fraction of the amounts they previously had to pay.
Commercial real estate properties provide multiple attractive benefits for investors. While other investment types may fall in value with inflation, commercial real estate may benefit from it to some extent. It also provides better diversification of portfolios and tends to provide higher returns. The tax benefits of commercial real estate also make it quite attractive as well. For these reasons, people may want to consider buying into the market with crowdfunding if they are unable to raise the massive amounts of capital needed for a traditional investment in commercial real estate.
Crowdfunding has also been seen as a boon to commercial real estate developers as well. With more restrictions being placed on bank lending practices and with credit in general being tighter, it is a way for some to have access to capital. There are still many restrictions and regulations on this type of offering, however, and those who are interested in how it works may want to meet with a business law attorney.