Real Estate Without the Mortgage

Real estate has historically been one of the best wealth-building assets, but for most people, buying property is out of reach. Clearhold gives you access to real estate as an investment starting from a few hundred dollars.

REITs: real estate on the stock exchange

A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is a company that owns income-producing real estate: apartment buildings, shopping centres, warehouses, office parks. REITs trade on stock exchanges like ordinary shares.

By law, REITs must distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends. This makes them one of the higher-yielding asset classes available on public markets.

Real estate funds: pooled private access

Beyond publicly traded REITs, Clearhold provides access to real estate investment funds: pooled vehicles that own and manage properties directly. These don't trade on an exchange; instead, investors commit capital for a defined period and receive returns from rental income and property sales.

Historically the domain of institutional investors, real estate funds are increasingly available to individual investors at lower minimums.

What real estate adds to a portfolio

Real estate tends to have low correlation with stocks, meaning it doesn't always move in the same direction at the same time. During some stock market downturns, real estate has held its value or continued to produce income. This makes it a genuine diversifier, not just another bet on the economy.

The liquidity trade-off

Unlike stocks, some real estate investments are not easily or immediately liquidated. REITs can be sold any trading day; fund investments may have lock-up periods of months or years. Know your time horizon before committing.