CityVest Review 2024

How Does CityVest Work?

CityVest is a real estate crowdfunding platform that gives accredited investors access to institutional opportunities. Specifically, it offers institutional equity funds and debt-based funds, and investment minimums for such funds fall much lower than the typical institutional real estate minimum requirements, ranging from $10,000 to $250,000.  

Unlike a real estate investment trust (REIT), CityVest pools its investors’ capital together to invest in different real estate funds. The company’s goal behind this is simple: position investors to benefit from the historically higher returns that come with institutional investing while sheltering them from the monumental investment minimums that commonly follow such asset classes. 

When you invest with CityVest, you’re buying membership interests or shares in an LLC that the company has set up. Both the real estate sponsor, the LLC, and each investor in the deal, according to CityVest’s website, “owns a share of a joint venture entity that owns a specific investment property.” It also carefully evaluates the real estate sponsors and investment managers who oversee these deals, and—in addition to the fees it charges—CityVest says it only earns money if your investment generates returns.

CityVest offers two investment options for accredited individuals.

Equity-Based Institutional Funds

If you’d like to make your money work for you through institutional funds (CityVest refers to these as “access funds”), the process for getting started at CityVest is fairly straightforward. The company divides the investor process into four steps: join, browse, invest, and benefit.

Once you join, you get to choose from among pre-screened real estate opportunities. When looking through these deals, you can access investment summaries, company documents (e.g., property financials, information memorandums, subscription agreements, and operation agreements), and more. 

Debt-Based Institutional Funds 

While the majority of CityVest’s opportunities are in equity-based commercial and apartment investments, it has also closed deals—thanks to its CityVest DLP Access Fund—in debt investments such as real estate-backed loans and secured mortgage loans. One drawback, however, is that in December 2023, the company’s website didn’t list any new funds (this applies to both its equity and debt deals) open to investors; the only funds publicly listed are those that have already closed. 

Key Features

CityVest not only extends its services to accredited investors, but it also offers options for real estate sponsors, funds, and institutional investors. 

Unfortunately, the platform isn’t available to non-accredited investors. Accredited investors can invest with as little as $10,000, but investment minimums can range up to $250,000. Plus, CityVest offers support for family offices and other institutions that want to invest at least $500,000. Users can additionally invest through self-directed IRAs, trusts, LPs, or LLCs. 

While CityVest doesn’t have a mobile app, the website is fairly simple, and the company offers multiple customer service options. 

As for investment earnings, the company says it pushes for target returns of 10% to 25% over the duration of the investment term. There aren’t any secondary market options for your investments, so in most cases you’ll be locked into the deal you bought into. This could be a downside for those looking to cash out when convenient.

There may additionally be opportunities for reinvestment since CityVest will reimburse 100% of your investment deposit if an investment’s funding target is not met.

Only U.S.-based accredited investors above the age of 18 can use the platform, but individuals who reside outside of the U.S. can also use CityVest as long as such use doesn’t violate their country’s laws. 

Fees

You can join CityVest and browse and research different opportunities for free. Investors can also select investments without fees. As for the investments, CityVest assesses funds with an annual fee of 0.75% of the investment amount. It also says it charges an additional fixed annual fee that covers features such as technology, listing, and reporting.

CityVest also notes on its website that there’s a reimbursement for accounting and administrative expenses. The company encourages users to look through their investment’s investor package and operating agreement for more information on applicable fees.

Transparency

CityVest’s website doesn’t offer much general information on how long investors can expect to hold their investments (users will have to explore different funds to gain further insight), but it’s clear that its investments aren’t for those who are looking to actively exchange various assets when convenient or cash out prematurely. However, some of its previously closed funds—such as the Trion Access Fund and the DVO Access Fund—had investment terms of three years and five to eight years, respectively.

Furthermore, when it comes to fees, the company is transparent about what investors can expect. While it assesses funds with a 0.75% management fee, investors can choose different funds without any fees. 

The company also makes an effort to keep its investors informed by providing important news, investment updates, and updates from the fund’s sponsor or operator. As for reporting, CityVest says it uses a third-party accounting firm to handle each investor’s tax and financial information.

Liquidity

Unless you’re investing in assets like REITs or real estate ETFs (both of which allow you to easily sell and cash out when convenient), you’re typically going to encounter real estate investments that are illiquid and require you to hold them for longer periods of time. And this is the case with CityVest. You’ll have to hold your investment until the liquidation date. This is because, according to CityVest’s website, the investments are classified as “restricted securities” and aren’t registered under federal and state securities laws. While this prevents you from transferring or reselling on a secondary market, the company says it’ll aim to help its investors find buyers of their investment interest if they need to liquidate before the realization of the investment.

So if you’re thinking of using the platform, be prepared to lock in your money for the duration of your investment term. The good news, though, is that there aren’t any restrictions or investment caps. 

Investment Selection

CityVest’s platform gives you access to institutional investments. The company primarily offers debt-based and equity-based real estate funds, so you may want to consider platforms like Fundrise, Streitwise, or Yieldstreet if you’re in search of REITs or other alternative investments.

Sectors and Domains

When it comes to CityVest’s offerings, the company lists a variety of fund types. The company mainly offers access to commercial investments and apartment-building investments, but it also offers debt-based investments. So far, it’s closed several deals, including (but not limited to) fund types such as multi-family properties, senior residences, student residences, workforce housing, real estate-backed loans, secured mortgage loans, and medical real estate.

Educational Offerings 

CityVest’s educational offerings fall in line with most real estate investing platforms, but unlike platforms like EquityMultiple and CrowdStreet, it doesn’t offer resources such as investment research and analysis webinars and educational videos. 

CityVest’s educational offerings include:

• Educational articles: The company offers a section on its website that includes guides on topics such as interest rates, crowdfunding, commercial real estate, and more.
• Learn Real Estate: In CityVest’s Learn Real Estate section, you can sift through more than 30 written explainers on all things real estate. 
• Glossary: CityVest’s investment glossary gives you access to more than 230 definitions of different investing topics.

Customer Support 

CityVest offers multiple options for getting in touch; these offerings stack up well against the competition since multiple platforms only offer either contact forms, message and chat features, or email.

CityVest’s customer support offerings include:

• Customer support phone number
• Contact form
• Support email

The Bottom Line

Overall, CityVest could be a good choice for you if you’re an accredited investor who wants to take a chance at earning higher investment returns through institutional funds. The platform targets attractive returns of 10% to 25% over the life of the investment, and it allows users to invest with self-directed IRAs, trusts, LPs, and LLCs.

While CityVest will reimburse your investment completely if a deal’s funding target isn’t met, it’s important to remember that its investment offerings are illiquid. Therefore, you’ll need to be prepared to lock up your investment for the long haul.

Why You Should Trust Us

Investopedia analyzed 19 real estate crowdfunding companies and scored each based on eight major categories and 38 criteria that are crucial in evaluating the offerings and usability of these platforms. We used this data to review each company for their fees, investment selection, transparency, and other features to provide unbiased, comprehensive reviews to ensure our readers make the right decision for their needs. Investopedia launched in 1999 and has been helping readers find the best real estate crowdfunding platforms since 2020.

What Is CityVest?

CityVest is a real estate crowdfunding platform that gives accredited investors access to institutional investments that would otherwise be solely available to those able to meet minimum investment requirements exceeding either hundreds of thousands of dollars, or millions. 

Is CityVest Legit?

Yes. CityVest was founded in 2014 by Alan Donenfeld, a financial services entrepreneur with 35 years of experience. In addition, the company keeps its users’ personal information safe by using 128-bit SSL encryption, and it carefully evaluates each investment opportunity submitted by real estate sponsors. 

How Does CityVest Make Money? 

While investors can browse the platform and select investments without fees, CityVest’s annual fee is usually 0.75% of the investment amount, and it charges another fixed annual fee. The company earns a fee based on your investment’s performance, and it says that there is a reimbursement of both accounting and other administrative expenses.

Who Can Invest in CityVest?

Those who qualify as accredited investors (i.e., individuals with a net worth of at least $1 million or those with an average yearly income of $200,000 [$300,000 for those with spouses or partners] for the past two years) are eligible to invest with CityVest. If you’d like to invest with the platform, you’ll also need to meet the $10,000 investment minimum requirement. However, investment minimums can also sit at $25,000 and span up to $250,000.

How We Review Real Estate Crowdfunding Platforms

To evaluate and review real estate crowdfunding platforms, Investopedia’s team of researchers, data collectors, and industry experts spent nearly two months conducting in-depth industry research, company survey data collection, and hands-on evaluations of 19 companies. We grouped the 38 criteria that we collected, like investment selection and minimums, holding periods, and curated portfolios, into eight categories. We then scored these criteria and weighted the categories to determine which real estate crowdfunding platforms are best for both accredited and non-accredited investors:

• Fees: 15%
• Account Services: 15%
• Investment Selection: 15%
• Liquidity: 12.5% 
• Transparency: 12.5%
• Sectors and Domains: 12.5%
• Customer Support and Usability: 10%
• Educational Offerings: 7.5%

Through this all-encompassing data collection and review process, Investopedia has provided you with an unbiased and thorough review of real estate crowdfunding platforms. Read our full process for more information on how we review real estate crowdfunding platforms.