Origin Investments Review

Origin Investments Ratings at a Glance

Origin Investments Quick Summary

Each one of Origin Investments’ private real estate funds come with its own unique fees. You may need to pay an acquisition fee, an administration fee, an annual management fee and/or a performance fee depending on the fund you invest in. You can view each offerings’ fees on the asset offering page within their proprietary investor web portal.

The minimum initial investment to begin with Origin Investments varies by fund or asset. For example, you must be ready to commit at least $50,000 to get started with the Origin QOZ Fund. Origin Investments is only open to accredited investors.

You’ll have a very easy time getting started with Origin Investments — even if you’ve never invested in private real estate before. Some of the features we love from the Origin Investments platform include:

● Quick signups. Getting started with Origin Investments is exceptionally easy — we were able to open an account in under 5 minutes. Simply answer a few questions about your net worth and risk tolerance, enter a bit of personal information and receive your personal dashboard to begin exploring investment opportunities.

Quickly open an account and begin browsing investment opportunities in just a few minutes with Origin Investments.

● Comprehensive education center. We were particularly impressed with Origin Investment’s comprehensive learning section, which is available for free to all users and visitors. Browse articles investigating everything from the basics of real estate investing to advanced private real estate investing topics through Origin Investment’s website. Their learning center even includes a selection of pre-recorded webinars that allow you to learn along with the platform’s founders. Some previous webinar topics include “How Active Management Mitigates the Risk of Downturns” and “How to Play Offense in a Distressed Market Environment.” Education tools are organized by popularity and experience level, and every investor will be able to learn something before they open an account.

Educate yourself before you begin investing or open an account with Origin Investment’s free learning tools.

Origin Investment takes a more personal approach to customer service than competing investment platforms. When you sign up for an account, you’ll receive an email connecting you with your personal investment contact. Instead of linking you to a generic customer service center, you’ll be able to schedule one-on-one calls with your personal investment associate.

Origin Investments connects you with a personal investing associate — not a generic customer service line. You can schedule a call with your associate to get started as soon as you sign up via email.

In addition to personal calls with your associate, you can also contact Origin Investments using the following methods:

● Through in-platform messaging. To send a message to Origin’s team through your desktop platform, log into your account, click on the tab labeled “Contact Us” then click on the tab labeled “Investor Relations.” From here, you can submit your question or concern directly though the platform’s online messaging system.

● By phone. If you’d like to reach out to Origin Investment’s team by phone, call 800-628-8008.

Origin Investments is a real estate investment firm that owns and operates commercial properties. Investors have the option to pool their funds together with the company’s owners and other investors to invest in an income-creating, appreciating asset as part of their open funds.

Origin Investments isn’t just a real estate crowdfunding website. They are a private real estate fund manager that hand-selects real estate opportunities made available to outside investors through their open real estate funds.

Currently, Origin Investments offers three private real estate funds (the IncomePlus Fund, Multifamily Credit Fund and QOZ Fund II).

IncomePlus Fund

Origin Investments’ IncomePlus Fund is a growth and income-oriented fund that gives accredited investors access to stable, passive income. The IncomePlus Fund is evergreen, which means that it has no expiration date. However, it does offer periodic liquidity to investors who need to access their capital. This “fund and hold” strategy has proven tax efficiency and long-term wealth growth benefits.

The IncomePlus Fund currently includes 6 multi-family units with more properties in the pipeline. Each multi-family property contains between 120 and 409 units, and the fund generates income by maintaining the unit and charging rent. You can view asset, location and agreement information for each property in the fund directly through your Origin Investments account.

The IncomePlus Fund is structured as a limited liability company (LLC) with a real estate investment trust (REIT) subsidiary. When you make an investment in the IncomePlus Fund, you make your investment in the LLC itself, which owns 100% of the REIT. The REIT subsidiary allows you to invest in the Fund with your IRA or 401(k) without worrying about what you’ll owe in unrelated business income tax. The properties included within the Fund are owned and managed by the REIT, which distributes funds to investors based on the size of their investment. Origin Investment says that the IncomePlus Fund intends to target a total net return of 9% to 11%, inclusive of a 6% annual yield paid out in monthly dividends.

Multifamily Credit Fund

Origin Investments Multifamily Credit Fund is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that purchases highly rated bonds from Freddie Mac and generates returns for investors through annual interest. Origin’s solid history of lending with Freddie Mac and its well capitalized position makes it one of very few funds qualified to purchase these bonds from Freddie Mac. The founders carefully select B-rated K-deal and SBL bonds from Freddie Mac to maximize investor returns while minimizing risk.

In return for a $100,000 minimum investment, accredited investors can buy into a fund with a targeted net internal rate of return (IRR) of 8% to10% and a targeted net yield of 6% to 8%.  The investment has a 7-year hold period and offers investors significant tax benefits along with annual income. Shareholders in Origin’s Multifamily Credit Fund qualify for a 20% tax credit on all distributions because they are treated as passthrough income. 

QOZ II Fund

Origin Investment’s QOZ fund is no longer available. However, the firm is now offering investors the opportunity to buy into the QOZ II fund. This fund exists to build, own and operate A-rated multi-family communities in areas designated as opportunity zones (OZ). By focusing on designated opportunity zones, the QOZ II Fund is also able to offer investors a proportion of the tax incentives that come with building in an OZ. In addition to the anticipated return, QOZ II investors are not liable for any capital gains taxes on profits realized during the investment hold period. 

QOZ II is a growth-focused fund that targets a net IRR of 10% to 12% and a targeted net equity multiple of 2.25x to 2.5x. Investments in QOZ II qualify for 1031 exchange tax deferments as long as investors take advantage of the offering before the end of 2026. In order to qualify for the 10-year capital gains deferment on profit realized in QOZ II, investor capital must remain in the fund for the full 10-year hold period. 

Since its founding in 2007, Origin investments has gained a strong following among investors for its investor-friendly approach and ability to deliver reliable returns. To date, Origin is managing over $1.4 billion in assets and has historically offered an average IRR of 24% on all its investments. While that is no guarantee of future returns, and all investments carry risk of loss, this strong performance history makes both the Multifamily Credit Fund and the QOZ II fund options worthy of serious consideration from a wide range of investors.  

Source: Origin Investments Website

Origin Investments’ app is called Path by Origin Investments. You can use the same login information on the app as you use when you log into your Origin Investments account on desktop. The Path app is an extension of Origin Investments’ smarter real estate investing platform. Some of our favorite features of the app include:

● Investment tracking. Monitor your entire portfolio and track how your balances are changing over time with the all-inclusive Path by Origin Investments app.

● Browse private real estate investments. Just like on the desktop platform, you can browse and show interest in private real estate funds through the app as well. You can also browse past closed funds and swipe through legal and due diligence documents directly on the app.

The Path by Origin Investments app is available as a free download for both Apple and Android mobile devices.

Origin Investments allows you to leverage professional real estate experts, tax-advantageous and income-producing funds from one convenient platform. Origin Investments might be a particularly attractive option for investors who value more personal customer service options. Though the platform is only open to accredited investors, Origin Investment offers an easy and passive way to invest in real estate and see returns on your investments.