view Loquidity’s deals online, investments are currently only available to accredited and international investors who are required to invest a minimum of $5,000 per deal. Elias says there are about 150 people already signed up to be potential crowdfunders.
In return, investors own a piece of the property through an LLC, and Elias says they also get a “preferred rate of return” of six to eight percent quarterly or annually, or up to 20 percent if there’s an exit. “Even if Loquidity goes away, investors still own the property,” Elias adds.
As for what makes the perfect Loquidity investor, Elias says it all depends on the risk profile: “The person looking to buy their own house is not there yet—we’re not competing with banks. But if you have experience fixing and flipping houses, we might be able to do a short-term deal.”
Right now, Loquidity, which has a team of six employees, is self-funded, though Elias says the company may seek outside funding if it grows. The fact that it took three months from its June launch date to get the first deal up on the website is likely due in part to investors not understanding the intricacies of Michigan’s crowdfunding legislation.
“Lots of people in the Midwest don’t understand what crowdfunding is, so we’re doing a lot of dog and pony shows to educate them on it,” Elias adds. “Midwest investors are a bit more conservative with their money, but that’s good. We hope the dam opens up after we close this deal.”
