Consumer-first real estate investment company Groundfloor has released a new app called Stairs to help anyone put money into a property, the company announced this week.
The app is available for iOS and Android mobile platforms and emphasizes the further democratization of real estate investing.
Stairs allows users to start with as little as $1 and “combines the best of traditional savings and investing,” according to a press release sent to Inman.
The company claims investors can earn an annualized return of 4-6 percent on investments into a secure pool of funds, 600 times more than the average savings account at a traditional bank.
In the release, Groundfloor CEO Brian Dally said that his company’s app is an extension of the mission to open direct real estate investment to everyday people.
“With the launch of the Stairs app, we’re taking another big swing to re-imagine how anyone can start saving and investing better, getting the advantages of investing in alternatives with the security of real estate backed loans,” he said.
Stairs connects to users’ banks for direct exchange of funds, allowing for regular reinvestment as well as an option for spare-change rounding after transactions.
Stairs accrues interest daily and repays every five days. Funds can be pulled from Stairs at any time without fee or penalty.
Groundfloor stated that its app’s beta test of nearly 2,700 users resulted in more than $4.5 million invested.
Groundfloor classifies itself as a wealth tech and has been in business since 2013 as a vehicle by which non-accredited investors could place money into “crowdsourced” financing for residential rehab projects and new developments. Its growth has been considerable.
To date, Groundfloor has garnered more than 100,000 registered users, surpassed $570 million in investment sales, and processed $1 billion in transactions, according to the company.
You can download Stairs from the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
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