Learn How to Benefit From Crowdfunded Farmland Investments

Welcome to April’s first issue of “The GowerCrowd Real Estate Crowdfunding Newsletter.” This week we’ve got a plethora of new deals, including a Boutique Hotel in California’s wine country from CrowdStreet and the Le Bon Climat Vineyard at AcreTrader, located in sunny Santa Barbara, California. 

We’ll also take a look at an article on MarketWatch, penned by Barbara Kollmeyer, that looks at how you can take a page from Jeff Bezos and leverage his investment strategy of investing in productive farmland through crowdfunding. Further continuing our California theme for the week, we’ve got a platform update on real estate investment firm CalTier Realty’s recent launch of a Regulation Crowdfunding investment raise with Rialto Markets. 

Finally, we’ve got a slight change to our normally scheduled programming, going forward we’re going to identify the most crowdfunding-related multimedia options each week. This new section of the newsletter will include podcasts, videos, and other forms of digital multimedia- because sometimes you just want to put on a podcast or a video instead of reading walls of text- we’ve all been there. This week we’ll cover a discussion with CEO and Founder of DiversyFund Craig Cecilio over at the Unconventional Life podcast. 

New Crowdfunding Platform Deals

Our first stop is the Sandman Santa Rosa Hotel, at CrowdStreet, a deal from sponsor Yang Capital Group that seeks to recapitalize a currently cash-flowing boutique hotel that sits in the heart of Sonoma County wine country. The deal currently has conservative financing already in place, as well as the contribution of the property at a substantial discount when compared to recent valuations. This hotel property has a targeted investor IRR of 17%, a targeted equity multiple of 2.1x, a targeted average cash yield of 9.4%, and a targeted investment period of 5 years. Check it out on CrowdStreet, here. 

Next up we’ll head down south, to the Le Bon Climat Vineyard in Santa Barbara wine country. AcreTrader’s Farm Analyst, Drew Lipke, and Director of Operations, Michael Iseman hosted a webinar and subsequent Q&A session this past Thursday, March 31. But don’t fear! You can watch a recording of the meeting here by registering for the webinar. This award-winning 83-acre vineyard sits on the world-famous Foxen Canyon Wine Trail and has a long history of top-tier wine production. 

It was originally owned by the late Jim Clendenen, a Santa Barbara winemaker who helped build the region into the winemaking hub it is today. However, you don’t have to take their word for it- many of the vintages offered by Le Bon Climat have scores of 90+ in Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast reviews. Sign up for the webinar and view the recording on AcreTrader, here.

General Crowdfunding Industry News

Farmland always has been valuable and barring some sort of revolutionary advance beyond even the scale of Norman Borlaug’s Green Revolution, it is likely to continue to grow in value. We’re seeing sky-high commodity prices in many parts of the world, with major disruptions predicted in grain markets due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. That, combined with an ever-growing population and an ascendant developing world, likely bodes well for the future of farmland investment. 

So it’s not surprising that heavy hitters like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and John Malone have vast holdings of farmland. These investors have access to almost any opportunity on the planet, like privately-funded VCs in Silicon Valley, but they choose to invest in productive farmland- find out why and how you can invest like the titans via crowdfunded farmland. Read more at MarketWatch, here.

Crowdfunding Platform Updates

California-based commercial real estate investment firm CalTier Realty recently launched a Regulation CF investment raise with Rialto Markets, a proptech company on a mission to build wealth for investors via the power of commercial real estate investment opportunities. The firm, which labels itself as a “disruptor” in the Silicon Valley mold, is seeking a $5 million investment raise. They describe themselves as providing “unparalleled access to commercial real estate investment, regardless of investor experience or starting wealth level.” The platform has seen tremendous growth over the past year, registering a 3,000% percent rise in user growth between March 2021 and March 2022. Read more about their plans for the future and this capital raise, here.

Multimedia Links (Videos, Podcasts, etc.)

We’ll finish off with a selection from our new section dedicated to multimedia like videos and podcasts. Financial journalism has its place- we’re kind of biased but there is a lot of value in seeing different opinions on perspectives when it comes to the markets. However, there is also a ton of value in hearing things straight from the horse’s mouth. 

This week, that horse is CEO and Founder of DiversyFund Craig Cecilio who spoke to the Unconventional Life podcast last week. They discuss what differentiates the average investor from the well-connected jet set, aka the 1%. Beyond that, he offers up a way that individual investors can leverage some of that magic for their own future. Give it a listen via Listen Notes, here.

That’s it for this week- but we’ll see you next week with more multimedia options, new deals, platform updates, news stories, and more. Ciao!