If you’ve looked into real estate investment opportunities before, chances are you’ve come across opportunities that require you to be an accredited investor. But what exactly does being an accredited investor mean? Why are some opportunities only available to accredited investors? Do you qualify as accredited — or, if you don’t currently, could you in the future? We’ll break it down for you in this post.

Accredited Investors

The SEC defines accredited investors as those investors who fulfill at least one of the following criteria:

• Have an individual net worth (or joint net worth with a spouse) of more than $1 million, not including their primary residence
• Have an individual income of more than $200,000 (or a joint income with a spouse of more than $300,000) for the past two years and expecting the same or more this year
• Invest on behalf of a business or investment company that has more than $5 million in assets

Individuals meeting the above criteria are considered sophisticated enough to protect their own interests in financial transactions. They are also assumed to have enough funds in reserve to remain afloat should their investment(s) result in a loss.

Non-Accredited Investors

A non-accredited investor is thus anyone who does not meet the criteria outlined above. They do not meet the net worth or annual income requirements to be labeled as accredited by the SEC. As you may imagine, the vast majority of people fall into this category. 

Since non-accredited investors are not as experienced in investing as are their accredited counterparts, the SEC closely monitors and regulates the sale of investment securities to non-accredited investors to help protect them from fraud and misrepresentations.

Investment Opportunities for Accredited vs. Non-Accredited Investors

Accredited Investors

Because accredited investors are viewed as more savvy when it comes to understanding the ins and outs of financial transactions, they are afforded more leeway in the kinds of opportunities in which they can invest. Many of the most potentially lucrative investment opportunities also carry a correspondingly high level of risk, and have therefore traditionally only been available to accredited investors. 

Examples of such opportunities include:

• Hedge funds
• Venture capital and private equity funds
• Most real estate investments

Non-Accredited Investors

Selling securities to non-accredited investors, by contrast, is governed by many more rules and regulations. Companies interested in offering securities to non-accredited investors are required to disclose a large amount of financial information — both about the securities being offered and about the company offering them — on a regular basis so those interested in investing can have the necessary information to make an informed decision. 

As you can imagine, putting together the systems and processes necessary to create such regular disclosures is time-consuming and costly; as a result, many companies choose to bypass the regulatory requirements of selling to non-accredited investors and instead cater to accredited investors only.

However, recent changes in regulatory law has made it easier and more cost-effective for companies to begin offering securities to non-accredited investors. As a result, more investment opportunities — especially in the real estate space — are now available for non-accredited investors to take part in. 

Examples of such opportunities include:

• Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
• Real estate crowdfunding 
• Peer-to-peer lending (P2P)