Bricktrade the basics
Today we are going to be covering the basics of Bricktrade, a tokenized real estate investment platform that allows users access to investments which are typically only available to large financial institutions. With the power of blockchain technology and an all-star team of experienced team members and property professionals, Bricktrade allows users to invest with as little as £500 into top quality construction finance projects.
Bricktrade has been around since 2017, and was created out of a desire to satisfy a dual coincidence of wants: property developers want liquidity to build new projects, and savers want access to high interest opportunities for their deposits that banks are not able to supply. Bricktrade is focused on the UK residential property market, where the team has years of experience in evaluating top notch investment projects. The UK residential market has faced some of the same challenges as the rest of the world’s property markets, as many found themselves working remotely during COVID lockdowns with no real reason to live in a large city anymore. Those who are becoming accustomed to working from home have found that they need a larger home or office space in order to facilitate their new work environment. Similarly, as restrictions have been lifted, the UK residential property market and the city of London in particular have seen a large influx of people moving back to the Capital. With this influx of people moving back to the city and others requiring larger working spaces, new construction and renovation work is in high demand. That equates to a steady flow of new construction finance loans. That’s where Bricktrade comes in.
Typically, property developers seek out the services of a financial institution or large investor in order to secure financing for a new construction project. As you might imagine, the interest rates for these types of investments is typically quite high — much higher than what can be earned on a bank deposit. With Bricktrade’s novel approach to crowdfunding these projects, there is no need for large financial institutions, opening up the returns that they can earn to far more investors. Of course, with higher returns also comes elevated risk — deposits on Bricktrade are not covered by the FSCS, whereas a bank deposit is. Interest rates on bank deposits in the UK are at historical lows — 0.01% or below, and negative in real terms — whereas investments with Bricktrade can pay up to 10% interest on a project that is backed by real property. This innovative structure can help investors to diversify their risk into investments that were previously unavailable to them while earning an interest rate that is 100x better than those offered by banks.
Construction finance opportunities that Bricktrade provides are far different from other forms of pooled real estate investment, such as REITs, which invest in a basket of real estate in order to earn income from rental payments. REIT investors do not have any say over which properties they invest in — Bricktrade investors do, with granular data on each and every potential project available to them. Both pay out interest; however, instead of investing in a basket of properties, Bricktrade is focused on the construction of individual properties, with a charge placed on each site in case of default. Once a project has been completed, Bricktrade works with a partner company — Waterfront Estates — to handle the sales process. By this point,, Bricktrade investors have already been paid back their principal plus interest payments over the life of the project.
Interested in learning more about Bricktrade?
Visit the Bricktrade website: https://bricktrade.co.uk/
Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brick_trade?s=21
