BulkEstate’s overview
BulkEstate features only real-estate projects. Interest rates typically vary from 14% to 17% (recent projects were more speculative than early ones); interests are usually repaid in full at the end of the loan, at the same time as the capital.
My opinion on BulkEstate
Detailed ratings
Interest rates
Loans liquidity
Reporting
Buyback guarantee
Website ergonomics
BulkEstate’s pros & cons
Pros
- Opportunity to diversify your portfolio by investing in various real-estate projects
Cons
- Limited amount of projects
- No monthly interests repayment
Loans characteristics
Loans duration
More than 1 year
Loans kind
Real-estate
Minimal investment
€50
Buyback guarantee
NO buyback guarantee
Currencies
Euro
Real-estate loans
Interest rates are usually between 14% and 17% for a duration of one year or less. There are usually only a few investment opportunities at the same time, with a large amount to invest in. It’s more or less the same situation as with Grupeer‘s loans; you don’t have to check BulkEstate‘s website everyday !
One important difference with P2P lending sites is that both principal and accrued interests are repaid at the loan repayment date; there’s no monthly interest repayment. The minimum investment is 50€, which is higher than for personal loans for example but rather common in real-estate financing.
The website provides a basic description provided for each project; compared to CrowdEstate, BulkEstate could provide further details. The SWOT (Strengths/Weaknesses/Threat/Opportunities) matrix, repayment schedule, company rating and risk profile comparison found at CrowdEstate would be welcome additions !
Buyback guarantee
The loans are not guaranteed. However, the value of the properties the loan is invested in helps mitigate the risks.
Platforms features
Secondary market
NO secondary market
Auto-invest
Auto-invest available
Secondary market
There’s currently no secondary market. BulkEstate is supposedly working on it, but didn’t provide any timeline.
Auto-invest feature
Opportunity to use auto-invest was added in April 2018. It’s really easy to configure it; the required inputs are maximum investment amount, minimum return and maximum term. Note that thanks to the small number of available projects, it’s still very easy to invest manually.
Website’s ease of use
Languages
English, Russian, Ukrainian, Estonian, German
Funding methods
Account funding
Initially, investors didn’t have the opportunity to fund their BulkEstate account; money had to be wired at time of investment. This could cause troubles if the transfer took too long, and was overall bothersome. Fortunately, an upgrade introduced the opportunity to send funds ahead of time, like most competitors allow.
However, one slightly annoying aspect remains. Before transferring money, it’s mandatory to generate an invoice on BulkEstate’s website, by inputting the transferred amount ahead of time. This is slightly inconvenient, and apart from Crowdestor, no other platform requires it.
Website’s design and ergonomics
I was initially not very satisfied with the usability of BulkEstate‘s website. However, things have improved and it’s much more pleasant to use now. The translations have also improved, although they’re still not perfect.
Reporting
The investments list is rather basic, providing very little details; however, it has improved as BulkEstate added new features. For example, it’s now possible to view the payment schedule, although it actually has to be downloaded as a PDF file.
On the other hand, the low number of loans and basic repayment structure partially compensate this lack of details.
Actual performance of my BulkEstate portfolio
As my investments don’t yield interests monthly, it’s too early for me to compute an XIRR.BulkEstate’s competitors
BulkEstate’s facts and figures
Location
Riga, Lavia – Tallinn, EstoniaNumber of investors
2 245As of December 2018
Who can invest
Any company or any person over the age of 18 can invest in any of the active investment opportunities on the BulkEstate platform.BulkEstate FAQ
Disclosure
Please note that this review may contain affiliate links. It means that I will earn a commission if you decide to invest after clicking through the link – at no additional cost to you, of course -. Please understand that I have experienced all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the commissions I make if you decide to invest through my links.
Hello,
I find it very profitable real estate platform, however it lacks some features (reports, etc) in the platform as you mentioned. The volume of loans is very small, I think they do not generate any profit at least until now, they should increase it. One more thing, are you sure it is not backed by real estate collateral? I got the answer from them half a year ago.
Do I understand it right that you offer only mortgage backed loans? Who is responsible for collecting default loans? Did you have any default loans yet?
Yes, we only provide loans, if these are secured by a real estate mortgage. All investment projects are carefully selected before made available to our investors. Every Bulkestate deal goes through a rigorous and consistent evaluation process by Investment committee, which is a team of highly experienced real-estate, investment and finance experts. Bulksestate’s partner in evaluation process is BDO – an international network of public accounting, tax and advisory firms.
Bulkestate holds all mortgages and executes them if loans are defaulted. Luckily, we have not encountered any defaults. Procedures will depend on situation. If there will be problems to repay the loan, we will work very closely with the debtor to understand the situation and find the best option for all stakeholders. In most cases, we will aim to achieve a negotiation solution and avoid direct take-over of properties, but that will be done only if necessary.