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Alternative investment and funding providers for real estate are organizing and now have an association called REIFA. The launch event, REIFACON will be held at the Sheraton Gateway LAX in Los Angeles, CA August 20-23, 12014. Continue reading
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Aug 08, 2014 /prREACH/ -- REIFA and National REIA announce an upcoming event created to bring together non-bank alternative providers of funding and investments for the real estate investing community. This event will be held at the Sheraton LAX in Los Angeles, CA on August 20-23, 2014.
Funding from alternative providers in the form of Crowdfunding, Self-Directed IRAs, Private Lenders and Hedge funds has been rising dramatically to the point that nationally, less than 40% of all funding for investment properties is now by traditional banks and mortgage lenders. In order for real estate investors and the alternative funding providers to find each other and connect, National Real Estate Investors Association (REIA), with it's over 40,000 members, decided to create a separate sister non-profit trade association, Real Estate Investment and Funding Association (REIFA), to provide a trusted, inexpensive association to assist the investors and the funding providers to find and connect with each other.
According to Scott Whaley, president of both associations, the need for this new funding association became apparent when National REIA looked at the numbers of people who were bypassing traditional mortgage lenders and banks to fund their real estate investments. Upon closer examination they came to the conclusion that this shift in where the funding is coming from is not a temporary shift. Rather, it is an ongoing trend that is driven by technology, The Jobs Act, and the fact that in the absence of loan officers and traditional store fronts, time strapped investors still needed a way to find the best funding available. In turn the providers also need a trusted and unbiased third party to be visible and deliver education on their products and services. That's where REIFA steps in.
“Real estate investing is changing rapidly and part of that shift is a balance of power shift that used to favor creditors to one that requires collaborative equality between borrowers and lenders,” says Whaley. “There truly has been a fundamental shift in the realities of money and finance. Yet, the infrastructure and systems are playing catch up. The old style method of loan officers, storefront lending with their limited options has given way to alternatives and what can be called "custom money". This is where the customer or end user is calling the shots.” Whaley continues on to say that entrepreneurs are now the ones with the upper hand in a world that is short on legitimate investment quality opportunities. While on the other hand, in years gone by there were constraints on the amount of funds available. Now, there is as much money available from a number of new players like Self Directed IRA investors, Hedge Funds Private Lenders and Crowd-funders that was not available just a few short years ago.
As an example of how one of the most exciting new alternatives, crowd-funding is becoming more mainstream, Rebecca Burn-Callander of the Telegraph Newspaper wrote in May 2014 that Sir Richard Branson said he would have used crowd-funding to start his Virgin empire if it had existed in the 1960’s. The billionaire entrepreneur has said that crowd-funding has shifted the balance of power away from banks. Branson has recently invested in the crowd-funding platform Indiegogo.
According to Whaley, the launch of the REIFA event benefits investors and funders alike since business has been skyrocketing for both sides. The new alternative funding sources are simply responding to the existing demand from borrowers and investors instead of the old model where it was one-size fits all. He goes on to say, “People want their funding fast, easy, and with the right terms and amounts. We’re not inventing a concept but rather following the leaders like AirBnB, Lyft, and Amazon who have seen that we cannot afford to continue to try and do real estate and finance like it's 2004! The game has changed by virtue of technology, regulations (The Jobs Act), and no one can afford the obsolete, inefficient, slow, and expensive methods of the past."
For more information or to attend the REIFACON at the Sheraton LAX Los Angeles, August 20-23, 2014, please visit www.REIFACON.com or email the people at REIFA at [email protected].