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Independent Analysis on Real Estate, Alternative Investments, and the Macro Picture
This section shows the latest news and analysis from a sophisticated investor's perspective — written by Ian Ippolito, an investor and serial entrepreneur who has been covering real estate crowdfunding and alternative investments since 2017.
Coverage spans deal-by-deal portfolio disclosure, tax strategy, the macro and AI-era investing picture, and accredited investor and qualified-purchaser-level access to private funds.
No sponsor money accepted, by binding policy — every item here is from the perspective of what an independent investor would actually do, not what an affiliate site is paid to suggest.
How to Liberate Your IRA to Invest in Real Estate
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics Quick guide on self-directed IRAs and solo 401(k)s. And what to watch out for.. (Usual warning: I'm just an investor and not an accountant, financial advisor, tax advisor or attorney. This is my opinion only, and you should consult your own financial and legal professionals before taking any action on this or other financial matters.) Many investors have money in IRA retirement accounts that they want to invest in
Ian Ippolito
Nov 5, 20176 min read
Landlords using eRentPayment missing rent checks
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics Intermediary bankruptcy causes some landlords to reports tens of thousands of dollars in rental payments taken from tenants but not received. (Usual disclaimer: I'm just an investor and not a financial advisor or attorney. Consult your own financial professional before making any financial decisions). This is for those readers directly invest in residential real estate properties like I do. eRentPayment is one of
Ian Ippolito
Nov 3, 20172 min read
Want your nominations for best funds and sponsors
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics The best of the best will be featured for all investors in the private section of the site. (Usual disclaimer: I'm just an investor and not a financial advisor or attorney. Consult your own financial professional before making any financial decisions). I'm taking your nominations for the following articles that will be posted to all investors on the private section of the site. All information will be kept confid
Ian Ippolito
Oct 28, 20171 min read
2020 Real Estate Investing Fund Honors and Reviews (for every-day, non-accredited investors)
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics Choices have exploded for everyday investors, making informed comparisons even more important than ever. (Usual disclaimer: I'm just an investor and not a financial advisor or attorney. Consult your own financial professional before making any financial decisions). IMPORTANT COVID-19 UPDATE: this info was posted before anyone knew we would be facing a global pandemic in the spring of 2020. So it may be missingcr
Ian Ippolito
Oct 27, 20171 min read
My Secret Weapons for Unearthing Great Rental Properties
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics Rent Range tool provides make-or-break rental and vacancy information. (Usual disclaimer: I'm just an investor and not a financial advisor or attorney. Consult your own financial professional before making any financial decisions). As I talked about in my recent article (A Sneak Peek Inside My 2017-2018 Real Estate Portfolio), my highest portfolio allocation (45%) is in residential rentals. In addition to producin
Ian Ippolito
Oct 12, 20174 min read
A Peek Inside My 7 Figure 2017 Real Estate Portfolio
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics How I'm preparing for the next recession with "quick" and "slow" investments. Note: this is an older version of this article series and there is another, newer update now available. Click here to view the master index which contains a link to the latest and greatest update (as well as all of the older updates). (Usual disclaimer: I'm just an investor expressing my personal opinion and not a registered financial a
Ian Ippolito
Oct 12, 20176 min read
2017-2018 Real Estate Crowdfunding Rankings and Reviews Released
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics Seismic changes have split the industry in two. (Note: this is the ranking for accredited investor options. Nonaccredited rankings will be coming soon.) Our annual in-depth reviews and rankings of the real estate crowdfunding industry has been completed, and the results are in. As usual, we gathered extensive information from the platforms themselves as well as from interviewing investors on their experiences.
Ian Ippolito
Oct 2, 20172 min read
Realty Shares Ends the Real Estate Crowdfunding VC Drought in a Huge Way
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics $28 million is first successful, major raise since at least early 2016. In the first few years of the Real Estate Crowdfunding industry, it seemed like VCs and angels were throwing more money at new platforms than they knew what to do with. As a result, the number of offerings in the industry exploded from just a handful to over 150 in a very short time. Then in early 2016, Lending Club, the poster child of fint
Ian Ippolito
Sep 18, 20172 min read
How to protect your financial life from the fallout of the massive Equifax hack
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics More than half of Americans may be seriously compromised. On September 7, Equifax announced that the most massive and severe hack of consumer data in American history had occurred from one of their websites. For 1.5 - 2.5 months, hackers stole the most sensitive information of 62% of US citizens (209,000):Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and in some cases driver's license numbers. In addition, th
Ian Ippolito
Sep 16, 20175 min read
Realty Shares exits the residential hard-money-loan origination business
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics Lima One announced that it has acquired the residential loan origination business of Realty Shares (which is sometimes called fix-and-flip). The terms of the acquisition were not publicly disclosed. Realty Shares intends to focus on commercial real estate instead, "sourcing and underwriting commercial deals". Some investors have previously claimed that certain residential loans were not performing (allegedly 84
Ian Ippolito
Sep 15, 20171 min read
Hackers easily stealing $ millions from investors and consumers -- using only a phone number
By Ian Ippolito · Last updated May 26, 2026 · Code of Ethics It took only 7 minutes for Jared Kenna to lose the nest egg he'd spent over 2 decades accumulating. As he watched in stunned horror, a hacker cleared out his PayPal account, bank accounts and bitcoin accounts as easily as flicking a switch. When it was finished, Kenna, who was an early participant in bitcoin, lost millions of dollars. He'll never see a dime of it back again. Your antivirus won't save you here Kenna
Ian Ippolito
Sep 15, 20173 min read
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