THE THREE-BEDROOM, two-bath, split-level house in Fayetteville, Arkansas, looks like a perfect family home: charming brick exterior, lush front lawn, fenced-in backyard that's perfect for hosting cookouts. It's on a quiet street with two schools and a Boys and Girls Club nearby. But this ideal family home has an unusual owner-or owners.
The property, these days known as the Soapstone, is "owned," in a roundabout way, by 102 investors who have collectively purchased just over $100,000 in shares through a company called Arrived Homes. The Soapstone is managed and rented out for $1,600 a month, a bit below the city's average rent of $1,795. Investors, who can buy in for as little as $100, get a cut of the profits.
And it's not just the Soapstone. Arrived, alongside a handful of other so-called fractional investment startups, is adding yet more noise to an already crowded real estate market. Investors can buy into hundreds of similar properties on the company's website, where each listing has an Airbnb-style profile that breaks down the neighborhood, costs, number of bedrooms and bathrooms and return on investment.
In addition to Arrived, there's Lofty AI, which lets people invest using a token system. Another company, reAlpha, sells shares in homes that serve as Airbnbs. Landa lets people invest in shares valued as low as $5 for houses around Atlanta or $20 for Brooklyn apartment buildings. Daniella Lang, a product marketer at the firm, says investors "see this as an American dream opportunity" that lets them build wealth in real estate. Anyone can click a button to invest-but that doesn't really make them homeowners.
Esta historia es de la edición July - August 2023 de WIRED.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July - August 2023 de WIRED.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
DeLorean vs DeLorean
Decades after her dad's iconic sports car time-traveled into movie history, Kat DeLorean wants to build a modern remake. There's just one problem: Someone else owns the trademark on her name.
THE BEHIND THE SCENES TECHNO-WIZARDRY OF ARATI PRABHAKAR
She has the ear of the US president and a massive mission: help manage AI, revive the semiconductor industry, and pull off a cancer moonshot.
11,196 YEARS IN PRISON
Faruk Özer made crypto seem like the sation to decades of economic dysimction. Then he became Turkey's most wanted-and hated-man.
THE FORENSIC EMPIRE OF ELIOT HIGGINS
As fakes and deceptions proliferate at record speeds, one guy has maintained a miraculous nose for the truth-the founder of Bellingcat, the world's biggest citizen-run intelligence agency.
THE COMMUNIST & THE CELEBRITY
CHINA MIÉVILLE WRITES A NOVEL WITH THE INTERNET'S BOYFRIEND.
DESIRED
WIRED's visit to the intersection of luxury and technology.
SCREEN SAVER
There are still nice things on the internet.
FIXER UPPER
Maybe you think they're majestic. Maybe you think they're an eyesore. No matter how you feel about wind turbines, there'll be a lot more of them in coming years.
DO THE MATH
Learn you a Haskell-the spooky, esoteric cult classic of programming languages
PRETTY IN PINK
Why did scientists put tangerine DNA in a pineapple-and can this Frankenfruit help change public opinion toward bioengineered foods?