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Property investing is traditionally a less accessible asset class for retail investors in Singapore. Investing in physical properties on your own is largely out of reach due to its high cost – often requiring a significant 5-figure downpayment and loans spanning 20 to 30 years.
Tempted by the lower entry point, many investors may turn to overseas properties. However, being able to invest a smaller amount alone does not automatically mean it is an attractive investment.
In fact, you will likely be far less familiar with overseas properties and have to put in time-consuming research and analysis to uncover good investment opportunities. Not only that, you also have to start navigating the complexities of local regulations, as well as manage the property remotely.
Fortunately, these barriers may be a thing of the past with real estate investment platforms, like MAS-licenced BigFundr, leveraging on technology to disrupt the property investing landscape.
Read Also: 5 Ways Singapore Investors Can Invest In Properties (Without Buying A Physical Property Yourself)
BigFundr Securitises Institutional-Grade Property Investments From S$1,000
Managed by an experienced homegrown team, and helmed by 25-year real estate veteran, Quah Kay Beng, BigFundr pools investor capital to level the playing field and democratise institutional-grade real estate investing for everyone.
With on the ground real estate investment relationships with property developers and fund houses, BigFundr specialises in packaging low-risk property loan deals in developed markets, such as Australia, Singapore and the UK.
Once BigFundr’s property investment team earmarks an investment opportunity, the potential deals pass through stringent evaluation by its separate Credit Assessment Team and Investment Committee. The Credit Assessment Committee of its parent company, Maxi-Cash*, also conducts an independent assessment before the deals are offered to retail investors on its platform.
Approved deals are packaged into bite-sized real estate-back loans – offered to investors from as little as S$1,000. Detailed information on the project is also provided to investors so they have full transparency on the deal.
This has enabled retail investors in Singapore to access a high-quality property investment portfolio that were once exclusive to institutional and accredited investors – who had to invest close to S$200,000.
What Investors Can Expect When They Invest In BigFundr’s Real Estate-Backed Loans
BigFundr offers real estate-backed loan investments rather than equity investments. This means your capital is backed by physical properties – and the loan structure you invest in typically holds the first legal charge on real estate. Moreover, the investments typically mature over a period of 6 to 12 months.
On the BigFundr website, you can preview a comprehensive list of past real estate-backed loans on its platform. Since its founding in 2021, BigFundr has collateralised more than 164 real estate-backed investment opportunities – with zero instances of non-performing loans to date.
Taking a recent example of a recently concluded S$4.49 million, 12-month real estate development project to develop a medium scale residential apartment consisting of 66 units in Gold Coast, Queensland, with communal facilities such as a Boat Jetty, Swimming Pool and Barbeque Pits and Carparks.
We can also see where the residential complex is situated – approximately 5 kilometres from central Surfers Paradise and 6 kilometres north of the Southport Central Business District (CBD).
Detailed information of the project, which is now fully funded, was made available to potential investors in November 2024 – who can choose to invest in the deals based on your preferences.
While the investment was a “new” deal for investors on the BigFundr platform in November 2024, the project was already 92% completed by that stage.
On top of the assurance of being so close to completion, the viability of the project was also proven with 106% of pre-sales debt cover.
Investors for this project may earn between 6.1% and 6.6% net interest return from their investment, and received monthly returns over the nine-month investment tenure.
BigFundr Prioritises Safe Investments Providing Multiple Layers Of Protection
When he started up BigFundr, CEO Quah Kay Beng, had a vision to “bring institutional-grade investment to the masses”. The investments offered on BigFundr’s platform today were only accessible by institutional investors or accredited investors who could put up at least S$200,000.
Another goal of his was to provide low-risk real estate-backed debt investments that offer returns superior to fixed deposit rates. The biggest selling points of BigFundr’s real estate-backed loans are that investors can access a relatively new asset class and the layers of protection it offers.
Protection #1: Real Estate Acts As Collateral
Investments on the BigFundr platform are backed by real estate as collateral. This means that if a property developer defaults on its interest or principal repayment, BigFundr has the first legal charge on the real estate.
BigFundr can recover the funds owed to it – and its investors – through property liquidation. In the situation of a liquidation, it may also be likely that the property may have to be sold prematurely – potentially affecting its valuation. This risk is mitigated as BigFundr caps its initial loans to 70% of the real estate valuation.
Protection #2: Personal Guarantee By Borrower Entity
In an extreme situation where the 70% cap on LTV ratio is still insufficient to recover all of its investment funds, BigFundr will be able to fall back on a personal guarantee, that it always obtains as part of the deal selection process, from the borrowing entity to make up for any shortfall.
Protection #3: Buy-Back Provision By Fund Management Companies
BigFundr does not have to necessarily hold the real estate-backed loan investments from start to finish.
Instead, it works out a suitable holding period – and works with Fund Management Companies to arrange a buyback on the loans at an agreed date in the future.
The Fund Management Companies that BigFundr work with are large and established, and typically have between S$1 billion to S$3 billion worth of loans under management.
Invest Hassle-Free And Worry-Free In Properties
BigFundr makes it possible for investors to invest in real estate-backed loans without having to own physical properties or do any of the heavy-lifting in uncovering lucrative property investments overseas.
Its experienced management team has a network that enables it to continuously offer new real estate-backed investments on its platform each month.
At the same time, there’s no requirement to roll-over your funds into every investment. You can read and understand the investment merits of each deal, before choosing to invest or not to invest.
You can also rest easy, knowing that your real estate-backed investments as safe. To-date, BigFundr has achieved zero defaults, zero delays for any of the over 264 deals offered on its platform.
In the unfortunate scenario of a default, investors can rely on BigFundr’s robust protection layers – ensuring you will receive both interest and principal payments in a timely fashion.
Best of all, you can start investing in these real estate deals from just S$1,000, instead of the S$200,000 sticker price previously offered to only institutional investors and accredited investors.
Find out more about BigFundr’s real estate-backed loans. DollarsAndSense readers who sign up for a BigFundr account with the promo code FIRST2025 will get an additional 0.5% interest when you invest in a deal.
Each deal will be funded on a first-come, first-served basis. This promo code is valid until from 16 April to 16 May 2025. This promo code cannot be used in conjunction with any other codes or promotions and is limited to the first 1,000 redemptions.
*Maxi-Cash Capital Management Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aspial Lifestyle Limited, an SGX-listed company.
