The first time Stella Han tried to raise $1 million to purchase a rental property, “it was an absolute sh*t show,” she admits. Even though numerous friends and family members promised to pitch in, once the down payment was due, people ghosted her. The deal collapsed, costing her $55,000 in lost deposits and lawyer fees. Surely, she thought, there had to be a better way.

She found it in an unexpected place: investment clubs. “I was in clubs for stocks, crypto, and startups,” she explains. “That was my lightning-bolt moment: Why doesn’t anyone have investment clubs for real estate?”

Han started one. She called it Goldflower, invited 35 friends and family, and together they searched for their first deal: a $2.5 million, 20-unit multifamily property near Atlanta. This time, since all members had agreed to pool resources and review deals together, the purchase panned out. The property remains a cash cow in Goldflower’s portfolio to this day.

Since then, Han has joined other clubs, each with its own MO: Amigos Investment Club focuses on fix-and-flips and runs on the motto “Amigos don’t let amigos invest alone.” The Mile High Club targets land development and calls its members “copilots.” The Reverie Club restores boutique hotels. All embrace a “teamwork” approach that requires little experience or capital to join, making real estate clubs a popular gateway where beginners can learn, earn, and make friends along the way.

“We used to teach a course on investing, and our students kept asking, ‘I’m not ready to buy property myself. Can I just go in on whatever you guys are doing right now?’” says Brian Davis of real estate co-investing club SparkRental. “People come for the low minimum investment—$5k—but stay for the group vetting. It really helps to have 50 sets of eyeballs on an investment.”

How to join a club: Beware, “many syndicators abuse the term ‘real estate investment club’ to refer to their email list of investors,” says Davis. “That’s not a club: It’s a marketing list.” Others stop at education and don’t form joint LLCs to invest in deals. “And I totally get why: It’s easier just to introduce investors to operators and let them take it from there,” Davis says.

To help get more clubs off the ground, Han founded Fractional, an app that helps people join or start clubs and avoid legal pitfalls. One common mistake, she says, is asking for capital on social media. “Marketing investments publicly isn’t allowed unless you’re structured as a 506(c),” she explains.

Clubs, however, sidestep this problem because they’re built on shared participation and collective decision-making. “There’s no ‘you promised me this’ dynamic,” says Han. “People accept reality and switch to problem-solving.”

Where home prices are heading: The BiggerPockets Pulse survey predicts a mixed bag—up in some states, down in others. Find out where your market stands.

Rates below 6% have arrived. The average rate for a 30-year mortgage dropped to 5.99% on January 9—the lowest in nearly three years—after President Trump ordered the government to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds. But will these lows stick? Here’s a forecast of where rates may head next.

Fed under fire: Here’s how the Trump administration’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell could impact mortgage rates and bring back another threat we’ve almost forgotten.

Feeling lucky? Betting platform Polymarket and housing data firm Parcl are turning property prices into a spectator sport, allowing users to wager on whether values will rise or fall in certain cities. Here’s what to know if you’re tempted to place a bet.

🧊 Just chill: Behold, California’s newest “fridge law” ends bizarre right of passage/renter nightmare for many Angelenos.

Think you’d be happier in a bigger house? Surprising research suggests that adding square footage can hurt what matters most: your friends and family.

Drink to that: One man spent $61k to install a feels-like-Christmas-year-round pub in his backyard. Spoiler: You’re going to want one, too.

2026’s hottest market: Competition is expected to be fierce in Hartford, CT, where 66.4% of homes sold over asking price last year, according to Zillow. But properties in the Insurance Capital of the World are still affordable, averaging $381,760. And America’s second-hottest market is over $100k cheaper. Check out what you’ll pay in the top 10 hottest markets.

What does it take to rebuild a house ravaged by fire? Mitch Coluzzi has brought several back to life, including this three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Des Moines, IA, destroyed by a kitchen fire. What was it like? Hear him out.

Q: What inspired you to take on this wreck of a house? “We acquired the home for $8,600 after the homeowner grew frustrated with the insurance process; the city also rewards redevelopment with a tax abatement. We demolished the damaged sections down to the foundation and rebuilt for $150,000, and just listed for $274,900.”

Q: What are the biggest challenges? “The smell is almost always the biggest issue. Getting charred wood replaced is critical. And if the fire was put out with water, the house may have mold growth. The rest of the house, even if unaffected by water/fire damage, will be riddled with smoke damage that lingers. HVAC ducts should be replaced if possible versus cleaned; it’s almost impossible to get the soot and smell out of the nooks and crannies. Lastly, there is a strong chance that sewer and water lines got blocked with debris or froze while the heat was off.”

Q: Are homes damaged by fire decent investments since they’re so cheap? “For the average buyer, no. These are complex projects, even for us. Oftentimes, there’s stigma attached to the property. Most states require disclosure of a fire in a house, and they can be hard to insure. Most banks will not lend on these projects because they have a ‘nuisance’ order, meaning the city wants them torn down. As an investor, you need to show up on an expert level to make this a profitable venture.”

Q: What advice do you have for rebuilding after a fire? “Permit-wise, it’s typically better to seek a renovation permit versus a new build, but houses that have caught fire typically lose their occupancy certificate. This means that almost everything needs to be brought up to current code. And let’s be honest, if it burned once, we want to make sure it never happens again, so updating makes sense. It’s easy to cover up fire damage temporarily, but it will come back if not handled right.”

Check out more photos of this extraordinary transformation here.

This week, we’re heading to Cleveland.

Average home price: $109,291 (down 1.3% YoY)

Homes that sell over list price: 31.1%

Homes that sell under list price: 55%

Average rent: $1,299

Lay of the land: “Cleveland is still one of the few big US metros where the numbers actually make sense for investors,” says Itay Simchay of Proven House Buyers Cleveland, who has bought, rehabbed, and sold hundreds of houses here over the past 10 years. The city’s steady rental demand stems from a variety of industries, including health care, manufacturing, and education. “That’s a big reason the market stays stable even when other cities wobble.”

The pros: “Affordability is Cleveland’s superpower,” says Simchay, who recently purchased a house in the Maple Heights neighborhood for $77,000, spent four months and $45,000 on renovations, then sold it in November for $200,000.

The cons: Cleveland has some of the country’s oldest housing stock, averaging 65 years old. “Almost every deal we touch involves major systems: roofs, plumbing, electrical, foundation,” Simchay warns. Each neighborhood and even each block could have vastly different tenant profiles and rent levels, which makes underwriting and local knowledge matter more here than in trendy growth markets. “Cleveland is not a city you can ‘buy on paper.’”

Bottom line: “It’s not a ‘get rich overnight’ market, but if you’re an investor who likes affordable entry prices, solid cash flow, value-add opportunities, and steady appreciation, then Cleveland is one of the best markets in the Midwest,” Simchay says. “If you skip due diligence, the market will punish you.”

Have a real estate market you’d like to highlight? Share it here, and we’ll feature it in the future.