Large real estate equity and debt transactions are traditionally
funded by large institutions such as REITs and life insurance
companies investing in companies or joint ventures with only one or
two investors. At the other end of the scale, historically a local
real estate developer or investor might attract funds from a
handful of friends and family members, using a limited partnership
structure or "sidecars."
Crowdfunding uses the broad reach of the internet to attract
small individual investments from a wide range of investors, many
of whom have never had access to direct real estate investments
because of the large individual commitments required.
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