InRento review
7
(our review)
InRento is a Lithuanian crowdfunding platform for rental properties in Europe. You invest in residential and commercial rentals. In our review we rate it a 7. Projects look good, but with only 50 million euros in total volume, we find it difficult to assess whether the platform is capable of growing without any problems.
Please note: investing on the InRento platform involves risks; you may lose (part of) your investment.
Content:
What is InRento?
InRento is a crowdfunding platform from Lithuania where you can invest in rental properties. It is similar to other European crowdfunding platforms that focus on real estate investing. However, thanks to rental incomes, campaigns on InRento are often immediately profitable and not (only) dependent on sales profits.
The platform offers commercial as well as residential properties. It has only been around for a short time, but thanks to the acquisition of EvoEstate, which has been around for longer, it has a good network in various European countries. We think that InRento is an interesting platform, but the volume is still pretty low. Because of that, we are still somewhat cautious for the time being.
With a total investment volume of 50 million euros, it is too early to determine whether the selection of campaigns will remain sound as the platform grows. We do not know how it deals with defaults or other issues.
The platform can be compared to EstateGuru, Nordstreet and InSoil.
Offer
InRento features rental properties in Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Ireland and Italy. The latter is the newest addition to the platform’s network. The properties include a mix of apartments, houses, shops and small office buildings. Most campaigns include residential properties. All properties have tenants and because of that, they immediately generate rental income. Each project is covered by a first mortgage.
The way InRento selects campaigns is not entirely clear. The platform does not show a risk score or assessment of the campaign, as is the case with other platforms, like EstateGuru. The offer is still limited, and sometimes there are extended periods during which there are no new opportunities to invest in.
Registration
If you create an account on InRento’s website, you will need to verify your identity via Ondato. This is an external online service for the KYC process. By default, this service will use your laptop’s webcam. We found it somewhat challenging to maintain the correct distance from the camera. After switching to mobile verification, this became easier.
After registering, you will need to complete a short questionnaire about your experience with investing. This is mandatory under European regulations for crowdfunding platforms. After completing this, your InRento account is ready and you can choose a payment method.
Payment methods
You cannot transfer money directly to a bank account number from InRento. Instead, you need to create an account at an online payment provider. First, we tried to do that with Mangopay, but out passport photo was rejected twice, without explanation. Another option is the mobile app from Paysera. You need a Visa card for this.
To make payments, you will need to open an account with a separate payment provider.
User experience
At the top of the InRento dashboard, it displays a large photo. This made navigating the website a little less intuitive for us. It does not have an Auto Invest feature. If you want to invest, you can select campaigns manually. The overview page provides key information about each campaign, like a photo, city name, amount, interest rate and term.
If you click on the campaign photo, a pop-up will open with more information about the campaign. Additionally, it often features several phots of the property that you are investing in. Usually, these pictures look great. As you are investing in rentals, it is not about renovations or other improvements, but about spaces that the owner can use to earn money immediately.
It is not entirely clear where these photos come from. Sometimes they include a description ‘example of exterior’, which gives us the impression that these are fictitious photographs. The platform also provides information about mandatory insurance policies and the valuation report of campaigns.
Yields (and costs)
InRento pays out interest on a monthly basis. The amount is partly dependent on your investment. It uses a tiered system: if you invest more than 5,000 euros, you will receive an extra quarter of a percent per year. The average return is around 11.99 percent per year, at the time of writing. When a property is sold, InRento sometimes pays out an extra profit distribution.
If you want to sell your investment on the secondary market before maturity, you will pay a sales commission of 2 percent.
Reliability and supervision
InRento has a European Crowdfunding Service Provider (ECSP) license and it is supervised by the central bank of Lithuania. The platform is still quite small, but that to the acquisition of EvoEstate in 2021, it has more experience than you might think based on its founding date.
So far, the platform has not had any (major) issues with late payments. However, this also means that it is unclear how it deals with issues when they arise. For example, it provides little information about late payments or campaigns that are in deficit.
Campaign risks
As mentioned earlier, most campaigns already have a stable rental income and the platform always offers a first mortgage. This provides extra certainty for your investment. It also provides extensive documentation for you to assess on your own. You should be aware that property prices can decline, tenants can stop paying and selling the collateral can take a long time.
The platform provides extensive access to documentation.
Review score: 7
In our latest review, we rate InRento with a 7. We found the registration process, and especially the first payment, somewhat tedious. However, it is an interesting platform and the returns on rental real estate seem to be a good alternative to crowdfunding platforms that focus on business financing.
Currently, the offer is a bit limited. However, the platform does provide clear information on campaigns and offers guarantees like a first mortgage. If the volume increases, we expect that InRento can achieve a good diversification due to the fact that it is active in several countries. The fact that it offers commercial properties as well as rentable apartments and houses can also increase the diversification.
Because of the focus on properties that are already rented out, the risk seems slightly lower than with real estate projects that are still in development. However, the platform still needs to prove this with further growth. It is unclear how InRento deals with setbacks, as the volume is still very low and there have been no major issues yet.
