My RealT Review : Honest review after 2 years and $10,000 invested

Key takeaways

• ✅ It’s concrete: Rents paid every week, no virtual speculation.
• ✅ It’s accessible: $50 to get started.
• ❌ It’s not without risk: The Detroit crisis and falling yields show that real estate remains a living market. Diversification is necessary.

I have been investing on the RealT platform since May 2023. If you’re looking for a field report, far from marketing promises, you’re in the right place.

The combination of Web3 and real estate can seem technical. Yet, RealT succeeded in making it simple with its “Walletless” mode which evolved into the RealToken Wallet. Practically, the platform modernizes wealth management by reusing the principle of investment funds (REITs) and applying it to tokenized real estate. Result? A powerful tool to reach financial independence thanks to compound interest and passive income.

Result? Passive income accessible to everyone, from $50, without traditional banking barriers.

To date, I don’t use any complex features, yet I have invested nearly $10,000 (the site’s primary currency) including the reinvestment of rents. Here is my full feedback on this leader in fractional real estate.

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My view on RealT in brief (2026 summary)

My investor profile: 71 properties owned | ~ $10,000 invested | Strategy: Passive income.

If I had to sum up my experience in a few points to help you decide:

✅ Real Strengths	⚠️ Points to Watch
✅ Weekly Income: Rents arrive every Monday (USDC). It’s addictive and tangible.	⚠️ The Detroit Crisis: Rents blocked on some specific properties (municipality dispute).
✅ Accessibility: Entry ticket at $50. Ideal to diversify little by little.	⚠️ Yield Decline: We moved from 11–12% to 8–9% on new properties.
✅ Liquidity: Resale possible via the YAM or buyback by the platform (3% fee).	⚠️ Currency Risk: You invest in Dollars ($). EUR/USD affects your income.

Secure registration on the official site RealT.co

My view on RealT at the start of 2026 is positive, but with clear reservations.

I built a fractional real estate portfolio composed of 71 positions. Several of my shares are already in capital gain thanks to the rise of U.S. real estate. The platform has evolved by offering new diversification products:

• Real estate pre-construction;
• Factoring;
• Debt with collateral.

Last year was complicated, marked by a volatile global economy and the influence of Donald Trump’s tweets. In France, political instability shook the markets. In this context, owning real estate in the United States proved very comforting (safe haven), offering greater stability compared to the turmoil of the French PEA.

⚠️ Point to watch: The Detroit crisis

Let’s be transparent: RealT is going through a turbulent patch. A dispute with the Detroit municipality led to the blocking of rents for properties located in that city. Team errors and a certain naivety toward local administration had consequences.

However, the founders’ reaction (the Jacobson brothers) strengthens my confidence: they compensated the first lost rents with their personal funds. If the rents from this dispute are probably lost, the crisis management shows the team is solid. For now, I continue to invest favoring other cities (Cleveland, Panama).

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RealT, what is it? Understanding fractional real estate

From classic investment funds to Tokenization

The concept of owning a fraction of a building is not new. For decades, Real Estate Investment Trusts (or REITs) have allowed individuals to buy shares of a real estate portfolio managed by professionals.

However, this traditional (“legacy”) model now suffers from burdens incompatible with the modern world: high management fees, entry tickets often reserved for large capitals, and above all very low liquidity (getting your money back can take months).

This is where RealT changes the game by using the Blockchain. By replacing old paper records with tamper-proof digital ledgers, RealT removes costly intermediaries. The result?

• Accessibility: You can invest from $50 (versus thousands for a traditional fund).
• Speed: Transactions are done in a few clicks.
• Transparency: Each “Token” (digital token) represents a real share of the company that owns the property.

Is it reliable? The team and legal structure

It’s investors’ question #1 (and it was mine). Is RealT a scam or a serious company?

Who are the founders?

RealT was founded by brothers Jean-Marc and Rémy Jacobson. They are not newcomers from crypto, but veterans of American real estate. They have been investing for over 30 years. Their strength? Anticipating Detroit’s recovery long before others.

The legal setup: LLC and Inc

Unlike vague crypto projects, RealT is based on firm American law.

• Encapsulation: Each house is owned by its own company (LLC – Limited Liability Company). If a house has a problem (fire, lawsuit), it does not affect the other houses.
• The Token: The token you buy is not a volatile cryptocurrency; it’s a company share. Legally, you are a co-owner of the company that owns the property.

This structure offers legal security far superior to simple classic real estate crowdfunding.

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How to invest on RealT: Practical Guide

One of RealT’s strengths is having built a bridge between two worlds: traditional finance and cryptocurrency. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, there is an entry point for you.

1. The Revolution of the “Realtoken Wallet”

One of RealT’s strengths is having evolved. Forget the old debate “Walletless vs Metamask”. Since the end of 2024, RealT introduced a major innovation based on Account Abstraction: the Realtoken Wallet.

What is it? (The best of both worlds) It’s a real crypto wallet (on the Gnosis Blockchain), but used with the simplicity of a classic banking app.

• Easy login (Social Login): No need to write down a 24-word seed phrase. You log in with your Google, Facebook, Discord or Twitch account.
• Advanced features: Unlike the old passive “Walletless” mode, this new wallet lets you interact with the DeFi ecosystem (YAM, RMM).

How does it work in practice?

1. You create your account on RealT.co via your Social Login.
2. An “Abstract Account” (your digital vault) is created automatically on the Blockchain.
3. You buy your shares by Credit Card.
4. You manage everything via: wallet.realtoken.network.

My advice: This is now the default method I recommend to 100% of new entrants. It combines blockchain security and Web2 UX (user experience).

To be completely transparent with you, the method I personally used for 2 years is the old Walletless version. I favored simplicity to secure my $10,000 invested. However, I plan to switch soon to the abstract account to unlock the advanced features (DeFi) described below.

⚠️ Warning: Golden rules of the Realtoken Wallet Even if it’s simple, it’s still crypto. Here are the traps to avoid with this new system (based on my analysis of the technical documentation):

• Gnosis network only: This wallet lives only on the Gnosis Chain. Never send Ethereum or Bitcoin directly to it, they would be lost.
• Be patient with transactions: The Web app acts like a remote control. Sometimes transactions via WalletConnect require juggling between two windows. Take your time, don’t click ten times.

2. The Expert method: The Gnosis Blockchain

For more advanced investors (or those who want to learn), RealT runs on the Gnosis Chain. Why this choice?

• Ridiculous fees: A transaction costs less than $0.01.
• Speed: Exchanges are near-instant.
• Real ownership: You hold your tokens with your own key (Self-custody).

💡 My tip: Even if you start in “Realtoken Wallet“, I recommend that you eventually create your own wallet. RealT acts as an ideal bridge into the crypto world. The Realtoken Wallet simplifies access, but switching later to a personal wallet will allow you to replicate this know-how on other investments. It’s a perfect first step to train before exploring the vastness of Web3 on your own.

Property management: 100% Passive

Once the Token is purchased, your work stops there. RealT delegates property management to local specialized companies (Property Managers, except in Detroit where they take over with their own management company). They find tenants, collect rents and handle repairs. On your side, you receive your share of net rent (after charges) every Monday. It’s a Swiss clock. Rents are paid in USDC (a stablecoin pegged to the Dollar), which you can reinvest or transfer to your bank account.

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Catalog analysis 2026: Yields and Quality

Unlike classic funds (REITs) where you buy a blind “basket”, RealT allows you to pick your assets (“cherry picking”). You choose precisely which building you invest in. But beware, the reality of the numbers has changed.

1. The reality of Cash-flow in 2026 (Why is it falling?)

Here is where many opinions are out of date. When I started, you could find headline yields of 11% or 12% in Detroit. Today, the distribution rate is rather between 7.7% and 9%.

Why this decline? It’s not an arbitrary decision, but the mechanical consequence of market and catalog evolution:

1. The explosion of prices in Detroit: This is the main reason. Property prices rose following the city’s economic recovery. Mathematically, when a house’s purchase price increases while rents rise less quickly, the rental yield (as a percentage) falls. It’s a sign that the initial bet on the city’s recovery worked: your tokens gain value, but the yield at purchase “normalizes”.
2. The arrival of Chicago and “Multi-Family”: In its new expansion areas, notably Chicago, RealT offers more multi-family buildings, unlike the single-family homes of Detroit.
   • The advantage: If one tenant leaves in a 6-unit building, the other 5 continue to pay. The vacancy risk disappears.
   • The trade-off: These more resilient buildings in more mature markets naturally offer slightly lower yields than the Single Family Homes in developing neighborhoods.

My finding: I now prefer to earn a calm 8% on assets whose value rises or whose tenant risk is diluted (Multi-Family), rather than targeting a theoretical 12% in an area that’s too volatile.

2. Internationalization and diversification

Since 2024, the catalog has expanded to reduce geographic risk (not putting everything in the same place in the USA). You now find:

• Panama: High-end properties, often seaside.
• Vacation real estate: Properties like Airbnb, offering seasonal yields.
• “Debt” products: You don’t finance the purchase of the property, but a loan secured by real estate. The risk is different and often more secure.

And Europe? That’s the question everyone asks: when will properties in Spain or Germany appear? RealT has received and studied many proposals in the Old Continent. However, prudence remains the watchword. Legal obstacles concerning the “tokenization” of a company remain complex in Europe. For now, investing in European real estate is not planned short-term, the team preferring not to take any legal risk.

Surprise to come: The Middle East If Europe drags its feet, another geographic area could arrive very quickly in the catalog: the Middle East. This region currently shows strong interest in tokenization and digital assets. Proposals are under review and it is very likely that new real estate assets located in this area will be offered soon.

3. The power of compound interest

This is the secret of my performance. With rents paid every week (not quarterly), you can reinvest your earnings immediately. Mathematically, a yield of 8–9% per year, if compounded weekly, ends up far exceeding the displayed performance thanks to the snowball effect.

But this mechanism is further amplified by another factor: rent increases relative to your entry price. This is called “Yield on Cost”.

To illustrate this, here is a comparison on a selection of RealT properties, between the yield announced at initial sale and the actual yield they generate today

Property	Initial Yield (at purchase)	Current Yield (on purchase price)
19539 Hickory	10.08%	17.41%
19136 Tracey	11.00%	14.75%
10974 Worden	11.54%	12.28%
10862 Marne	10.26%	12.08%
18624 Hamburg	9.01%	11.35%
14574 Strathmoor	9.58%	10.62%
18286 Oakfield	9.24%	10.18%
11093 Nashville	9.12%	8.60%

(Note: The “Current Yield” column corresponds to today’s net rent divided by the initial listing price).

What does this table teach us? It shows that the yield displayed on the day of purchase is not fixed.

• Look at Hickory: sold with an expected yield of 10%, it now delivers more than 17% per year to those who bought it at launch.
• It’s the magic of well-managed tokenized real estate: your purchase price stays fixed in the past, but rents can increase, mechanically boosting your profitability year after year.

4. The icing on the cake: Revaluation (Capital gain)

People talk a lot about weekly rents, but often forget the second engine of wealth: the property’s appreciation.

Once a year, RealT has its properties appraised by an independent firm.

• If the neighborhood’s real estate went up, the property’s value is updated.
• Mechanically, the price of your Token increases.

Instead of giving a theoretical example, here is the real data for a selection of properties. This table compares the total acquisition cost (including fees) to the current appraisal value.

Property	Year of purchase	Acquisition Cost	New Net Value	Unrealized Gain
19136 Tracey	2021	$61,260	$98,554	60.88%
19539 Hickory	2022	$60,768	$95,879	57.78%
11093 Nashville	2024	$77,617	$103,899	33.86%
10862 Marne	2023	$70,406	$91,804	30.39%
18624 Hamburg	2024	$78,461	$102,233	30.30%
10974 Worden	2020	$69,667	$82,972	19.10%
18286 Oakfield	2023	$59,964	$61,900	3.23%
14574 Strathmoor	2024	$93,573	$96,511	3.14%

(Note: “Unrealized Gain” represents the capital gain if the property were sold at the current appraisal price).

What these numbers tell us: This capital gain does not appear in your bank account every week like rents, but it builds your wealth silently.

• On properties held for 2 or 3 years (like Tracey or Hickory), the market rise generated nearly 60% gain.
• Even on very recent acquisitions like Nashville (2024), valuation jumped by +33%. This often happens when RealT buys run-down properties, renovates them, and the final value after works far exceeds the total cost invested.

It’s an “invisible” enrichment as long as you don’t sell, but extremely powerful.

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RealT in France: Where do we stand?

The failed Wiseed partnership

A few years ago, the announcement of a collaboration between RealT and the French crowdfunding platform Wiseed generated great enthusiasm. This project aimed to offer real estate investments on French territory using RealT’s technology.

However, it seems that acquisition prices would not have allowed guaranteeing sufficient profitability for investors. This project was ultimately abandoned. In addition, Wiseed was recently acquired following financial difficulties, sealing the definitive abandonment of this partnership.

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DeFi and the RMM: Understanding the finance of tomorrow

This is where RealT pulls away from any other real estate investment worldwide. It’s a bit technical, but follow me — it’s a powerful tool when used correctly.

1. What is the RMM?

The RMM (RealT Market Maker) is a decentralized finance (DeFi) service. To put it simply, imagine a bank without a banker, entirely managed by a computer protocol (AAVE). In this bank, you can:

• Deposit your houses (RealT Tokens) as collateral.
• Borrow digital Dollars (USDC) in exchange.

This is called collateral. Your houses continue to pay you rents, but they also serve as collateral to obtain cash immediately.

2. What is it for? (Liquidity advantage)

The primary utility is liquidity. Need $1,000 for an emergency? Instead of selling your houses (which takes time and triggers taxation), you deposit them in the RMM and borrow the sum. You then repay at your pace with future rents. It’s a flexibility no traditional bank will offer on real estate.

3. Why do rates change all the time?

Unlike a traditional bank where the rate is set by a manager, here it’s the market (supply and demand) that decides in real time.

• Lenders: These are investors who deposit their USDC in the protocol to earn interest.
• Borrowers: That’s you, when you borrow USDC against your houses.

If many people deposit money (abundance), the borrowing rate falls. If everyone wants to borrow at the same time (shortage), the rate rises. It’s lively and changes every minute.

4. The “Leverage” strategy: Profitable yesterday, to watch tomorrow

Many investors used the RMM in the past to make a “loop”: borrow at a low rate to buy high-yield houses. It was very profitable when borrowing rates were lower.

But beware, in 2026 the situation has reversed:

• House yields: About 8% to 9%.
• Cost of borrowing (USDC): It often hovers above 11% or 12%.

The current math is losing: If you borrow at 12% to invest at 9%, you lose money. However, as rates fluctuate, this window could reopen in the future. You must monitor the RMM: if the borrowing rate sustainably drops below 6–7%, the leverage strategy will become a formidable weapon to enrich your portfolio.

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How to get your money back? Liquidity and the YAM

In classic real estate, selling an apartment takes months. With RealT, thanks to the blockchain, it can be much faster, even if the current climate has slowed things a bit. Two options are available to resell your tokens.

1. The YAM: The secondary market (RealT’s “classifieds”)

The YAM (You And Me) is the community exchange platform. It’s a free market where investors trade tokens with each other peer-to-peer.

• The principle: You set your selling price.
• Reality 2026: Historically, new assets on the site sold in minutes. Today, with the economic context and the Detroit crisis, sales are slower. There are fewer rushed buyers, which is felt on the secondary market as well.

The current good deal: I observe the market. Because of the Detroit crisis, many tokens are currently resold at a discount (cheaper than their real value) by worried investors. For someone who believes in resolving the crisis, it’s a quite unique “sale” opportunity.

2. Official buyback by RealT (Security)

If you can’t find a buyer on the YAM, RealT offers a liquidity solution. The platform agrees to buy back your tokens (usually within a $2,000 per week limit). The condition? RealT applies 3% buyback fees. It’s the price of peace of mind: you lose 3% on the sale value, but you are sure to recover your liquidity without managing an ad. It’s a comforting “exit insurance”, even though the goal remains to keep your shares for the rents.

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Practical Bonus: Converting your RealT Crypto Rents into Euros (Cash out)

It’s a legitimate question for those who move out of “RealToken Wallet” mode to manage their own wallet: how to transform my USDC (digital Dollars) into Euros in my bank account? There are several schools depending on your level of comfort with crypto.

1. The “Direct” solution: Mt Pelerin (Ideal for beginners)

For Europeans, the Swiss app Mt Pelerin is often the preferred solution by the RealT community.

• Its asset: It’s directly connected to RealT’s blockchain (Gnosis).
• How it works: You send your cryptos to the app, they are converted into Euros, and an instant transfer goes to your bank. It’s smooth and avoids risky technical manipulations.

2. The giants: Binance and Coinbase (For the accustomed)

If you already have an account on a major exchange like Binance or Coinbase, you can absolutely use them to retrieve your rents.

• The advantage: These are robust, secure platforms and you may already have your bank details registered there.
• The small nuance: Be mindful of the “network” used for sending. RealT works on Gnosis Chain. If your exchange doesn’t support this network directly, an intermediate step (a “Bridge”) will be needed which can incur some extra transaction fees. Nothing insurmountable, but it requires a bit more handling than the direct method.

3. The “Pro” alternative: Monerium

Finally, for the more seasoned, the Monerium service gives you a real IBAN linked to your wallet. When you “burn” cryptos on your wallet, Euros arrive directly in your bank account. It’s magical and instant, but the interface is a bit more austere for a beginner.

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Tools to track your portfolio

Investing on RealT without the right tools is like driving at night without headlights. The site’s basic interface is functional but limited.

The Community Dashboard

It’s the indispensable tool created by the community. By connecting a wallet address, it gives you an X-ray view of your assets:

• Exact amount of rents per week/month/year.
• Compound interest projection chart.
• Geographic distribution of your properties.

The secret weapon of trust: “Community Calls”

Beyond numbers, what convinced me to stay loyal to RealT (especially during the Detroit crisis) is their communication. Unlike opaque platforms, RealT organizes a weekly Community Call live on YouTube (one week in French, one week in English).

Why is this unique?

• Founders live: Jean-Marc and Rémy Jacobson are present and take the mic. It’s not a PR person reading a script.
• Your questions unfiltered (PollUnit): This is where it gets interesting. A few days before the live, the community asks questions via a tool called PollUnit.
  • Everyone can vote for the most relevant questions.
  • The most voted questions (even the most critical or awkward) are asked first and the founders answer them candidly.

It was through this channel that we were kept informed minute by minute about the evolution of the Detroit dispute. It’s a radical transparency I’ve never seen in traditional investment.

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Zoom on the Detroit crisis: The whole truth

This is probably the most sensitive and discussed subject in the community. Rather than beating around the bush, here are the real facts about what is the biggest crisis RealT has faced since its creation.

1. Origins: A scam turning into a political conflict

It all started with the failure of a Property Manager (a local company responsible for managing the buildings). Following embezzlement and poor maintenance, damages were found in some apartments.

The Detroit City Hall then intervened. Initially, the founders (the Jacobson brothers), thinking their good faith would be enough, immediately launched remediation works while funding the missing rents from their own pockets so as not to affect investors. A strong gesture that proves their commitment. But the political calendar interfered: with municipal elections approaching, City Hall hardened its stance, refusing dialogue to set an example, which led to an administrative deadlock and the blocking of rents.

2. Current situation (2025/2026): Toward crisis exit

Today, the elections have passed and the situation is stabilizing.

• Judicial oversight: The dispute is now under court supervision, which has allowed dialogue to resume and exit arbitrary political decisions.
• The squatter problem: Some tenants took advantage of the legal gray area to stop paying or squat the premises. Judicial action will finally allow necessary evictions.

3. My analysis: A blessing in disguise?

Let’s not kid ourselves: some rents were definitely lost in this battle. However, I remain confident for a simple reason: renovation. Recovered units (sometimes damaged) are being fully renovated. Once the works are finished:

1. The property’s market value will increase (capital gain on the token).
2. Rents will be re-let at strong current market rates (better future yield).

It’s a lean period to go through, but it could result in a good financial operation at resale. Important note: This crisis is localized only on a specific portfolio in Detroit. Buildings located in Cleveland, Chicago or Panama are absolutely not impacted and operate like clockwork.

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RealT vs Crowdfunding & SCPI: How I diversify?

I’m often asked if RealT replaces platforms like Fintown, Tantiem or La Première Brique.

For me, it’s not “one or the other”, but “both”, because they meet different objectives in my portfolio:

• Crowdfunding (Fintown, La première brique…): It’s often bond-like investment (Debt). You lend money to a property trader for a fixed term (12 to 24 months). I use it to grow capital in the short term, but I usually receive interest only at the end.
• SCPI (Louvre Invest, Corum…): It’s the “comfort” and regulated solution in France, but with high entry fees (8 to 10%) that erode returns in the early years.
• RealT: I use it for immediate cash-flow. It’s the only asset that pays me a rent every Monday, which I can reinvest immediately to keep the compound interest machine running.

🏆 The Match: RealT versus favorite French investments

Criteria	🇺🇸 RealT	🇫🇷 SCPI (Corum, etc.)	🧱 Crowdfunding (Fintown/La première brique)
Entry ticket	$50	~€200 to €1000	€10 to €1000
Frequency of returns	⚡ Weekly	Quarterly	At the end (In fine)
Liquidity (Resale)	Average (YAM)	Slow (Months)	None (Locked 12–24 months)
Entry fees	0% (included in the price)	8% to 12%	0%
Currency	Dollar ($)	Euro (€)	Euro (€)

My strategy is simple: I use French Crowdfunding for Euro stability and short term, and RealT to build a perpetual passive income in Dollars and boost my overall yield.

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2026 Conclusion: Should you start?

After two years of investing and 71 positions acquired, it’s time for an assessment. Do I recommend RealT to my close ones? Yes, but with full awareness.

My strategy for 2026 will remain the same: reinvest 100% of rents to benefit from compound interest, but be much more selective on chosen cities (focus on Panama and new areas outside Detroit).

FAQ

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