You can pick the best project in the world and still have a problem: not being able to get out of it when you need to. Before looking at the return on any real estate investment, look at the exit.
The concept: lock-up periods and liquidity
Liquidity is how easily you can turn your investment back into money in your bank account. Real estate is famously illiquid: selling a house takes months.
Example: money in your savings account is liquid; an apartment is not. If you need COP $5 million on Friday, the bank hands it over today; the apartment can take six months.
The lock-up period is the time during which your contract requires you to leave your money in, whether you want to or not.
Example: you sign a five-year contract. In year two you want out, and the answer is simply that you cannot — however urgent your reason.
Institutional lock-up: RealtyMogul and CrowdStreet
US platforms aimed at large investors, such as RealtyMogul and CrowdStreet, let you finance skyscrapers or office complexes.
Where their limit is: beyond asking for around USD $25,000 just to start, your money is contractually committed until the developer decides to sell or refinance the building, which typically takes 3 to 10 years. Some vehicles do offer periodic repurchase programs, but they come with caps, discounts, and the possibility of being suspended exactly when most people want out. If you have a medical emergency in year two, there is no "sell" button.
In plain words: refinancing is taking a new loan against the same property to repay the old one and return money to investors without selling it; a repurchase program is the manager buying your stake back, with a limited quota. Example: the fund only repurchases 2% of the total each quarter. If many people want out at once, you join the queue — or the program is suspended that very quarter.
What Circular Urban adds: the secondary market
Circular Urban also invests in properties that take time to appreciate, but it addresses the lock-up problem by building an exit: the Participations Portal. If you need your money before the project ends, you can list your shares on that internal secondary market so another member of the platform can buy them.
In plain words: a secondary market is where you sell your stake to another investor instead of waiting for the project to end. Example: it works like selling a used car: nobody builds a new one, it simply changes hands — and the price depends on someone showing up who wants it.
Worth saying honestly: the sale is neither immediate nor guaranteed, because it depends on someone wanting to buy. But it is a real early-exit option that the institutional giants simply do not offer.
Comparison table: institutional lock-up vs. fractional liquidity
| Feature | RealtyMogul / CrowdStreet | Circular Urban |
|---|---|---|
| Holding period | Mandatory (3 to 10 years) | No contractual lock-up; the exit depends on finding a buyer |
| Secondary market | Limited (periodic repurchase programs, subject to caps and suspension) | Yes (Participations Portal) |
| Control over the exit | The manager decides when to sell | The investor decides when to offer their shares |
| Minimum entry amount | Around USD $25,000 | USD $50 |
Before you commit your money
Always ask three things: how long it will be committed, who decides when that ends, and what routes exist to leave earlier. An investment with no clear answer to the third question should only hold money you know you will not need.
What to weigh on our side
The Participations Portal is an exit option, not a guarantee. We do not guarantee a buyer, a timeframe, or a price: if nobody wants your participation, or only wants it below what you paid, your money stays in. Invest here what you can leave working for several years.
Related links
- Circular Urban investment projects
- Investing in the US from Latin America without the headaches
- Being the bank or being the owner: debt or appreciation
- Financial diagnostic: why do it before investing
- What Circular Urban is and how it helps you invest
This content is educational and is not financial, legal, or tax advice. The terms of each platform can change; check their current information before deciding and talk to your own advisor.
Published by
María Camila Becerra Cabrales