RealT's tokenized real estate model combined a 10% property listing fee and a 2% income fee with ongoing property expenses and blockchain transaction costs. Some offerings also carried additional charges tied to capital events and token repurchases, making total investment costs dependent on the underlying agreements.
The platform faced significant changes in 2026, including legal proceedings involving its Detroit properties and disruptions to rental distributions. In July, a co-founder announced plans for voluntary liquidation. This guide breaks down RealT's historical fees, examines the implications of these developments, and compares costs across different fractional real estate investing models.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult with a licensed professional before making any financial or investment decisions.
Key Takeaways
Historical platform fees: RealT's February 2025 FAQ disclosed a 10% property listing fee and a 2% income fee, with displayed yields described as net of its stated fees
Additional offering costs: Certain historical offering documents included capital-event compensation and conditional token repurchase fees, with terms varying by investment
Property and blockchain expenses: Management, maintenance, taxes, insurance, and blockchain transaction costs could affect investment economics
2026 developments: Rental distributions were interrupted in early 2026, and a RealT co-founder announced plans for voluntary liquidation on July 2, without establishing that a formal liquidation had been completed
mogul's pricing structure: mogul charges a one-time 5% platform fee based on the property purchase price, without an ongoing rental-income fee or recurring annual AUM fee on invested equity
What Happened to RealT in 2026?
RealT's original investment model
RealT launched in 2019 as a blockchain-based real estate investment platform offering fractional interests in income-producing properties.
Its investments were associated with legal entities holding real estate, with digital tokens representing investors' interests. The platform concentrated heavily on U.S. residential properties, particularly in Detroit.
RealT historically provided:
Property-specific tokenized investment interests
Blockchain-based ownership records
Weekly rental-income distributions
Stablecoin payment options
Property-level financial information
Secondary-market arrangements for eligible investors
Investors' legal rights were determined by the applicable entities and offering agreements rather than direct personal ownership of deeded portions of each property.
The blockchain real estate ownership model illustrates how digital tokens can represent economic interests in underlying assets.
Legal and operational developments in 2025 and 2026
Several developments affected RealT's Detroit property portfolio.
July 2025: Detroit property litigation
The City of Detroit initiated legal proceedings involving hundreds of RealT-associated properties.
The lawsuit addressed alleged property-code violations, maintenance obligations, rental collection, and related compliance matters. Court restrictions affected the collection and use of rental income from certain properties.
February 2026: Rental distribution interruptions
RealT informed investors that operating costs and legal obligations were affecting its ability to continue regular rental distributions.
The company's historical weekly payment model was substantially interrupted.
April 2026: Court-approved fiduciary arrangement
An agreement approved on April 22 placed approximately 700 RealT-associated properties under the oversight of a special fiduciary.
The fiduciary received substantial authority over property management, repairs, and potential sales.
Michigan Public documented the court-supervised Detroit property oversight arrangement on May 2, 2026, including statements from Detroit Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett.
July 2, 2026: Announced voluntary liquidation
During an investor community call, RealT co-founder Jean-Marc Jacobson announced plans to begin voluntary liquidation and sell the company's real estate assets.
The announcement described an intended wind-down. However, an announced intention to liquidate is different from a completed legal liquidation.
The information available for this review does not establish that every property had been sold, a formal liquidation filing had been completed, or final investor recoveries had been determined.
RealT's historical investor eligibility
RealT's published eligibility guidance stated that its offerings were unavailable to U.S. investors.
Although its underlying properties were located in the United States, the investment arrangements carried jurisdictional and securities offering restrictions.
The SEC's private placement investor guidance explains how offering exemptions and eligibility requirements affect access to private securities.
Given RealT's 2026 developments, its historical pricing should not be interpreted as a currently available investment offer.
RealT's Historical Platform Fees
RealT's February 2025 FAQ identified two principal platform charges: 10% when listing properties and 2% on income.
These headline percentages described the general pricing model, while individual offerings could include other contractual costs.
Property listing fee: 10%
RealT disclosed a 10% fee associated with listing properties on its marketplace.
This upfront charge was connected to introducing a property investment rather than recurring annually or applying automatically whenever an existing investor sold tokens.
The listing fee influenced the economics of the initial offering alongside acquisition expenses, financing costs, and reserves.
Its effect on an individual investment depended on how the offering was capitalized.
For example, a $50 token purchase cannot automatically be characterized as $45 of underlying property equity and $5 in fees solely because the platform disclosed a 10% listing rate.
The relationship between token price and property equity depended on the offering's full financial structure.
Ongoing income fee: 2%
RealT also disclosed an ongoing 2% income fee associated with its rental property investments.
The general FAQ did not establish one detailed income calculation formula applicable to every property. The relevant legal agreements determined the applicable income base.
RealT stated that displayed yields were already net of its disclosed fees.
Consequently, an income fee already reflected in an advertised net yield should not automatically be deducted again when interpreting that figure.
Property management and operating expenses
RealT's properties incurred expenses associated with professional management and ongoing operations.
These could include:
Tenant placement, leasing, and rent collection
Repairs and maintenance
Property inspections and contractor coordination
Insurance and property taxes
Financing and capital requirements
The costs varied by property and operating arrangement.
RealT's general disclosures did not establish a universal property-management percentage across all investments, making a fixed 8%–12% assumption inappropriate for a portfolio-wide comparison.
Major renovations and replacements also differ from routine maintenance. Understanding real estate capital expenditures provides additional context for analyzing those expenses.
Additional Fees in Historical RealT Offerings
RealT's two headline charges did not necessarily represent every cost described in its property-specific investment documents.
A historical 2022 RealToken Regulation S offering memorandum included additional provisions for capital events and discretionary token repurchases.
These provisions illustrate offering-specific arrangements rather than a universal fee schedule for all RealT investments.
Capital-event fees
The 2022 memorandum described a fee equal to 10% of net proceeds from a qualifying capital event.
Depending on the agreement, qualifying events could include property sales, refinancing transactions, and other defined asset-related events.
This fee was distinct from the initial property listing charge.
Its application depended on whether a qualifying transaction occurred, while its calculation used the contractual definition of net proceeds.
The memorandum does not establish that every RealT property carried the same capital-event fee or that those terms remained applicable across the entire portfolio in 2026.
Discretionary token repurchase fees
The same memorandum described a potential arrangement through which an investor could offer to sell tokens back to the applicable company.
The company was not obligated to complete a repurchase.
Where the arrangement applied and a transaction was agreed upon, the disclosed charges included:
A 3% repurchase fee calculated using the original offering price
Additional administrative and payment-processing fees ranging from 1% to 3%
A repurchase price determined under the relevant contractual terms
These were conditional charges associated with a specific mechanism, not universal fees on all token sales.
The SEC's investment fee impact guidance explains why the calculation base, timing, and contractual terms of investment charges matter.
How RealT's Fees Affected Investment Costs
Illustrating the listing and income fees
RealT's historical percentages can be illustrated using hypothetical calculations.
Example 1: Property listing fee
Suppose a property investment had a $200,000 fee calculation base.
Assumed calculation base: $200,000
Listing fee rate: 10%
Illustrative listing fee: $20,000
This demonstrates the percentage calculation, not the actual cost or investor-level allocation for a particular RealT property.
Example 2: Income fee
Suppose a property generated $12,000 of income qualifying for the disclosed 2% fee.
Applicable income: $12,000
Income fee rate: 2%
Illustrative income fee: $240
This assumes the full $12,000 is subject to the fee under the relevant agreement.
Other property expenses would follow their own calculation bases and contractual terms.
Why a five-year fee total depends on the investment
RealT's costs could arise at several stages of property ownership.
The initial listing fee affected the offering's capitalization, while the income fee related to qualifying rental income.
Additional costs could depend on:
Property operations and management
Financing and capital improvements
Blockchain transactions
Qualifying capital events
Conditional token repurchases
Eventual property disposition
Because these charges were assessed using different financial measures, a single five-year expense percentage cannot reliably represent every RealT investment.
Blockchain Transaction Costs on RealT
Ethereum and Gnosis Chain transactions
RealT initially used Ethereum-based infrastructure for tokenized property investments.
Ethereum transactions involve network charges commonly called gas fees. These vary with network activity and transaction complexity.
Under RealT's historical Ethereum distribution method, claiming available rental income could require an on-chain transaction and an associated network fee.
RealT later supported Gnosis Chain, which offered a different distribution arrangement.
Eligible rental payments could be sent automatically to designated wallets without a separate claim transaction. RealT described those incoming Gnosis Chain distributions as free to the receiving token holder.
Other transactions, including wallet transfers and token swaps, could still involve network expenses.
Therefore, not every RealT rental distribution required an Ethereum gas payment.
Stablecoin payments and conversion costs
RealT historically supported digital assets such as USDC and xDAI.
Investors receiving stablecoins could hold them in supported wallets or use compatible services to convert and transfer funds.
Potential expenses included exchange fees, network charges, and conversion spreads.
These costs depended on the transaction method rather than one recurring fee assessed uniformly across the platform.
RealT's Secondary-Market Fees and Liquidity
Historical token transfer arrangements
RealT described multiple methods for transferring eligible property tokens, including:
Peer-to-peer transactions through YAM
Decentralized exchanges
Certain platform-facilitated sales or repurchase arrangements
Each method had its own execution and fee structure.
Peer-to-peer transfers depended on buyers and sellers agreeing to transaction terms, while decentralized exchanges used available liquidity to establish market prices.
Contractual repurchase arrangements, where available, followed separate provisions.
Transaction fees versus execution prices
The amount an investor received from a token sale could depend on several factors:
Buyer demand and available liquidity
Blockchain network charges
Exchange or liquidity-pool costs
Execution price and bid-ask spreads
Ownership transfer restrictions
Applicable settlement arrangements
A token could trade above or below an indicated property-related valuation.
That difference was not necessarily a platform fee; it could reflect market conditions or changing expectations about the underlying investment.
The relationship between property valuation and appreciation helps distinguish asset performance from transaction pricing.
Liquidity considerations in 2026
RealT's historical marketplace documentation does not establish that every original transfer or repurchase mechanism remained available in October 2026.
The platform's operational developments also changed the circumstances surrounding its tokens.
A technically accessible trading interface does not guarantee an executed sale or a particular price.
Likewise, a discretionary repurchase provision should not be interpreted as a guaranteed redemption arrangement.
RealT's Property Ownership Structure
Legal interests behind the tokens
RealT tokens represented interests associated with legal entities holding underlying real estate or related investments.
Owning a token did not necessarily mean the investor's name appeared directly on the property's deed.
The relevant governing documents established the holder's economic and legal rights.
Why underlying property operations matter
Tokenization changes how ownership interests can be recorded and transferred, but investment performance remains connected to the underlying real estate.
Rental income, expenses, property conditions, financing, and regulatory obligations influence cash flow regardless of the technology used.
These factors are central when evaluating property investment operating expenses and the financial characteristics of individual properties.
Tax Reporting for RealT Investors
RealT's historical tax classifications
RealT's April 30, 2025 tax FAQ distinguished between distributions associated with equity tokens and payments from certain notes.
For equity-token distributions, its guidance described two potential classifications:
Dividends: Distributions classified as corporate dividends under applicable tax rules
Return of capital: Nondividend distributions that generally reduce the investor's adjusted tax basis, subject to applicable limitations
RealT also stated that income from certain notes was treated as interest.
These distinctions matter because tokenized ownership does not automatically establish partnership pass-through taxation.
Dividends, return of capital, and interest income
The IRS's dividends and corporate distributions guidance explains the federal tax treatment of dividends and qualifying nondividend distributions.
A return-of-capital payment generally reduces an investment's adjusted tax basis. Additional tax consequences can arise once the applicable basis reaches zero.
Interest follows different reporting principles, described in the IRS's interest income reporting guidance.
RealT's historical tax materials described year-end investment summaries and property-level tax reports reflecting applicable classifications.
The reporting treatment depended on each investment's legal and tax structure rather than the presence of a blockchain token alone.
How other LLC arrangements may differ
Some fractional real estate investments use partnership-taxed LLCs, where qualifying income, expenses, deductions, and other items are allocated through Schedule K-1.
The IRS's partnership Schedule K-1 instructions describe those requirements.
However, K-1 reporting should not be assumed for RealT tokens solely because the underlying investment involved an LLC.
Potential investment property tax benefits, including depreciation-related allocations, depend on the actual ownership and tax structure.
The IRS's capital gains tax guidance also explains general principles relevant to qualifying asset sales.
What RealT's Announced Liquidation Means for Investment Economics
How property sales affect investor proceeds
RealT's July 2026 announcement described an intended shift toward selling underlying real estate assets.
Property sale proceeds may be used to satisfy obligations before remaining amounts become available to equity holders.
Depending on the legal arrangements, these obligations can include:
Secured financing
Outstanding property taxes
Property operating expenses
Legal and transaction costs
Contractual management or capital-event fees
Other applicable claims
The amount and priority of these obligations depend on the governing documents and applicable law.
Therefore, final recovery cannot be calculated solely using an investor's original token purchase price or a historical property valuation.
Court oversight and liquidation plans
The April 2026 Detroit agreement gave a special fiduciary substantial authority over the affected portfolio.
That court-approved arrangement and the company's July liquidation announcement were separate developments.
The fiduciary's responsibilities arose from the Detroit litigation, while the later announcement described RealT's intention to pursue a broader wind-down.
Neither event, by itself, establishes that all assets were sold or that final investor distributions were determined.
Historical rental yields versus realized returns
Rental yield describes income associated with an investment over a particular period or under specified assumptions.
Realized investment returns incorporate actual cash flows and the value ultimately received.
These can reflect:
Rental distributions received during ownership
Operating expenses and financing obligations
Investment and transaction fees
Final sale proceeds
Timing of payments
The internal rate of return provides an annualized measure that accounts for cash-flow timing.
Historical rental yields therefore should not be interpreted as forecasts of final liquidation proceeds.
Comparing RealT's Fees With Other Fractional Ownership Models
Understanding different fee calculation bases
Real estate platforms can assess charges against different financial measures.
Common bases include property purchase price, offering proceeds, invested equity, fund net asset value, rental income, and qualifying sale proceeds.
The percentage alone provides incomplete information without its calculation base.
For example, an ongoing fee tied to collected rent behaves differently from an annual management fee assessed against invested equity.
The timing of the charge also matters. An upfront acquisition fee influences initial investment economics, while an income-based fee changes with the revenue measure used in its calculation.
Property strategy and holding periods
The underlying rental strategy also affects total ownership costs.
Traditional long-term rentals and short-term vacation properties can require different levels of management, maintenance, and tenant services.
The short-term and long-term rental comparison illustrates how occupancy patterns, operating expenses, and management requirements influence property economics.
These considerations help place platform fees in the context of the real estate being owned.
How mogul Makes Residential Property Economics Accessible
RealT's historical model connected investors with property interests through blockchain tokens. mogul provides a property-centered approach through curated residential investments, dedicated LLC ownership, and professionally coordinated operations.
Founded by former Goldman Sachs real estate professionals with more than $10 billion in collective transaction experience, mogul applies institutional underwriting principles to individual residential properties.
Its model connects investors with identifiable assets, property-level financial assumptions, and a clearly defined fee structure.
Property selection backed by institutional experience
mogul evaluates residential investment opportunities using criteria such as:
Local rental demand and housing fundamentals
Property purchase price and comparable transactions
Rental income potential and operating expenses
Financing and projected cash flow
Property condition and improvement requirements
Investment holding periods and potential appreciation
Fewer than 1% of reviewed properties pass its stated diligence process.
The mogul property underwriting process provides more detail about its selection framework.
mogul also co-invests alongside members in every property offered on its platform, aligning its capital with individual investment opportunities.
One-time platform fee
mogul's current platform fee structure includes:
One-time 5% platform fee: Calculated using the property's purchase price and capitalized into the initial transaction
No ongoing rental-income fee: No recurring platform charge calculated using collected rental income
No traditional annual AUM fee: No recurring annual management percentage assessed against invested equity
This structure places mogul's platform fee at the initial property transaction rather than tying platform compensation to ongoing rental operations.
Professional operations and ownership visibility
Through its property ownership and management framework, mogul offers fractional membership interests in dedicated LLCs associated with individual residential properties.
Professional teams coordinate leasing, maintenance, tenant relationships, and ongoing property operations.
When an operational property generates distributable rental income after applicable expenses and reserves, investors may receive their proportional share through monthly distributions.
The platform also provides access to property-specific investment information and operating updates.
Financial analysis at the property level
mogul provides free tools for examining residential real estate investment assumptions.
Its investment property analysis calculator supports modeling rental income, financing, holding periods, and projected investment outcomes.
The rental property analysis calculator provides additional cash-flow and expense scenarios.
Together, these resources help investors understand how acquisition costs, property operations, and financing influence the economics of an individual residential asset.
mogul combines institutional property selection, professional residential management, and transparent one-time platform pricing within a streamlined fractional ownership experience.
For investors exploring alternatives to RealT's historical tokenized investment model, mogul provides access to carefully selected residential properties through identifiable, professionally managed LLC ownership structures.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. Always consult with a licensed professional before making any financial or investment decisions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did RealT charge in platform fees?
RealT's February 2025 FAQ disclosed a 10% property listing fee and a 2% income fee. These charges operated alongside property expenses and potential blockchain transaction costs. Certain historical offerings also included additional compensation for qualifying capital events and discretionary token repurchases.
Did RealT charge fees when investors sold tokens?
Costs depended on the transaction method and governing investment agreement. Blockchain transfers and decentralized exchanges could involve network or trading fees. Certain historical offering documents also described discretionary repurchases involving a 3% charge on the original offering price and additional 1%–3% administrative and processing fees. These charges did not apply universally to all token sales.
Did RealT complete liquidation in July 2026?
A RealT co-founder announced plans for voluntary liquidation during an investor call on July 2, 2026. The announcement described an intention to sell underlying assets, but it did not establish that a completed legal liquidation had occurred, that every property had been sold, or that final investor proceeds had been determined.
How were RealT distributions treated for tax purposes?
RealT's April 2025 tax guidance described equity-token distributions that could be classified as dividends or return of capital, while payments associated with certain notes were treated as interest income. The applicable treatment depended on each investment's legal and tax structure. Partnership Schedule K-1 reporting should not automatically be assumed for RealT tokens.
How does mogul's fee structure compare with RealT's?
RealT historically disclosed a 10% property listing fee and a 2% income fee, alongside property expenses, blockchain transaction costs, and certain offering-specific charges. mogul charges a one-time 5% platform fee based on the property purchase price, without an ongoing rental-income fee or traditional annual AUM fee on invested equity. Its approach focuses on professionally managed individual residential properties held through dedicated LLCs.