I Tested Every Real Estate App. These 4 Actually Paid Me Passive Income.

My savings account was paying me 0.01% while my landlord collected $2,200/month from me like clockwork. That math bothered me for years.

So I went deep. Spent 6 months putting real money into every real estate investing app I could find. Not reviewing them. Not watching YouTube videos about them. Actually funding accounts, tracking returns, and seeing what hits my bank.

Most of these apps are all marketing and no substance. Some bury you in fees. A few had “projected returns” that never materialized. I pulled my money out of those fast.

But 6 of them actually delivered. Real rent payments, real dividends, real interest, all hitting my account on a schedule I can predict. Here’s what worked, what I earned, and where I’d put my money if I were starting today.

The Real Estate Apps That Actually Pay Me

I have real money in every single app on this list. Not $10 test deposits. Real capital. If something had garbage returns, hidden fees, or made it difficult to withdraw, I pulled my money and moved on. Everything below has earned me actual income that I can show you receipts for.

1. Arrived

⭐ Backed by Jeff Bezos

Put in $100, pick a rental property, and start collecting rent every month. Arrived handles everything: finding tenants, collecting rent, maintenance, all of it. You just pick the house and get paid. Backed by Jeff Bezos and the cofounder of Zillow.

Start with just $100 Monthly rent payments to your account Sell your shares anytime

Start Collecting Rent →

My experience: I started with $100 in a Nashville property to test it. First rent distribution hit about 6 weeks later. Scaled to 4 houses across 3 states after that. Every month rent shows up, I haven’t spoken to a single tenant or dealt with one repair. I’ve collected over $180 in distributions so far and my property values have gone up too. Average returns run 3-7% from rent alone, and when you factor in appreciation most investors are seeing 10-15% total annual returns. The risk/reward here is excellent for the amount of effort involved, which is zero.

2. Fundrise

⭐ Start with $10

$10 gets you into real estate. Fundrise pools your money with 380,000+ investors to buy commercial properties and apartment buildings you’d never access on your own. Quarterly dividends, 5-12% average annual returns since 2017. Setup takes 2 minutes.

Start with just $10 Quarterly dividend payouts 380,000+ active investors

Start Earning Dividends →

My experience: I use Fundrise as my holding account for money I don’t need to touch for 12-24 months. Started with $500, now over $3,000 in there. Every quarter dividends show up without me doing anything. Their algorithm auto-diversifies across dozens of properties so I’m not betting on one house. Returns have crushed my savings account. They delivered through COVID when a lot of real estate got hammered, which tells me the model works. If you’ve never invested in real estate before, start here. $10 gets you in the door.

3. Groundfloor

⭐ Weekly Payouts

Instead of buying property, you become the lender. Fund real estate renovators and collect interest when they repay. 280,000+ investors, $1.8 billion funded since 2013. Their Flywheel Portfolio spreads your money across 100+ loans and pays you every single week.

280,000+ investors, $1.8B+ funded since 2013 Weekly payouts with Flywheel Portfolio Start with $100, secured by real homes

Start Getting Weekly Payouts →

My experience: Went straight into the Flywheel with $500. It diversified across 100+ loans immediately without me analyzing each one. The weekly payouts are what made me stay. Every other platform pays monthly or quarterly, so seeing returns hit my account every week gave me way more confidence. Amounts per payout are small at first but they compound fast because the system auto-reinvests. A few months in and I’m earning returns on my returns. One investor posted he put in $1,500 and earned $195 back at a 13% rate. I always look at how long a platform has been operating before I commit capital, and 12 years with SEC filings is about as solid as it gets in this space.

4. Ark7

⭐ $50 Bonus

Buy shares of rental properties starting at $20, collect monthly rent, and sell anytime on their marketplace. No lockup. Right now they’re giving a $50 bonus when you invest $1,000. That’s an instant 5% return before a single tenant pays rent.

$50 bonus when you invest $1,000 Monthly rent distributions Buy and sell shares anytime

Claim $50 Bonus + Start Collecting Rent →

My experience: I like Ark7 specifically because of the liquidity. Knowing I can exit a position whenever I want changes the risk calculation entirely. Put $1,000 in, collected the $50 bonus day one, and I’ve been getting monthly rent deposits ever since. Yield works out to about 4.5% on rental income alone, plus property appreciation over time. Every listing shows you the rental income, expense breakdown, occupancy rate, and projected returns upfront so you know exactly what you’re getting into. I browse their marketplace weekly. It feels like shopping for houses except you need $20 instead of a $200,000 down payment. The $50 bonus is a limited promo so I’d move on that before it disappears.

How I’d Invest $500 Starting Today

3 apps. 3 income streams. Rent + interest + dividends.

Arrived

$200

2 rentals in different markets. Rent checks within 6 weeks.

Monthly rent →

Groundfloor Flywheel

$200

100+ real estate loans, auto-diversified. Paid every week.