Cadre built its reputation on institutional-quality commercial real estate deals, offering accredited investors access to properties historically held by pension funds and family offices. The platform's landscape has shifted since Yieldstreet's acquisition closed in January 2024, and the structural characteristics that have always defined the Cadre experience are worth understanding: high legacy minimums, accreditation requirements, layered offering-specific fees, and long-term illiquidity. As of July 2026, Cadre states that it is no longer creating new accounts, and prospective investors are directed to Willow Wealth. For investors exploring fractional real estate investing, understanding these characteristics is useful before committing capital. This analysis breaks down what the available evidence shows about Cadre's structure and where investors can find alternatives that better match their goals.
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
- Cadre is not currently a destination for new investors. Cadre's support materials state that new accounts are not being created, and the site routes prospective investors to Willow Wealth. Everything below describes legacy Cadre terms.
- Legacy minimums were sized for high-capital investors. Cadre historically required $25,000 for its Direct Access Fund and generally $50,000 for deal-by-deal investments, plus accredited-investor status. Based on the SEC's most recent household estimate, roughly 81.5% of U.S. households did not meet the income or net-worth criteria in 2022.
- Ownership changed in 2024, and the 2025 rebrand was a branding change. Yieldstreet completed the Cadre acquisition in January 2024, then renamed itself Willow Wealth in November 2025, which Willow describes as a brand change rather than a structural one.
- Fees are layered and offering-specific. Current Willow Wealth Markets disclosures describe a commitment or placement fee (also called an acquisition fee) generally not expected to exceed approximately 4%, asset-management fees averaging 1% to 1.5% of then-current equity value, and administration fees of 0.25% to 0.5% for certain funds.
- Liquidity was structured for long holds. Cadre investments were intended to be long-term and illiquid, with a secondary-market mechanism available only for eligible investments and only under stated conditions.
- Accessible alternatives exist with institutional-grade underwriting. mogul is a fractional real estate platform club founded by former Goldman Sachs executives. It provides access to professionally vetted and managed single-family rentals offering monthly dividends, real-time appreciation, and tax benefits, with no traditional annual AUM fee charged on investor equity.
The fractional real estate market is widely expected to expand, though estimates vary considerably by provider. DataIntelo estimates growth from $4.2 billion in 2025 to $14.8 billion by 2034 at a 15.1% compound annual growth rate, while MarketIntelo estimates $7.2 billion in 2025 growing to $31.8 billion in 2034. A separate DataIntelo taxonomy for fractional property investing platforms puts the market at $2.8 billion in 2024 growing to $12.5 billion by 2033. There is no single standardized figure, because market definitions differ. Within that broader landscape, Cadre occupied a specific niche built around accredited investors with substantial capital.
Understanding Cadre's Position in Commercial Real Estate
Cadre launched in 2014 with a focus on institutional commercial real estate, offering accredited investors access to multifamily apartments, office buildings, hotels, and industrial properties.
Regarding scale, published figures should be handled carefully. Yieldstreet's acquisition thesis reported approximately $4.5 billion in transaction value through October 31, 2023. Higher figures circulating on third-party sites were not substantiated by a dated, traceable official source in this review.
On deal size, Cadre's Horizon Fund material described its middle-market focus as approximately $50 million to $150 million in total capitalization. Deal sizes varied by product and offering, and terms such as property value, total capitalization, and deal size are not interchangeable.
What legacy Cadre offered:
- Access to commercial real estate deals typically reserved for institutions
- Properties across multiple commercial sectors, including multifamily, office, industrial, and hospitality
- A secondary-market mechanism for certain eligible investments, with no assurance of a sale or an acceptable price
- Professional asset management and institutional-grade deal selection
The commercial focus meant investors gained exposure to property types that differ from residential rentals. Commercial sectors follow their own leasing cycles and demand drivers, so performance varies by property type and vintage year. That is one reason many investors pair commercial exposure with residential holdings, and it is worth understanding why real estate behaves differently across asset types.
A note on historical returns:
Publicly circulating return figures for Cadre vary by source. Older third-party reviews have cited realized-return figures in the range of roughly 17% to 18%, while Yieldstreet's 2023 acquisition materials cited a 27% realized net annualized return as of December 1, 2022. These are not necessarily the same metric, and they are calculated over different periods with different methodologies, so they are not directly comparable.
Current ownership structure:
Yieldstreet announced its Cadre acquisition in November 2023 and completed the deal in January 2024. Yieldstreet subsequently renamed itself Willow Wealth in November 2025, and RealCadre LLC (the broker-dealer subsidiary) became Willow Wealth Markets LLC. The two events are separate: the acquisition changed Cadre's ownership, while Willow describes the 2025 renaming as a brand change rather than a structural one, stating that its legal entity, regulatory registrations, custodian relationships, and team remained unchanged.
Investment Minimums and Accreditation Barriers
Cadre's most significant threshold was its capital requirement. Legacy support materials distinguished between a $25,000 minimum for the Cadre Direct Access Fund and a $50,000 minimum for deal-by-deal investments. The $25,000 figure was therefore not simply the low end of a per-deal range. Neither figure represents a currently available onboarding minimum, because Cadre is no longer creating new accounts.
Accreditation requirements:
Legacy Cadre investments were limited to investors who qualified as accredited under SEC rules:
- Annual income of $200,000 or more ($300,000 with a spouse) in each of the past two years, with a reasonable expectation of reaching the same threshold in the current year
- Net worth exceeding $1 million, excluding primary residence
- Certain professional certifications or credentials
These requirements exclude a large majority of American households. The SEC's most recent published estimate, using 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances data, found that 18.5% of U.S. households qualified under the income or net-worth criteria, implying that roughly 81.5% did not. The SEC notes that this household estimate is a proxy and does not fully capture people who qualify through professional certifications or other routes.
Building a portfolio across five legacy Cadre deal-by-deal investments would have required roughly $250,000 in available capital.
How other platforms compare:
| Platform | Entry point | Accreditation required |
|---|---|---|
| Cadre (legacy terms; no new accounts) | $25,000 Direct Access Fund; generally $50,000 deal-by-deal | Yes |
| mogul | Fractional allocations, with an average investment of about $10k | No, subject to onboarding and eligibility |
| Fundrise | $10 taxable account; $1,000 IRA | No |
| Arrived | $100 per property or applicable fund | No |
| EquityMultiple | As low as $5,000; typically $10,000 to $30,000 | Yes |
The structural difference is meaningful. Legacy Cadre entry points were sized in the tens of thousands of dollars and required accredited status, while mogul opens institutional-quality single-family rentals to accredited and non-accredited investors alike, with an average investment of about $10k and more than 13,000 investors on the platform. For investors who want institutional-grade underwriting without six-figure capital requirements, platforms designed for broader accessibility offer more practical entry points.
Fee Structure and Long-Term Cost Impact
Cadre's fee model involves multiple layers that can compound over a long holding period. The current Willow Wealth Markets Regulation Best Interest disclosure, dated June 1, 2026, is the authoritative reference, and it states that a commitment or placement fee is also referred to as an acquisition fee. These are names for the same broad fee category rather than two separate cumulative charges.
Platform-level fees per current disclosure:
- Commitment, placement, or acquisition fee: generally not expected to exceed approximately 4% of the investor's commitment
- Asset-management fee: expected to average 1% to 1.5% of then-current equity value
- Administration fee: 0.25% to 0.5%, but only for certain funds
- Promote or carried interest: may apply through affiliates
- Actual fees are offering-specific
Illustrative five-year scenario on a $50,000 investment:
The table below is a simplified hypothetical, not a verified Cadre cost schedule. It assumes a 2% upfront fee, a fixed 1.5% annual management fee, a 0.5% annual administration fee, and an unchanged $50,000 fee base for all five years.
| Fee component | Year 1 | Years 2 to 5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront commitment/acquisition fee (2%) | $1,000 | n/a | $1,000 |
| Annual asset management (1.5%) | $750 | $3,000 | $3,750 |
| Admin fees (0.5%) | $250 | $1,000 | $1,250 |
| Total platform fees | $2,000 | $4,000 | $6,000 |
Under those assumptions, $6,000 would represent 12% of the original investment consumed by fees alone, before any property-level expenses or sponsor promotes. Actual costs would differ. Annual fees are generally calculated on then-current equity value, which can rise or fall; administration fees apply only to certain funds; and a historical Direct Access Fund example used a 3% commitment fee with a 1.5% asset-management fee and a 0.5% administration fee on a $100,000 investment, which shows there is no single universal scenario.
Alternative fee structures:
mogul uses front-loaded, capitalized platform fees and does not charge a traditional annual AUM fee on investor equity. The structure consists of a one-time 3% platform or onboarding fee, plus a 2% setup or rent-ready fee where applicable, both capitalized into the deal. Where both apply, the upfront charge is summarized as a 5% capitalized fee. Because these fees are capitalized rather than levied annually against equity, more capital stays invested and compounding over the hold period.
mogul also charges an ongoing property-management fee equal to 2.5% of rental income. That charge is tied to the revenue a property actually produces rather than to the investor's equity base, which is one of the ways the fee-efficient structure is designed to keep more of the return with the investor. A precise five-year dollar comparison against Cadre depends on property-level revenue assumptions, including occupancy, rent growth, rental strategy, operating period, and whether the conditional 2% setup fee applies.
Liquidity Constraints and Hold Periods
Real estate investments are inherently illiquid compared to publicly traded securities, and the importance of liquidity is a core consideration in any private-market allocation. Cadre's structure reflected this reality while attempting to provide some exit flexibility.
Cadre's liquidity profile:
- Investments were intended to be long-term, and the current Willow Wealth Markets disclosure states that liquidity may not be available at a favorable price, or at all
- Estimated holding periods were offering-specific and could be extended, so terms were not uniform across offerings
- Certain investments were typically eligible to be posted to Cadre's Secondary Market six months after the initial investor closing, subject to eligibility rules
- Older Cadre educational material referenced a one-year regulatory holding period in a different secondary-market context, indicating that eligibility could vary by investment
- Liquidity and price were never guaranteed
Secondary-market windows provided more flexibility than pure hold-to-maturity structures, though exit timing generally sat with the sponsor, and secondary transactions depend on finding willing buyers at acceptable prices.
What this means for investors:
Capital committed to a legacy Cadre offering is generally tied up for the duration of the hold period defined in that offering's documents.
mogul approaches exits at the asset level and constantly monitors several avenues, including a traditional marketed sale, a private sale to inventory partners, a cash-out refinance, a bulk sale to an institution, and a platform sale in which equity in a property is syndicated at market value to platform members with little-to-no closing costs. mogul is also building a secondary trading market designed to let investors sell shares at fair market value, calculated monthly through third-party appraisal-level data.
Transparency and Reporting Differences
Transparency practices vary widely across private real estate platforms, and the level of publicly available detail is one of the clearest differences between them.
For legacy Cadre offerings, existing investors can monitor portfolios, view performance, and access statements and investment documents through the platform. Standardized, deal-level performance information is comparatively limited for prospective outside reviewers, which is common across private commercial platforms. As with any private-market portfolio, results across the parent organization's legacy offerings have varied by deal, sector, and vintage year.
mogul's transparency and alignment:
mogul states that its founding team invests personal capital in every property offered on the platform, creating direct alignment between management and investor interests. The company's research analysts use proprietary underwriting models, and mogul reports that fewer than 1% of properties reviewed pass its diligence process, a selection rate that reflects the discipline mogul applies to residential rental assets. mogul also publishes how properties are selected, including its buy box criteria and target market fundamentals.
New members also benefit from first $10k protection: mogul covers up to $10,000 in losses in the first year, subject to the promotion terms. Members can also give $50 and get $50 by referring a friend who invests, and community features such as mogul Clubs distribute up to 2% in rewards to members.
Evaluating Return Expectations
Return figures across this sector are difficult to compare, and that is itself a finding investors should take seriously.
Context for return expectations:
- Reported returns should always be read alongside their methodology and as-of date
- Returns vary significantly by deal, vintage year, and property type
- Commercial and residential sectors respond to different demand drivers
- Past performance does not indicate future results
Why headline comparisons often fail:
A single average realized IRR with a stated methodology and as-of date is not publicly available for legacy Cadre offerings, so a clean like-for-like number is not available for comparison. Other platforms likewise report returns separately by fund, investor tenure, strategy, and period, so no single platform-wide historical return should be used without specifying the product, measurement period, weighting, and whether the figure is net of fees. Distribution and redemption policies also vary by product across the sector.
What mogul publishes:
mogul targets a 15% to 20% annual IRR, which is a target rather than a promise, and publishes a 12% minimum projected IRR hurdle that its How It Works page describes as inclusive of one-time fees. Across platform assets, mogul reports an 18.8% average IRR to date. For long-run context, annual returns over the 1993 to 2025 period were 9.8% for the S\&P 500, 9.3% for REITs, 5.7% for gold, and 5.2% for corporate bonds, while single-family rentals as an asset class returned a 13.8% IRR from 1993 to 2023 versus 9.8% for the S\&P 500, with lower standard deviation. A published, transparent underwriting hurdle gives investors a clearer standard to evaluate than an undated historical average, and understanding what an IRR is makes those comparisons easier.
mogul also states that rental income is distributed monthly once a property is operational and generates distributable net rental income. Amounts may vary with rent collections, occupancy, and expenses, and distributions are not guaranteed.
Risk Mitigation Differences Across Platforms
All real estate investments carry risk, and understanding real estate investing risks is part of any allocation decision. How platforms address those risks differs.
Cadre's approach:
- Institutional-grade underwriting and deal selection
- Diversification across commercial property types
- Professional asset management
- A secondary-market mechanism for eligible investments, with no guarantee of liquidity
mogul's risk mitigation features:
- Capitalization of future costs, including future maintenance, vacancies, insurance payments, and closing costs, with 12 months of operating reserves held per asset
- Property and business interruption insurance, so market rent can continue to be received while a property is being repaired
- Economies of scale with inventory partners, including wholesale property management pricing more than 50% below market
- Blockchain used as a more efficient back office, reducing operational costs and lowering fees to maximize returns
- Institutional-caliber leverage at 65% to 75% loan-to-value on interest-only loans, secured 100 to 150 bps below market interest rates
- Boots-on-the-ground property management teams in each market, with in-house brokerage supporting the acquisition pipeline
Why mogul Stands Out for Accessible Real Estate Investing
For investors seeking institutional-grade real estate exposure without Cadre's capital and accreditation thresholds, mogul addresses the key limitations systematically.
Accessibility without compromise:
- Fractional access to income-producing residential properties, with an average investment of about $10k
- Available to accredited and non-accredited investors, subject to onboarding, KYC, jurisdictional, and other eligibility requirements
- Individual property selection rather than forced placement into a pooled fund
- More than 13,000 investors on the platform, with 90% investing a second time, typically at three times their first investment
Fee efficiency:
- No traditional recurring annual AUM fee charged on investor equity
- Front-loaded, capitalized platform fees rather than annual charges against equity, which preserves more capital for compounding
- An ongoing 2.5% fee on rental income, charged against revenue rather than against the equity base
Monthly income and alignment:
- Monthly dividends from net rental income once a property is operational and generates distributable cash flow, with amounts that may vary and are not guaranteed
- Real-time appreciation and tax benefits of direct asset-level ownership
- mogul states that its founding team invests personal capital in every listed property
- A 12% minimum projected IRR hurdle published transparently
Institutional pedigree:
mogul was founded in 2022 by former Goldman Sachs executives Alex Blackwood and Joey Gumataotao, whose team brings more than $10 billion in collective deal experience. At Goldman Sachs, Joey built the single-family rental platform from zero to more than $1 billion in AUM in under 12 months with a small team. The platform completed a $3.6 million seed round, bringing total disclosed funding at the time to $4.2 million, with backers including Tim Draper (early investor in Robinhood, SpaceX, and Tesla), Chris Larsen (Ripple co-founder), and Rosa "Rosie" Rios (43rd U.S. Treasurer).
The focus on single-family residential rentals in high-growth secondary markets, including Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston, Charlotte, Nashville, Dallas, and Denver, provides exposure to necessity-based housing with durable rental demand fundamentals, a different risk profile than Cadre's commercial concentration. mogul invests across both mid-term and short-term rental strategies, targeting markets with strong price-to-rent dislocation and growth fundamentals.
Investors can analyze potential returns for any U.S. address using mogul's free investment property calculator, which models base, bear, and bull scenarios and allows users to modify financing, leverage, hold-period, and rental-strategy assumptions. mogul states that the calculator uses data and tools comparable to those used by leading real estate firms.
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
Can I transfer my existing Cadre investments to another platform?
Private real estate investments generally are not portable between platforms in the way brokerage assets can sometimes be moved. Any transfer is governed by the specific vehicle's operating, subscription, or fund documents, securities-law restrictions, manager or sponsor consent requirements, rights of first refusal, holding periods, transferee eligibility, and any available internal secondary-market process. Private-market holdings may also be subject to significant transfer and redemption restrictions. Some interests may be transferable under restricted circumstances even where another platform cannot accept them as a native investment.
What happens to Cadre investments now that the platform is part of Willow Wealth?
Existing Cadre investments remain governed by their original offering documents and legal structures. Cadre's current site distinguishes between existing investors, who may continue to access their investments, and new investors, who are directed to Willow Wealth. Willow has described the November 2025 renaming as a brand change rather than a change to the underlying legal entity, regulatory registrations, or custodian relationships, and individual legacy deals continue under their existing terms.
How do commercial real estate investments through Cadre differ from residential fractional ownership?
Cadre historically invested across multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, and other commercial sectors. Tenant profiles and lease durations differ substantially by sector: office and industrial assets may use multiyear business leases, while multifamily properties have continuously rolling resident lease expirations and hotels serve short-stay guests without conventional long-term leases. Freddie Mac's appraisal guidance specifically distinguishes multifamily rent rolls from office, retail, and industrial properties using multiyear leases. Residential fractional ownership, mogul's focus, targets single-family rentals with individual or family tenants. Capital thresholds also differ substantially.
What tax implications should I consider when comparing these platforms?
Real estate vehicles may benefit economically from property depreciation, but whether depreciation deductions pass through to an investor, and whether the investor can currently use them, depends on the vehicle's legal and tax structure, the investor's basis and at-risk amount, and the activity-based loss rules in IRS Publication 925. Some fund or REIT investors receive Form 1099-DIV rather than direct pass-through deductions, while partnership and LLC structures report items on a Schedule K-1. mogul's property-specific LLC structures may allocate depreciation and other tax items through Schedule K-1, subject to those same investor-specific limits, and depreciation recapture can apply on sale. Tax outcomes are specific to each investor's circumstances, and a qualified tax professional is the appropriate resource for individual situations.
Are there situations where Cadre might still be the right choice?
Cadre is not currently opening new investor accounts, so it is not available as a new-investment destination as of July 2026. For existing Cadre investors, holding legacy commercial positions may continue to make sense if the original thesis remains intact and the capital is not needed within the offering's expected hold period. Investors looking today for accessible, income-producing residential exposure with institutional underwriting can review how mogul works.
How do I evaluate whether a platform's stated returns are realistic?
Look beyond headline return figures to understand the methodology. Historical returns should specify whether they represent realized deals only, projected returns, or a blend, and should carry an as-of date. Figures that state their weighting and calculation method are more informative than undated averages. Compare like to like: IRR calculations differ from simple annual returns, and gross returns differ from net-of-fee returns. Platforms that publish transparent hurdle rates, like mogul's 12% minimum projected IRR, provide clearer underwriting standards than those offering only undated historical averages.