Crowdhouse - Risk and return review
Crowdhouse - Returns and loss rates
Crowdhouse – Pros & Cons
About Crowdhouse
What it is
Crowdhouse is a Swiss platform, run by crowdhouse (Schweiz) AG in Zurich and active since 2015, through which private investors buy shares of existing rented residential buildings in Switzerland together with other investors. It says properties worth more than CHF 2 billion have been placed with co-owners to date (November 2026). The group also sells buildings to single buyers, shares in property companies for qualified investors, and listed property shares.
How it works
You register for free, choose a building and buy a share of at least CHF 100,000. You are entered in the land register as co-owner, and no single investor may hold more than one third of the shares offered. Rental income, after costs and mortgage interest, is paid out every month in proportion to your share, and votes are also counted by share. Crowdhouse manages the building. The holding period follows the mortgage term, usually 5 to 10 years; at its end the co-owners decide whether to sell or refinance, and refinancing needs a two-thirds majority, otherwise the building is sold.
Returns
Crowdhouse advertises 4% to 6% a year, and its home page says typically 4% to 5% a year in expected distributions, depending on the property (as of November 2026). These are expectations, not results: no realised distributions, no average across buildings and no total return including value changes or sales are published.
Losses and defaults
As an owner you cannot default in the way a loan does, but a building can lose value, lose tenants or cut distributions. Crowdhouse publishes no figures on reduced or suspended distributions, value losses or the outcome of past sales. In April 2020, co-owners publicly objected that new co-ownership rules adopted at an annual meeting were to their disadvantage.
What secures your money
Nothing secures your money in the way a loan is secured: you are an owner, not a lender. You hold a share of a Swiss residential building that is entered in your name in the land register, so you own part of a real asset, but you also carry all of its value risk. Each building is part-financed with a bank mortgage, and the bank's claim ranks ahead of the co-owners. There is no buyback, guarantee or insurance on the value or the distributions. Crowdhouse says there is no issuer risk because co-owners hold the property directly; if crowdhouse itself failed, the co-owners would have to appoint a new manager. It publishes no loan-to-value figures, valuations or results of past sales on its public pages.
Who runs it and its licence
The platform is run by crowdhouse (Schweiz) AG, Lerchenstrasse 24, 8045 Zurich (commercial register CH-020-3041705-7). Its licence could not be confirmed: the home page, imprint and terms (dated 17 June 2025) state no authorisation from the Swiss financial market supervisor (FINMA) and no membership of a self-regulatory organisation, and we found none confirmed in a public register. Crowdhouse says it never accepts client money; investors pay into a property account at the mortgage bank. Investors therefore have no supervised licence to rely on and no compensation scheme.
Fees
Crowdhouse earns a success fee when a building is sold, shown as part of the expected sale costs of each financing, and annual fees for administration, for strategic asset and investment management and for managing the mortgage, shown in each property's yearly forecast. It publishes no general fee table with amounts, so the cost of each building can only be read in its documents. Selling a share triggers property transfer taxes that depend on the canton and how long you held it.
Getting your money out
You can sell your share before the end of the holding period. Crowdhouse lists it on its own trading platform, where interested investors join waiting lists, and handles the transfer; the price depends on supply and demand and a buyer is not assured. Otherwise your money comes back only when the co-owners decide to sell the building, typically after 5 to 10 years. Crowdhouse publishes no figures on how many shares or buildings have been sold or at what price.
Our view
Return: Low — the platform expects 4% to 6% a year and publishes nothing realised. Risk: High (higher means more risk) — you carry the full value risk of one building behind a bank mortgage, no results of past sales or distributions are published, and the licence could not be confirmed. Risk-return: Very Low — a low expected return with no published results does not make up for that risk.
Regulation
License / Regulation: Licence not confirmed — the platform, run by crowdhouse (Schweiz) AG, Zurich (CH-020-3041705-7), states no FINMA authorisation and no membership of a self-regulatory organisation on its home page, imprint or terms (dated 17 June 2025), and we found none confirmed in a public register. The platform states that it never accepts client money. No compensation scheme covers the investments.
Functionality
For Investors
Useful Information
Its licence could not be confirmed. Its home page, imprint and terms state no FINMA authorisation and no membership of a self-regulatory organisation, and we found none confirmed in a public register. Crowdhouse says it never accepts client money. No compensation scheme covers your investment.
Crowdhouse says it never accepts client money. You pay your investment into a property account at the bank that provides the mortgage, and only once all shares are contractually placed and the transfer of ownership can start. If the financing fails, the signed contracts become void.
CHF 100,000 for a co-ownership share with a land-register entry. No single investor may hold more than one third of the shares offered.
Crowdhouse advertises 4% to 6% a year and typically 4% to 5% in expected monthly distributions, depending on the property (November 2026). It publishes no realised distributions, no value changes and no results of past sales, so actual returns and losses are not known.
You own a registered share of a real building, but nothing protects its value: there is no buyback, guarantee or insurance, and the bank mortgage ranks ahead of the co-owners. If crowdhouse failed, the building would still belong to the co-owners, who would need a new manager.
Yes, you can offer your share on crowdhouse's own trading platform, where investors join waiting lists. The price depends on supply and demand, a buyer is not assured, and property transfer taxes apply.
A success fee on sale and annual fees for administration, asset and investment management and mortgage management, shown in each property's documents. No general fee table with amounts is published.
Plan for at least 5 years. The holding period follows the mortgage term, usually 5 to 10 years. A building is not sold automatically: co-owners decide, refinancing needs a two-thirds majority, and without it the building is sold.
The building belongs to the co-owners, so crowdhouse's failure would not take it away, but the co-owners would have to organise new management. If a building loses value or tenants, distributions fall and a sale may return less than you paid, with the bank paid first.
