Putting capital into real estate no longer means only acquiring a flat and letting it. You have three routes: direct real estate, REITs and funds. Direct gives you a tangible asset, control and the highest income, but less liquidity. REITs give liquidity and zero management, in exchange for correlation with the stock market. Funds sit in between, with fees. The Land of Nomads model is direct real estate with delegated management.
You want to put your money into real estate. Fair enough. But today the sector gets touched three very different ways, and each works on its own logic.
Direct real estate: what you hold and what it asks of you
Acquiring a piece of real estate is the oldest model. You pay, you become the holder (in full title or through a long-term leasehold), and the asset earns through rent or appreciation.
What it gives you: a tangible asset with real control. You decide the rent, the improvements, when to exit. Done well, direct earns gross returns in double digits. In markets like Southeast Asia, vacation rental runs between 8% and 25%. On top of that, rents rise with inflation and the asset decouples from financial markets.
What it takes: liquidity. You don’t exit real estate in two clicks. You need entry capital. And an asset 10,000 kilometers away asks for management, unless you have a delegated model like Land of Nomads’ managed rental.
REITs: real estate from the stock exchange
A REIT trades on the exchange like a listed share. You take units the way you’d take shares in any listed company.
What it gives you: full liquidity, instant diversification and regular dividends of 3% to 8% with nothing to manage.
What it takes: zero control and, above all, correlation with the stock market. In 2020, REITs fell 25% to 40% in weeks even though the real estate underneath kept collecting rent. If what you want is to decouple from financial swings, a REIT won’t do it. Direct real estate will.
Real estate funds: the middle ground
Funds pool capital into real estate assets with professional management.
What it gives you: diversification and access to large-scale assets from mid-range capital (€1,000 to €10,000).
What it takes: fees that erode the real return (1% to 2% a year plus success fees), limited liquidity in closed funds (five to ten years locked) and little visibility on where exactly your money sits. Core funds return 4% to 7% net; the more aggressive ones reach 10% or 15%, but with longer lock-ups.
The Land of Nomads model: direct real estate with delegated management
This is where Land of Nomads’ managed rental holds a space of its own. It’s direct real estate: you sign an eco-villa or eco-apartment on a 99-year leasehold, a tangible asset, tax advantages and a decoupling from markets. But Land of Nomads handles the whole operation, from marketing to maintenance. No handling guests, no coordinating cleanings.
The result pairs the strengths of direct (high income, tangible asset, decoupling, control) without its main drawback. The illiquidity of any real estate stays, and so does the geographic concentration in the Philippines. But for anyone after high return with delegated management and a tangible asset, it’s a mix neither REITs nor funds replicate. Here’s the detail on the no-bank financing and the projects on offer.
