First deal guide
Your first DoorRaise deal, step by step
Every step from sign-up to your first distribution, in order. What you do, and what we do for you. 22 steps, most of them short.
Free to start. $1,500 setup, $5,000 at closing, $3,500 a year.
Part 1
Before you have a deal
Step 1: Create your sponsor account
You: Press Start free. On “Create your sponsor account”, continue with Google or type your email.
We email you a sign-in link. There is no password to make up.
Step 2: Make your sponsor page
You: On “Tell investors who you are”, type your name. Keep or edit the short bio we draft, tick the confirmation box and press Create my sponsor page.
We draft your bio from what you tell us. Your page stays private for now.
You don’t need a deal yet.
Step 3: Verify your ID
You: Press Verify my ID: a photo of your driver’s license, passport or ID card, and a quick selfie.
We check your ID through Stripe and screen your background.
About two minutes. What we check
Step 4: Your page goes public
You: Nothing. Wait for the “Your sponsor page is live” email.
We make your page public by itself once your checks pass, and email you its link.
Step 5: Share it with your friends and followers
You: Put your page link in your bio, videos and newsletter. Followers type their email and press Notify me.
We write a post you can copy, and email everyone who follows you each time you post a deal.
Part 2
Add your deal
Once you’re under contract on a building with 5 or more units, press Add your deal on your dashboard. The form has five short steps and saves as you go, so you can stop and come back.
Step 6: Describe the property
You: Add your offering memo, rent roll or purchase contract and press Read my documents, or type the details in.
We fill in the form from your documents and show where each number came from. You check every one.
Step 7: Add your sponsors
You: Add any co-sponsors and anyone else the bad actor rule covers.
We email each co-sponsor an invite when you submit.
Step 8: Set the raise and fees
You: Under “How will you find investors?”, publicly (Rule 506(c)) is already picked: you may promote the deal within the posting rules, and every investor’s accredited status is verified before they invest. Pick privately (Rule 506(b)) only to raise from people you already have a real relationship with. Set your raise, the minimum to close, the date of your live Q&A call, your fees and the profit split.
We show your fees to investors on a fee card, in dollars, and cap each investor’s share for you.
Step 9: Pick your investor states
You: Under “Where your investors live”, pick the states your investors live in. Keep “Pay me back at closing” ticked if you want your setup and state fees back from the raise.
We price each state’s filing fee at cost. Each state’s filing fee is non-refundable once someone from that state invests. After the raise ends, closed or not, we automatically refund the fee for every state where nobody invested, and any part of a fee that turned out lower. You can add a state later.
Step 10: Review and submit
You: Fill in the “Your deal’s LLC” card, tick the boxes and press Submit for verification.
We email you a confirmation and show what’s left on your dashboard.
Part 3
Get your deal live
Step 11: Pay the $1,500 setup fee
You: Press Pay the setup fee by card. Your picked states’ fees are paid with it, on their own line. The setup fee is non-refundable. Each state’s filing fee is non-refundable once someone from that state invests. After the raise ends, closed or not, we automatically refund the fee for every state where nobody invested, and any part of a fee that turned out lower.
We unlock every deal feature in your side menu: Investors, Documents, Banking and the rest.
Step 12: Your LLC and tax ID
You: Nothing, unless your dashboard asks you to confirm a detail. It comes prefilled.
We form the company that will own the property (your deal’s LLC) and get its tax ID (EIN) from the IRS. You watch the status on your deal’s Overview tab.
Step 13: Documents and background questions
You: Under Documents, upload the purchase and sale agreement, title commitment, lender term sheet, and rent roll with 12 months of financials. Each sponsor answers the short bad actor questions and DoorRaise screens them automatically.
We check every document matches what you entered, and prepare the operating agreement, private placement memorandum and subscription agreement your investors sign.
Step 14: Your deal goes live
You: Nothing, unless your dashboard says “Still to do on your side”. Press Why isn’t my deal live yet? at any time.
We make your deal page live by itself the moment every automatic check passes, email the people who follow you, and email you your deal link.
Step 15: Escrow opens
You: Nothing.
We open an escrow account in your LLC’s name at Enterprise Bank & Trust. Investors can sign before it opens; wire details show only once it’s open.
Part 4
Raise from your friends and followers
Step 16: Share your deal and host your live Q&A
You: Open Share your deal for your link and posts written for you. Use Get a post checked before you publish one. Then host your call.
We email everyone who pressed Save my seat the call link and a reminder.
On a private 506(b) deal you send the link one to one instead of posting it. Posting rules
Step 17: Investors verify, sign and wire
You: Watch the Investors section and answer questions. You see every investor who commits.
We verify every investor is accredited, collect their signatures online, and confirm each wire when it reaches escrow. If the raise doesn’t close, every investor gets all their money back.
Step 18: Form D and state notices
You: Nothing, unless the SEC needs your signature. Then your dashboard shows that one step, prefilled.
We set up your LLC’s account on the SEC’s filing site (EDGAR), then file its Form D, due 15 days after the first investor signs, and the notice for each state your investors live in.
Part 5
Close and run the property
Step 19: Close
You: Add your backup contact, then press Release funds from escrow with the closing date and the title company.
We have escrow pay the title company. The $5,000 closing fee comes from the funds raised, only now. Your setup and state fees come back to you from escrow too, unless you turned that off.
Step 20: Open the deal’s bank account
You: On your deal’s Banking tab, press Open an account on Mercury, use the LLC’s exact name we show, then connect it.
We give you the list to upload in Mercury, which emails each investor a secure link to add the bank account their payouts go to.
Distributions and the yearly fee that covers K-1 delivery run through the deal’s Mercury account, so open it in the LLC’s name with our guided steps and connect it to DoorRaise. You can do this as soon as the LLC has its tax ID.
Step 21: Distributions and updates each quarter
You: Each quarter, press Propose a distribution, then Preview split and Schedule the distribution, and send the payments in Mercury from the list DoorRaise makes. Press Post an investor update.
We work out every investor’s share, make the list of payments for you to send, mark each one paid when it leaves the account, and email every update.
Distributions are paid when there is cash to share. Nothing is guaranteed.
Step 22: Yearly fee and K-1s
You: Each year your accountant uploads the K-1s through the link we give you, or add Property Books & Taxes and our partner CPA does it.
We deliver every investor’s K-1 and keep the LLC’s yearly state reports on the calendar. The deal pays the $3,500 yearly fee from the property’s income.
Want more depth? Read the timeline from offer to first wire and a 90-day plan for a first raise.
How DoorRaise works