David Manshoory officially launches AssetAvenue at the Silicon Valley Crowdfund Conference in Palo Alto tomorrow, but we got him on the phone before his big unveiling. He tells us he started the LA-based platform because he sees the value of bringing deals online to reach investors across the country who wouldn't normally be able to spot them. (Sometimes people get in the mood to shop online for a sweater or a DVD or an office building.) The fact that investors can dump as little as $10k into each property is a "game changer" for the industry, he says, making it much easier to start building a diversified real estate portfolio and earn regular cash flows.

Out of 30 deals it scoured across the US for its first, AssetAvenue went with a loan backed by office space in Trump Palace, the tallest building in NYC's Upper East Side (it's so tall it's cut off, above). The team raised $485k from investors in less than 48 hours to buy the loan. (We wonder if The Donald has closed a deal that quickly.) Locally, AssetAvenue also considered an Oakland apartment complex, but didn't end up liking the investment because the borrower was having lease payment issues. (When your management team has $10B in real estate acquisitions experience, due diligence is second nature.) Investors are projected to earn a 9% annual return on the Trump deal. .