$1,000 to start, and I don't know what the two buttons on the platform do

You've got it right. The non-traded fund is the part open to everyone, and the individual deals are mostly gated by accreditation. Accredited generally means meeting income or net worth thresholds set in securities rules, and the platform verifies it, so it isn't something you talk your way into.

The redemption language matters more than it looks. A listed REIT trades on an exchange and you get whatever price the market gives you that day. A non-traded fund lets you request redemption and the sponsor decides whether to honor it, often with a penalty in the first few years and with the right to suspend redemptions entirely if too many people ask at once. That has happened.

I wanted income without a second job, which is roughly where you are, and I ended up putting the first money into a listed REIT for exactly the reason you named. If I can't tell yet what I'm buying, I want to be able to leave.

The crowdfunding fund isn't worse, it's just slower to exit and priced by the sponsor rather than by a market.

Read the fee page before you read the returns page. On the fund side you'll usually see an advisory fee plus asset management fees at the property level, and those come off before your dividend. Then look at how the share price is set, because in a non-traded fund the sponsor calculates net asset value, and the number you see is their number.

arbor covered the accreditation part. One thing worth adding for your $1,000: the fund will send you a 1099 or a K-1 depending on structure, and those arrive at different times of year. Ask the platform which one before you invest so tax season isn't a surprise. Talk to whoever does your return about how it lands for you.

The deal-by-deal thing everyone talks about is genuinely the smaller part of the market for anyone not accredited, so your read isn't naive.

Where I'd disagree with marlow slightly: the two aren't substitutes just because both hold real estate. The listed REIT reprices with the stock market every day and will move on things that have nothing to do with the buildings. The non-traded fund moves when the sponsor revalues. Some people find the second one calming and some find it opaque. With $1,000 you can find out which one you are cheaply.

juniper, I did almost exactly this last year. $1,000 into the fund, and the useful part was reading the quarterly updates and seeing how a sponsor writes when a property underperforms. That was worth more than the dividend.