Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Two Popular Kinds of REITs

Getting to Know Two Kinds Of REITs

By now, you may have heard of REITs. If not, this stands for real estate investment trusts. These are essentially funds that you can purchase shares of to build, buy or manage real estate holdings. Annually, the bulk of the profits from the real estate holdings are used to send dividends to the shareholders.

Generally there are two kinds of REITs – Property Owning and Mortgage.

Many of the most popular REITs fit into the first category – property owning. These are REITs that use their funding to purchase properties and then make a profit from those properties that they pass on to their shareholders.

These REITs could own any of a number of property types. Many focus just on commercial real estate such as strip malls and stores. Others focus on residential real estate like homes, condominiums and apartment complexes. Still others have a focus on the industrial sector, with real estate investment in warehouses and other industrial needs.

The other style of REIT is a mortgage REIT. These REITs are more on the backside of things. Their money goes into mortgage securities and purchasing mortgages with a hope to make a good profit on the interest from those properties.

There are also REITs that combine both of these aspects and put some of their money into each area.

For the most part, REITs are a smart investment. Generally they see a return of 6-10 percent on investments. They can always see more, but many people just like the fact that for the most part they will have a positive return that they would not have seen otherwise.

Before you begin on any sort of investment path, you need to know just what you are getting into. That means you need to do your research. If you want to start to get a look at some REITs and what they do, that's not a problem. Just like other stocks, bonds and mutual funds, they are publicly listed, so you will have no problem finding them and seeing how they are faring in comparison with the stock market.

The wisest way to go about this research is to use a site like REITBuyer.com. This is a site that is focused on this specific type of investing. You will be able to do the research you need to learn about the specific REITs you are interested in, plus get a lot more.

One of the things you may want to keep an eye on at REITBuyer.com is the news feed. It is news specifically related to the REIT market. That means you don’t have to spend a lot of time sorting through all the financial news of the day. The information you need will be right there.

Then when you are ready to buy, that's made easy as well. Considering that REITBuyer.com is a complete investing real estate broker, you will be able to buy, sell and trade your REIT investments right from their website.

How To Profit Today with REITs


What to Know Before Purchasing a REIT


If you have been thinking about purchasing a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust), make sure you know what you are getting into before you make the purchase. A lot of people read up a bit on the various investments they are considering and then make purchases because they like the way something sounds.

With stock, bond and mutual fund purchases this may be a normal thing, but when you are doing real estate investing you should do more research, and it's easy.

Location Location Location

The first thing you should get to know when you are considering a REIT is where it is located. What is the market like in that area? This can be easily found with a little Internet research these days. Find out what complexes, properties, malls or industrial parks are included in the REIT you are considering buying and look up those areas. The more you know about the land and building value of the property you are investing in, the more you can know you are making a wise investment decision that has nowhere to go but up.

Stability

If you are investing in a new real estate development REIT this is not as much of an option, as you will not necessarily know how the project will go once construction is complete, but if you are considering purchasing shares in an established REIT, take a look at their history. Have they shown stability in the recent months or years? If they have, this is a good sign they will continue to do so.

One thing you should keep in mind on this front is that all markets, real estate included, have had a tough time over the past year or so, so if their strength only wavered during that time, you should not be too alarmed.

Profits


The bottom line here is that you want to make money. Before you get into a REIT, make sure it is one that will be making you money from the beginning and for years to come. Some REITs make more than others and the key to finding ones that will make you a better return is looking for those that are fully booked with tenants or are in a growing area that will not have a problem filling all the leases so you know the profits will start rolling in.

Doing this research may sound daunting, but it’s not if you know where to go. For example, REITBuyer.com is a website that offers all the information you need about the REIT market. You can do your research, look at past REIT investments, see comparisons of the REITs to the stock market and really get a better understanding of the investments you are considering making.

Once you have become knowledgeable and know which REITs you want to invest in, you then only have to go as far as a few mouse clicks to purchase them through REITBuyer.com, as they are a full service investing real estate broker. Then sit back and watch your work pay off.