Simple Ways to Invest in Real Estate: 4)Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
The forth one is: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
A real estate investment trust (REIT) is best for investors who want portfolio exposure to real estate without a traditional real estate transaction.
A REIT is created when a corporation (or trust) uses investors’ money to purchase and operate income properties. REITs are bought and sold on the major exchanges, like any other stock.
A corporation must payout 90% of its taxable profits in the form of dividends in order to maintain its REIT status. By doing this, REITs avoid paying corporate income tax, whereas a regular company would be taxed on its profits and then have to decide whether or not to distribute its after-tax profits as dividends.
Like regular dividend-paying stocks, REITs are a solid investment for stock market investors who desire regular income. In comparison to the aforementioned types of real estate investment, REITs afford investors entry into nonresidential investments, such as malls or office buildings, that are generally not feasible for individual investors to purchase directly.
More importantly, REITs are highly liquid because they are exchange-traded trusts. In other words, you won’t need a real estate agent and a title transfer to help you cash out your investment. In practice, REITs are a more formalized version of a real estate investment group.
Finally, when looking at REITs, investors should distinguish between equity REITs that own buildings and mortgage REITs that provide financing for real estate and dabble in mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Both offer exposure to real estate, but the nature of the exposure is different. An equity REIT is more traditional in that it represents ownership in real estate, whereas the mortgage REITs focus on the income from real estate mortgage financing.
Pros
Essentially dividend-paying stocks
Core holdings tend to be long-term, cash-producing leases
Cons
Leverage associated with traditional rental real estate does not apply
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