Wednesday, December 9, 2009

REITs are Liquid Real Estate Investments

When you think about investing in real estate, you probably think that means investing money and being without it for a long time. This is to be expected as most people think of real estate investing as purchasing a home or pieces of land. The loans for these purchases often take many years to repay.

There is a better way. The difference between real estate investing and real estate purchasing is the liquidity; or ability to have your money when you need it.

Here's a look at the difference. In real estate purchasing, you are buying properties and then you are responsible for managing and maintaining them.

On the other hand REITs are real estate investments. They are purchased in shares, just like mutual funds. If you need some liquid cash or just no longer want to be a part of a REIT, you simply sell your shares as you would with any other stock or mutual fund investment.

In many respects, REITs offer the same flexibility as any of the other markets, while at the same time offering you the chance for a longer-term secured investment.

What I mean by secured investment is that for the most part real estate always has some value. While the value may fluctuate, it is a physical asset that will retain some value over the long term. In other stocks and mutual funds, if the company that you are purchasing shares from goes out of business, you can lose everything. In the case of real estate investing, there is always an asset with worth involved.

Many people steer away from REITs because they are not a ‘get rich quick’ investment. Though that is true, REITs generate constant regular returns in dividends without the big spikes. With that said, think about what else is in your portfolio. If you have other stocks and mutual funds in your portfolio adding real estate investments will give you a more stable backbone to base your investment profile on.

There is also another way to add diversity to our real estate investment trusts. Instead of just owning commercial, residential or US based REITs, you can purchase shares in a number of different investment trusts across the world and across all markets.

When you're ready to jump onboard and diversify your portfolio with the addition of a few REITs, take the time to do some research so you understand what you want and how to get it. REITBuyer.com has all the information you need to get started investing in REITs. The research and analysis of the REITs has been

REITs: Real Estate Investments with Real Profits

Many investors say they want two things in their investments – a nice return on their investment and security. They want reassurance that their money will not be here today and gone tomorrow. When it comes to the stock market or purchasing mutual funds, those are two things that cannot be guaranteed. When you purchase stocks, you never know if the company is going to have a bad quarter, losing a large part of your investment or if they are going to fail altogether, losing all of your money.

The only place you can really be sure that you will not lose everything when the economy is down is with real estate.

Even if the bottom falls out of the real estate market, your real estate investments are tangible assets. Real estate will always have some value; therefore, you cannot lose everything. During times of declining values if you hold on to your investment you will see dividends come in again like nothing ever happened.

There are two ways to invest in real estate. The first is to make a real estate purchase. For the most part this means having a lot of cash available to buy a property. Most average people do not have this kind of money.

The easier way to invest is by purchasing REITs or real estate mutual funds. By purchasing a REIT you are a shareholder in property ownership. This means you will purchase shares that go into a collective fund that is used to purchase and maintain income producing property. These properties can include single family residents, attached apartments or condos and large commercial developments.

With REITs the real estate management group makes a profit which is distributed to shareholders in the form of dividends. Laws dictate that at least 90 percent of the profits from a REIT must be returned to the shareholders, so barring a major downturn in the economy you know you will get a return on your investment year after year.

The remaining 10 percent of the profit from the REIT is used for management of the properties or possible improvements that will increase your profit potential.

Unlike traditional real estate investments, REITs are liquid; if you need to pull some of your money out it is as easy as selling a few shares instead of having to go to the trouble of selling the property and managing it until you finally close the deal.

Getting into the REIT market is quite simple. Just go to REITBuyer.com where you can learn more about REITs and research the REITs out there. You can also make your purchases with the REITBuyer.com real estate investment brokers.

REITbuyer.com is an online brokerage information site specializing In REITs and Real Estate Mutual Funds – The World’s first and only site dedicated to REITs Real Estate Mutual Funds. This is a place for the small investor to own a piece of world class real estate.

Learn about REITs The Real Estate Mutual Funds Worth Having

REITs are Real Estate Mutual Funds. If you are compiling your investment portfolio, you probably have several different investment avenues that you are considering. Do you prefer stocks or mutual funds? Local or international? And have you considered real estate?

When asked if they would consider investing in real estate many people picture themselves having to come up with a large sum of money to purchase a piece of property. Most people just don’t have this much cash available. They may have a few hundred or thousand dollars to invest, but not enough to pay cash for a property.

One may also fear the hassle of purchasing and managing property. Why would anyone invest in something that is so much work?

There is a way to invest in real estate without all of the hassle of purchasing and managing the property. It's called a real estate investment fund or REIT. A REIT is essentially like a real estate mutual fund.

Instead of buying a piece of property, you are buying shares in a real estate management group that will then purchase and maintain a property.

Here is how you make a profit from REITs. With REITs, 90% of the profit must be paid to shareholders in the form of dividends.

Essentially, REITs are the best of all worlds. Not only are they secure real estate investment options, but also they are also just as liquid as the stocks and bonds you are familiar with.

Most financial advisors recommend having at least 10% of your portfolio be associated with real estate. The reason for this is that those investments are more secure than other stocks and mutual funds and just a swing of the market can wipe you out on all of the other investments, while the real estate should hold up through the tough times. This gives you a hedge for those other, more volatile investments.

Getting involved with REITs is also a lot easier than you would think. Begin with a real estate broker like REITBuyer.com. By working with REITBuyer.com, you will be able to start at the beginning and get everything you need.

Begin by doing your research. They have articles and research tools that will help you investigate the REITs you are interested in so you can get a feel for which ones best fit your portfolio.

When you are ready to buy, they can take care of that as well, as they are a complete real estate broker and can handle your investments in a professional manner.

Finally, once you have made the purchase, use their tools and analysis options to keep an eye on how your investments are doing and size them up to the rest of the market.

REITbuyer.com is an online brokerage information site specializing In REITs and Real Estate Mutual Funds – The World’s first and only site dedicated to REITs Real Estate Mutual Funds. This is a place for the small investor to own a piece of world class real estate.