Saturday, March 7, 2009

Research REITs Before Investing in Government Bonds

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 government bond 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 government bond 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.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

REITS - A Great Investment with a Great Returns

Do you know how great of an investment real estate is, but you don’t want to have to own and maintain a number of pieces of property in order to keep your investment going. Instead you would love to be a part of a real estate investment that doesn't take any extra work on your part.

If you haven't heard of real estate investment trusts (REITs)or government bond REITs you may be about to find just what you are looking for. A REIT allows you to get all of the benefits of owning property, making money on rent and other profits, while not having to hold the title and do any of the work to keep the property up and operational.

Here's how it works.

Instead of having to own a piece of property, you will be purchasing a share in a real estate management group. There will be at least 100 shareholders that join into the purchase and their money will be pooled to be used for real estate development or real estate management.

Once there are purchases, at least 90 percent of the profits from the rent and other profits of the investment will be given back to the shareholders in the form of dividends. The other 10 percent can be put into maintenance or growing the REIT. This means you will almost always see a good return on real estate through REITs. All you need is a series of places that are rented and you will have regular money coming in.

This kind of profit making on property is essentially what you were thinking of doing on your own through real estate investing. If you were going to buy a piece of property, you would either want to sell or lease it out to make a profit. The only problem is that you would also be responsible for all the work of keeping the place in order and keeping things running. By moving into the REIT market you are able to get all of the benefits of this fund without having any of the headaches.

Now, it's important to note that you may not make a fortune in REIT investing, but it is a pretty steady way to see income, and sometimes you really can hit it just right and make a fortune. As a matter of fact some people, like Ivana Trump, count real estate as the only place to put their money. She was quoted as saying. "I made a tremendous amount of money on real estate. I'll take real estate rather than go to Wall Street and get 2.8 percent. Forget about it."

If you don’t know enough about REITs to make an intelligent decision on purchasing them, never fear there are great resources as close as your fingertip. Start by logging on to REITBuyer.com. Their site is full of resources and education to give you the grounding you need before purchasing a REIT. Once you're ready to buy, they can handle that for you as they are investing real estate brokers. Once you have added a few REITs to your portfolio they can help you keep track of them with tools and other resources to keep an eye on your investments and to see how they are stacking up.