Friday, May 22, 2009

Getting to Know Self Storage REITs

As you are on the hunt for various types of investments, you may have come across real estate investment trusts or REITs and real estate mutual funds in your studies. REITs are investing options that offer all of the best of what is on Wall Street, at least in the real estate sector, without some of the downfalls.

For the most part you can think of REITs as portfolios that are chock full of various real estate interests. From the construction to management side of things, there are REITs that focus on all areas of real estate.

Many people like investing in real estate, because they know that since real estate is backed by a tangible piece of property, these are much more secure investing options. But there is more to know than the fact that you want to invest in REITs.

What kind of REIT do you want to invest in? One area you may want to take a look at is self-storage REITs.

Self-storage REITs are those that are filled with interests that relate to the self-storage industry. You know you have seen self-storage units all over the place as you drive around town, but you may have never considered just how big of a business these are.

While you may think of self-storage units just as a place where people put their junk when they run out of room at home, there are many more uses of these facilities. For example, you may not have known that there are a lot of self-storage units that are specifically used by corporate entities for their storage needs. These can be big money units.

Construction

The first part of the self-storage industry that you can invest in is the construction arena. This is the type of portfolio that is filled with everything related to constructing self-storage units. From literally getting the supplies to build the property to acquiring the land to put it on, these interests are all together.

Management

The other option is to put your money into self-storage REITs that focus on the management side of things. Once self-storage units are built, they have to have someone keep them occupied, keep them up, and collect the monthly rent for the units. This is where a management company comes in. Management companies oversee the day-to-day processes of the system.

Getting in On These REITs

Once you know this is the type of REIT you want to buy, how do you choose the best way to get into this type of investment and see your money grow? The smartest way is to work with a broker that specializes in REITs and understands this investing market. This is when you will want to turn to REITBuyer.com. REITBuyer.com is the first and only online brokerage that specializes in real estate investment trusts and real estate mutual funds. In addition to giving you a way to buy and sell your REITs, they will also make sure you are up to date with all the information that will be impacting your investments so you can make wiser decisions.

This article was written by Earl E. Bird, III, spokes person for the REIT Buyer.com, a full service online information resource dedicated to assisting investors who are interested in learning more about Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), Real Estate Mutual Funds and how to invest in them. Visit http://stockmarketclosing.blogspot.com to learn more.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Prepare for Making Good Investments with REITs

Want Lucky Real Estate Investments? Be Prepared!

Many people are always wishing they could be 'lucky'. They desperately want a way to be able to know the right time and place to put their money to see great profits. What they don't understand is investing is nothing like the luck of winning a lottery or hitting the jackpot on a Vegas slot machine. Luck takes a lot more work than that.

“I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity.”

- Oprah Winfrey

This one quote may be the best example of how investors can 'get lucky' it's not about just a stroke of luck hitting, you have to have done your research and be ready for it.

When it comes to real estate investing, that means you have to have done your research, know what's out there, how it has performed in the past and then have funds to be able to add smart investments to your portfolio.

Kinds of Real Estate Investing


There are two options in the real estate investment market. The first is to purchase real estate outright and own the land. This often is not something a lot of people want to do, as it can be a very costly way to go. Instead, many people prefer the idea of being a part of something that lets them have their hands in real estate without having to buy, sell and maintain the properties themselves.

REITs may be the answer. REITs are Real Estate Investment Trusts. These trusts are a way to fund real estate development or real estate construction groups that will then do all the work of building, buying and maintaining the property while you can instead just reap the rewards.

REITs in the United States must return 90% or more of their profits to their shareholders in the form of dividends making this a wise investment avenue.

Doing the Right Research

Before you start purchasing any sort of investment, you should do your research. This holds true with REITs as well as any other stock, bond or mutual fund you may be considering.

Begin by going to REITBuyer.com. Here you will be able to educate yourself on REITs as well as have access to all the research you need to get a good overview of some of the available REITs in the country, and around the world, and how they have been performing.

As you go through the options, you will likely find some REITs that seem more appropriate to you than others. You can mark these and then will know just what they are when you are ready to buy.

When To Buy

Frankly, this is a great time to be researching and preparing to buy REITs and here's why. The economy has taken a drop in the past year. Everything from lending to real estate has had a hard time and seen major drops in their respective investments.

With them at a low now, and the market starting to cool and level out, that means that things will soon go up again. REITs are at a low and purchasing them now means you are in on the investment at the low end with plenty of time for them to go back up.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Consistent Returns with REITS

Consistent Returns with Real Estate Investment Trusts

If you're looking for an investment that has proven returns, you may not be sure just where to look in today's ailing economy. What about REITs? REITs, or Real Estate Investment Trusts are known for consistent returns and can be a strong and always positive part of your investment portfolio.

Sure, everyone wants to find the next great investment, an investment that will bring them the big bucks and make them an overnight millionaire. Although this does happen, the cases of that are few and far between. Instead, you need to focus on making sure you have a diverse portfolio that will hold you through all times.

Consider this scenario. You see the next big thing coming. You sink all of your money into that particular thing and wait for it to reach the top. Before you get a chance to pull out, the market plummets, taking all of your profits with it and possibly even some of your principal. That's a horror story that comes true for plenty of investors year after year. The flaw in their thought is that they put all of their eggs in that one basket! When the basket fell, everything went with it.

Now consider this scenario. You see the next thing coming and put a good portion of your investment funds in that arena, while still also putting some of your money into more secure or long-term investments like real estate. You again wait for the investments to reach the top, but the bottom falls before you expect. While you may take a major hit on the one side, that other, long term investment side of things you had also been putting money into will still be there and will give you a little bit of a base to rebuild from. You will still have a portfolio with some strength, versus one that is nearly empty.

Real estate is often considered the rock when it comes to investment, just ask Donald Trump who says, "It's tangible, it's solid, it's beautiful. It's artistic, from my standpoint, and I just love real estate."

The good news is while being solid, REITs can still bring a pretty good profit. Consider that many REITs make a 10-14 percent return every year. That's a nice strong return when it happens for 10, 20 or 30 years without fail! If you look at the overall performance of the stock markets and most mutual funds, you will see there is not much difference in the two for long-term returns.

When you're ready to start investing in real estate, you need to make sure you know what you're getting into before you buy. While you could search all over and try to find out for yourself, there is another option as well. Consider a website like REITBuyer.com. REITBuyer.com offers all the information you need to understand REITs, where they come from and how to best begin investing. In addition, you don't have to go anywhere else when you are ready to add REITs to your portfolio, as they are also investment real estate brokers. It's one stop shopping for a stronger and more secure financial future!