Is REIT a good investment?
Are REITs Good Investments? Investing in REITs is a great way to diversify your portfolio outside of traditional stocks and bonds and can be attractive for their strong dividends and long-term capital appreciation.
With rate cuts on the horizon, dividend yields for REITs may look more favorable than yields on fixed-income securities and money market accounts. However, REIT stocks are only as good as the properties they own — and some real estate sectors may be better positioned than others.
Risks of investing in REITs include higher dividend taxes, sensitivity to interest rates, and exposure to specific property trends.
REITs generate a steady income stream for investors but offer little capital appreciation. Most REITs are publicly traded like stocks, which makes them highly liquid, unlike real estate investments.
| REIT SUBGROUP | AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN (1994-2023) |
|---|---|
| Retail | 11.2% |
| Office | 10.1% |
| Lodging/Resorts | 9.0% |
| Diversified | 7.9% |
A lot of REIT investors focus too way much on the dividend yield. They think that a high dividend yield implies that a REIT is cheap and a good investment opportunity. In reality, it is often the opposite, and the dividend does not say much, if anything, about the valuation of a REIT.
The value of a REIT is based on the real estate market, so if interest rates increase and the demand for properties goes down as a result, it could lead to lower property values, negatively impacting the value of your investment.
Any increase in the short-term interest rate eats into the profit—so if it doubled in our example above, there'd be no profit left. And if it goes up even higher, the REIT loses money. All of that makes mortgage REITs extremely volatile, and their dividends are also extremely unpredictable.
REITs historically perform well during and after recessions | Pensions & Investments.
Compared to other investments such as stocks and bonds, REITs are subject to various risk factors that affect the investor's returns. Some of the main risk factors associated with REITs include leverage risk, liquidity risk, and market risk.
Do billionaires invest in REITs?
An eye-popping yield likely inspired Jeff Yass of Susquehanna to buy 1.4 million shares of AGNC in the third quarter. Yass isn't the only billionaire placing bets on this mortgage REIT. John Overdeck and David Siegel of Two Sigma Investments scooped up 1.2 million shares.
Getting out of a non-traded real estate investment trust, or REIT, can often be rather difficult and expensive. Once a REIT is closed to new investors, the board of directors of the REIT can suspend the redemption policy.
Payments can be made monthly, quarterly, once every six months, or even less frequently. There are companies whose investors receive no dividends at all because not every company is a dividend-paying one. REITs (real estate investment trusts) are funds that promise their investors no less than 90% of their earnings.
While they aren't listed on stock exchanges, non-traded REITs are required to register with the SEC and are subject to more oversight than private REITs. According to the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (Nareit), non-traded REITs typically require a minimum investment of $1,000 to $2,500.
If you are interested in a real estate investment that is reliable, hands-off and offers dividends, REITs could be the answer. If you're looking for a higher-risk – but high-potential – investment or want to be able to invest in specific companies you admire, buying individual stocks could be the answer.
Direct real estate investments may be more expensive upfront but give investors increased control and flexibility. Both real estate and REITs can help investors hedge inflation and market downturn risks. Both can also be a source of regular cash flow, though REITs are a much more passive investment than real estate.
At that rate of return, a monthly investment of $300 in REITs would grow into $1 million in about 30 years. If you invested more money into REITs or those producing a higher average annual return, you could become a millionaire even faster.
| Symbol | Fund name | 1-year return |
|---|---|---|
| BRIIX | Baron Real Estate Institutional | 13.13% |
| RRRRX | DWS RREEF Real Estate Securities Instil | 9.65% |
| CSRIX | Cohen & Steers Instl Realty Shares | 8.93% |
| AIGYX | abrdn Realty Income & Growth Instl | 8.53% |
“I recommend REITs within a managed portfolio,” Devine said, noting that most investors should limit their REIT exposure to between 2 percent and 5 percent of their overall portfolio. Here again, a financial professional can help you determine what percentage of your portfolio you should allocate toward REITs, if any.
March 5, 2024, at 3:47 p.m. REITs are public companies with large real estate portfolios, and are known to havesizable dividends. Real estate investments can be an excellent way to earn returns, generate cash flow, hedge against inflation and diversify an investment portfolio.
How do you get out of a REIT?
Because the REITs aren't publicly traded, the only way to withdraw money is to redeem shares.
Often, the bulk of REIT dividend payouts consists of the company's operating profit. As a proportional owner of the REIT company, the shareholder receives this payout as ordinary income and will be taxed at the investor's marginal income tax rate as nonqualified dividends.
But since REITs are invested in property, there's more protection against the horror show of having shares crash to $0. By law, 75% of a REITs asset must be invested in real estate. The market value of the property owned by the REIT offers a bit of protection, as long as the value of the property doesn't go to zero.
REITs and stocks can both pay dividends, usually on a monthly, quarterly, or yearly basis. Some investments will also offer special dividends, but they're unpredictable.
If a REIT fails to meet the 95-percent or 75-percent gross income tests but meets the requirements set forth in IRC § 856(c)(6), the REIT does not lose its REIT status but instead pays the tax imposed by IRC § 857(b)(5).
