Sunday, May 17, 2009

Commercial Real Estate Investment Trusts and Mutual Funds

So, you know you want to invest some of your money in real estate, but you are not so sure of just where you want to put that money. There are a lot of options in the real estate market. How do you choose the right one for you?

The first thing you may want to do is take a little advice from those who have made their fortunes in real estate. The big dogs in real estate, the ones who have made billions, have not put their money into residential homes and apartments. Instead, their money has been invested in the commercial real estate markets. Consider Donald Trump – it's commercial real estate all the way.

While many of the world's real estate billionaires have been putting their money directly into purchasing commercial real estate ventures, you may not have the budget to follow those steps completely. But that doesn't mean you can't dip your toes into that same successful water.

There is a world of real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate mutual funds that you can get in on and own your small piece of the commercial real estate industry.

If you haven't heard of them before, REITs and real estate mutual funds are like many of the other investment offerings on the Wall Street stock market, but they are focused on this successful industry.

In the simplest terms, REITs and real estate mutual funds are portfolios that will be filled with real estate related companies and interests. When you purchase into a REIT or real estate mutual fund, you are able to take partial ownership, through shares, in those real estate interests.

Know The Portfolio

The first thing you need to keep in mind when considering this type of purchase is to know what is inside the portfolio you are considering. After all, you want to be making commercial purchases, right? Well make sure you read up on what is in the REITs or real estate mutual funds you are thinking of buying. You can find ones that are loaded with stocks representing commercial buildings, management groups and other commercial real estate interests.

When they start their search for these types of real estate investments, many investors are not sure where to look to find the information they need to know what is in a REIT or real estate mutual fund. Once upon a time finding this information would mean a lot of research, digging through all of the financial news out there hoping to find a tidbit that would help.

That search has been made much easier these days' thanks to REITBuyer.com. REITBuyer.com is the first and only online brokerage firm that specializes in real estate investment trusts and real estate mutual funds. That means when you go through their financial news, it will all be news and information that is geared towards your specific needs. And when you're ready to buy, they can take you through the whole process as well as help you monitor your portfolio online.

This article was written by Earl E. Bird, spokes person for the REITbuyer.com, a site dedicated to educating Real Estate Investors on how to invest in Real Estate Mutual Funds to diversify their investing portfolio. Read more articles about REITs investing at http://limitedcorporation.blogspot.com

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Could "State Apartments" be the Next Real Estate Boom?

Are you a part time real estate investor? Have you invested in "state apartments"? Have you invested in commercial property? Do you have a few REITs in your portfolio that you look at from time to time to see how they are doing? If so, you are making one the mistakes that can keep you from being one of those investing success stories.

Many people look at investing as a hobby. It's just something to do with their extra money and they hope if they ignore it eventually it will grow into something. This is not the way to take care of your investments. Instead you need to take a more active role in them.

Investing is not a hobby. There is money on the line, serious money. It's your money, and you should treat it as such. That means once you start purchasing REITs you need to keep a closer eye on what they are doing as well as what the other markets around them are doing. This can help you key in on good time to buy, sell or make changes to your portfolio.

So what is the best way to do this? Well, you need to keep your investments in your own hands. The best method to this end is to go online with them. If your portfolio has REITs in it, it is even wiser to go with an online broker that knows and appreciates REITs like REITbuyer.com.

REITBuyer.com is a full service REIT brokerage firm, with REITs as their specialty, so you will be in a world where everything is focused on your market. That's good news for you because the more focused you can be on your preferred market, the more you can see what may be coming and know when to buy.

Once you sign up for REITBuyer.com, you need to learn how to use it to it's full potential to make sure you are getting everything you need to do better in investing. Start by making sure you know as much as you think you do about REITs. The education and advise area of the site will make sure you have all the knowledge you need to make smart decisions as you invest in new REITs or decide what to do with the ones you already have.

Next you need to keep up with what is happening right now. Remember, fortunes are made and lost in minutes on the market. While this is not as much the case with REITs, not knowing when to buy a REIT that is priced low can mean you are making less of a profit down the road. So, keep your eye on the REIT news section. This will give you an idea of what is happening in the market that could impact the REITs you have or are considering buying.

You should also look at the blogs and other statistics, as each of these things will give you a little more insight into what is happening.

Finally, when you are ready to buy or sell, you can take command of your portfolio and complete all of those transactions with online trading on the same website.

Buy "State Apartment" - Multi-Family Apartment REITs

If you have ever thought of real estate as an investment you like a lot more than stock trading, you may wonder how you can fund your own way to make money off of real estate instead of having to go the traditional stock and mutual funds route. Real estate investment trusts may be the answer.

Consider if you were able to own an apartment, rent it out and then keep the profits that you make? That would be a nice investment? What if you owned a complete apartment complex? There's a chance to make a lot of money there!

But now you're thinking there is no way you would be able to afford the purchase of a single unit to rent out much less a whole multi-family apartment complex.

But there is a way that you may be able to still get a piece of this pie within your budget through REITs. REITs are real estate investment trusts. These are like the mutual funds of real estate where investors put money into a fund that is used to purchase properties and then manage and maintain them.

The way you will make a profit is through the money that comes in from those units. The rent that comes in from the units will be used to pay for operating expenses and then much of the profits will be given back to the investors and shareholders. US law states that at least 90% of the profits must be given back to the shareholders each year.

One place a lot of people see as a possibility to make money is through multi-family apartments. The logic here is if one rental unit would make a nice amount of money, wouldn't more rental units mean even more money? The answer is yes, they would!

Most people could not afford to even consider purchasing an apartment complex and being a landlord to make those profits because it's too costly. This is where REIT's come in. By being a shareholder in a REIT you will be able to be a part owner in those multi-apartment buildings you were thinking of and reap the rewards.

Getting involved in REIT buying is easy. When you are ready to learn more about this type of trading and investment, go to REITBuyer.com. Here you will be able to find all the education and information you need to make informed decisions about purchasing and investing in REITs.

With the research tools available on their website you will also be able to find out which REITs have the investments you want, multi-family apartments, so you can start seeing those fast returns.

Before you buy, you may want to do your homework. With REITBuyer.com you will be able to look up the REITs, their past, and get an idea of where they may be going in the future so you buy wisely.

Then when you're ready to buy you can make the purchase on the website and watch your investment grow.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Buy REITS that Own "State Apartments" for Investment Security

Have you taken a look at your investment portfolio lately? Do you own "state apartments"? If you have, and it's filled with the normal stock and bond investments, you may have noticed that there has been a lot of damage to those investments in the past year or so. With the credit crunch and the market crash, most investments are half, or less, of what they should be.

This is when you should consider what you should be doing to hedge those other investments. This is where REITs come in.

REITs are Real Estate Investment Trusts. These are funds where you fund a real estate management company. There are a variety of REITs out there. Some offer a way to back real estate developers who are taking on new ventures in construction. Others are meant to fund management of residential real estate such as apartment complexes, condominiums or even neighborhoods. Still others use the funds put into the REIT to operate commercial real estate interests.

I think Louis J. Glickman said it best when he said, "The best investment on earth is earth.” Real estate is always a wise investment. No matter what happens the land will always be there. Sure it may waiver in value from time to time, but in the long run, it will always be around, unlike businesses that can close their doors and take your investments down with them.

With this said, adding a REIT or two to your portfolio it would offer you a little more diversity and security in your investments.

You never know what the stock market will do. Just in the past few decades we have seen a number of sweeping changes in the market that completely broke some investors. Think of how many people you know who went bust during the Dot.com era.

Often the problem for them was they were too focused on the flavor of the month. They were putting everything they had into the new Dot.coms hoping to continue to ride the boom and make great profits. While they did see some great profits, those did not last forever. For those who kept putting everything they had into the dot.com market, they felt the agony of defeat in a major way when the market fell, many losing everything they had.

While there is nothing wrong with trying to jump in on an up and coming thing and make a great profit, it comes down to the old 'all your eggs in one basket' cliché. You don't want to have everything hedging on one investment. Instead have a diverse portfolio so if there is a drop in one area, you have other investments hedged against it.

In this case, even when there is a drop in the stock market and mutual funds, real estate usually will hold pretty strong through the down times, keeping you from feeling that all of your investments have been swept away.

When you're ready to take a step towards diversity, make sure to do it right. Going to a website like ReitBuyer.com will help you do just that. They will not only give you the research and information you need to buy wisely, but they are also real estate brokers for these investments and can help you seal the deal.