Thursday, February 26, 2009

REITs: Savings Plans

Real Estate as A Savings Plan

Are you one of those people who love the idea of putting money away to make sure you have it if you need it down the road, but never really gets around to it? Perhaps you have a tough time just leaving the money in the bank and when you see something that looks like it would be nice to have you cave in and make a purchase. Either that or you look at the low interest that is coming in from banks these days and think 'what's the use?' as you're not even making interest that will meet inflation.

If this sounds like you, you may need to look at another way to save your money and a REIT may be the answer. A REIT is a real estate investment trust. This is essentially a mutual fund for real estate that will be used to buy, build or manage real estate ventures.

Those who are in REITs purchase shares, just like you would any stock, mutual funds or commodities on the stock market and allow that money to grow. In this case the growth comes from the lease, rent or mortgage insurance paid to the fund. The average return on REITs is 6-10%, which is triple, or quadruple of what most savings plans will net you in the bank.

Additionally, for the most part, REITs are pretty strong investments. Most of them are based on tangible pieces of property that are not going anywhere, so while values may fluctuate, they will still have some value.

Unlike buying real pieces of property, which means a lot of money, paperwork, and quite the hassle finding a buyer if you want to sell, REITs will allow you to instead sell your shares just like you would any other stock, mutual fund or commodities on the stock market.

If you're smart about this type of investment, you will treat it as a savings plan. As you get the money to purchase shares, make a purchase and then allow your annual dividends to be rolled back into purchase more shares. If you keep making your purchases on a regular time frame and let them grow. You may be surprised at just how much it grows for you to have down the road when you need it.

With the recent down market, there's no time like the present to buy. In the immortal words of multi-millionaire T. Harv. Eker, "Don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait."

If you have never heard of REITs or worked with them before, don't let that be a deterrent to you. Simply by logging on to a website such as REITBuyer.com you will be able to learn everything you need to know to be investing like a pro in no time and start that savings plan.

If you're completely new to this, begin with the basics. Make your way through the website learning all you need to know about REITs and then choose the ones that are best for you. The best part about REITBuyer.com is that you can then make your purchase on their website, as they are a full service investing real estate broker, and watch your portfolio all in the same place.

Invest in REITs Using the Internet

The Internet – Your Best Friend in Investing

Are you still of the old fashioned school where you think the best way to invest in stocks, REITs, bonds or mutual funds is to call your broker and ask him to make a buy for you? Why is that? By now, you should have realized that we have come a long way and the Internet is a way that you can take on these investments for yourself.

Many people are reluctant to take their own investing into their hands through the Internet. Their reasons vary from thinking they don't know enough about their specialty market to that they can't make the same kinds of buys as a broker to thinking that their broker knows more than they do and will make sure they get in on a good deal. Let's look at each of these for a minute.

I don't know enough about my market.

If you are one of the people who think you just don't know enough about your market to matter, that's only because you aren't trying to. If you invest in REITs, for example, there are wonderful websites that allow you to learn everything you would ever need to know, plus keep on top of what is happening right now, like REITBuyer.com.

Learning enough about your market to make wise decisions only takes a few minutes a day to do and can take you a long way in the profitability of your investment portfolio.

I can't make the same types of buys as my broker.

Think again. While your broker may have a really fancy computer system on his desk that he uses to make your purchases happen for you, chances are he is really using a program that is just as simple as one you could use to make the purchase. For example, REITBuyer.com is a complete brokerage firm of real estate investing that will allow you to buy and sell, as you need to, from the comfort of your own computer.

My broker knows more and will make sure I get good deals.


Unless you are sinking millions of dollars a year into your accounts, you’re not big enough for a broker to call you. If your broker hears about a great buy possibility, he is going to call his most prized clients first. Those are not the friendliest ones, but the ones who stand the chance to make him the most money. After all, this is business. This means you are likely not going to get that phone call and are going to miss out on the deal.

On the other hand, if you were signed up with a company like REITBuyer.com you would see those news stories that are going to impact the market as they come through and also be able to take a peek into the minds of the analysts on their blog to get the inside track on what is happening in your investment world. Then you can make the decision to act right away and reap the rewards.