Is it better to invest in REITs or stocks?
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.
Pros of investing in REIT stocks
The most reliable REITs have a track record of paying large and growing dividends for decades. High returns: As noted above, returns from REITs can outperform equity indexes, which is another reason they are an attractive option for portfolio diversification.
A potential drawback of purchasing non-traded REITs are the high up-front fees. Investors can expect to pay fees, which include commission and fees, between 9 and 10% of the entire investment.
Returns. As mentioned above, stocks generally perform better than real estate, with the S&P 500 providing an 8% return over the last 30 years compared with a 5.4% return in the housing market.
Historically, stocks have offered better returns than real estate investments. "Stocks have returned, on average, about 8% to 12% per year while real estate has generated returns of 2% to 4% per year," says Peter Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research.
In most cases, REITs utilize a combination of debt and equity to purchase a property. As such, they are more sensitive than other asset classes to changes in interest rates., particularly those that use variable rate debt. When interest rates rise, REITs share prices can be prone to volatility.
To qualify as a REIT, a company must have the bulk of its assets and income connected to real estate investment and must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to shareholders annually in the form of dividends.
This is the biggest and most important mistake that REIT investors keep on making. They see REITs as "income vehicles" and therefore, they will select their investments based on their dividend yield. In their mind, the higher the better. But in reality, the dividend is just a capital allocation decision.
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.
This is known as the geographic market test. Section 856 (d)(2) (C) excludes impermissible tenant service income (ITSI) from the definition of rent from real property, making it “bad income” for the 75% and 95% REIT gross income tests.
What is the 2% rule in real estate?
2% Rule. The 2% rule is the same as the 1% rule – it just uses a different number. The 2% rule states that the monthly rent for an investment property should be equal to or no less than 2% of the purchase price. Here's an example of the 2% rule for a home with the purchase price of $150,000: $150,000 x 0.02 = $3,000.
Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. More money has been made in real estate than in all industrial investments combined. The wise young man or wage earner of today invests his money in real estate.
Put simply, the 70 percent rule states that you shouldn't buy a distressed property for more than 70 percent of the home's after-repair value (ARV) — in other words, how much the house will likely sell for once fixed — minus the cost of repairs.
Real estate investment is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Instead, it's a long-term strategy that can steadily build wealth over time. As you continue to own and manage properties, their value appreciates, and your equity grows. Diversifying your investment portfolio is a crucial wealth-building strategy.
The great robber baron and millionaire prototype Andrew Carnegie once said, “Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. More money has been made in real estate than in all industrial investments combined. The wise young man or wage earner of today invests his money in real estate.”
In terms of averages, stocks have tended to have higher total returns over time. The S&P 500 stock index has had an average annualized return around 10% over very long periods (higher if you include dividends), while average annual real estate returns are often more in the 4-8% range.
Direct real estate offers more tax breaks than REIT investments, and gives investors more control over decision making. Many REITs are publicly traded on exchanges, so they're easier to buy and sell than traditional real estate.
In 2023, more institutional investors will likely consider REITs as part of portfolio completion strategies to gain geographic diversification or sector diversification, or to enhance their portfolios' ESG attributes. Our 2023 outlook wouldn't be complete without a deep dive into the institutional investor space.
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.
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.
Is a REIT taxable income?
The majority of REIT dividends are taxed as ordinary income up to the maximum rate of 37% (returning to 39.6% in 2026), plus a separate 3.8% surtax on investment income. Taxpayers may also generally deduct 20% of the combined qualified business income amount which includes Qualified REIT Dividends through Dec.
Investors can benefit from allocating as little as 5% to REITs. Investor confidence in real estate reached unprecedented levels in 2022, owing to home price appreciation and higher yields for other asset classes, such as REITs, in low-rate environments.
Over longer periods, there has generally been a positive association between periods of rising rates and REIT returns. This is because rising rates generally reflect improvement in the underlying fundamentals.
While a REIT is still open to public investors, investors may be able to sell their shares back to the REIT. However, this sale usually comes at a discount; leaving only about 70% to 95% of the original value. Once a REIT is closed to the public, REIT companies may not offer early redemptions.
REIT | Forward dividend yield |
---|---|
Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc. (BXMT) | 12.1% |
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (KREF) | 13.5% |
Easterly Government Properties Inc. (DEA) | 8.3% |
Realty Income Corp. (O) | 5.5% |
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