Investing in Real Estate Online - High yields From Investments in Canadian REITs

www.REITinvestor.ca

Recently, countless books and magazine articles have chronicled the billions of dollars stolen by crooked financial managers, defrauded by Ponzi scheme operators and just plain lost due to incompetent investment advisors. It is no wonder more and more investors are taking control of their personal investments. In the US alone, it is estimated that more than $100B has been removed by unsatisfied investors from traditional investment brokers in the past 12 months. Not surprisingly, many have turned to self-managed investment accounts with discount online trading brokers.

While publicly traded real estate companies and real estate investment trusts (REITs) have not been immune from the market selloff, recently many investors have begun to embrace these companies on the premise that they can take advantage of distressed prices near the bottom of the real estate market. Moreover, publicly traded real estate companies and REITs offer a unique opportunity to gain access to real estate asset investments via the stock markets.

Typically direct ownership of real estate revenue properties is characterized by stressed relationships between the property owner and tenants, unprofessional property management practices, high transaction costs, credit limitations and trapped investment capital. These are just a few of the reasons an investor may opt for investing in a publicly listed real estate company or a real estate investment trust (REIT).

Yet investing in a publicly listed real estate company has its risks too. The investor is removed from direct property ownership control, with no input into or knowledge of management´s day-to-day decision making, and is usually unaware of a pending major event that could positively or negatively affect the stock or unit price.

In order to invest in any real estate company, the investor must first have trust and confidence that the manager will be acting at all times in the best interest of the shareholder. Any indication to the contrary should convince the investor to look elsewhere.

Beyond the trust and confidence test, investors in real estate stocks and REITs should seek unbiased third-party opinion and analysis on the company. These analysts offer many advantages, from detailed analysis of the company´s internal operations to comparative peer performance.

At the same time, it is important for the investor to determine if the analyst providing these reports is truly objective. Many analysts work at investment banks that have a direct financial interest in the success of the real estate company or REIT they are providing commentary on. In addition, most analysts work for brokers who wish to earn fees from the sale of shares of companies they cover. These analysts are referred to as "sell-side" analysts. In this case, the investor must attempt to determine how reliable an analyst´s report is.

Services such as REITinvestor.ca perform their own analysis and are completely independent of the brokerage community, as well as the companies they cover. They do not recommend stocks to buy or sell. They are simply publishing their research and views on the REITs they follow. REITinvestor.ca also publishes daily for its members its own quant modeling ranking and rating system. This system ranks the 23 Canadian REITs it covers and sorts them into 1 of 5 ratings. In addition, the members can review the investments, both long and short, of REITinvestor.ca´s own fund.

For more information visit www.REITinvestor.ca