A friend of mine recently asked me about investing in a REIT, which is a Real Estate Investment Trust. There’s been a lot of them poppin’ up over the last 15 to 20 years – especially online. This particular one that she was looking at had $1,000 minimum. My friend asked, “I don’t have the $1,000 now, but if I did is this a good idea?” The online REIT that she’s looking at is so super-hipster right now too (because my friend who asked is also a hipster).

The site talks about crowd-sourcing and how you can become a real estate mogul just like everyone else! It’s real sexy, amazing, gnarly, yadda yadda yadda.
A lot of REITs invest in commercial real estate, like apartments, office buildings, retail buildings, and it makes money from the rental fees that they charge the tenants that use those properties. It delivers those monies to the investors in the form of dividends.
The Good News: Well-managed REITs tend to be good investments and a lot of them have performed really well compared to stocks.
The Bad News: Like stocks, there are no guarantee of dividends or return on investment, so there’s definitely some risk involved. If the REITs make money, you make money! Woohoo! If the REITs lose money, you lose money as well. Boo!
If you want to invest $1,000 in an REIT, it’s not the worst idea on the planet – but is it the best option?
There are a lot of down payment assistance programs out there that help a person with decent credit and $1,000 in their pocket to buy a house. Right now, prices are pretty decent, appreciation rates are pretty decent and interest rates, WHOA! Interest rates are at historic lows. So that makes this whole thing, like a super no-brainer.
Don’t believe me?

Well, here’s how investing in an REIT works: Let’s just say you took that $1,000 down payment for a house, and invested it in that sexy REIT instead. In 5 years, that $1,000 turns into a magical $1,645! Cha-ching!
Now, on the flip side, let’s just say instead of investing in that REIT, you bought yourself a town home with that $1,000. If you hang onto that town home for 5 years (and ditch the REIT), you’re looking at a profit of over $11,000! Double cha-ching!
Why do you earn so much more money on the town home? Because, my friend, you’re earning the appreciation rate on the ENTIRE town home, the $140,000 – $150,000 town home. Plus, it’s called leverage and it’s AWESOME.
In a nutshell, by investing first in your home, you’re leveraging money that you’re already spending anyway in an investment that has proven to provide more long-term wealth to Americans than any other investment out there. So, hey, if you want to take that $1,000 and invest in that sexy REIT, good luck. But if you want to take that $1,000 and REALLY do some investing, well, you know where to find me.
Make it a great day!
Kristin LaVanway
480-282-7464
kristin@hereinphoenix.com
Search Results: 417 Properties
8260 E Keats Avenue 497 Mesa 85209

7807 E Main Street H-39 Mesa 85207

5735 E Mcdowell Road 74 Mesa 85215

146 S 80th Street Mesa 85208

440 S Parkcrest -- 114 Mesa 85206

7906 E Privet Drive Mesa 85208

7806 E Main Street B-20 Mesa 85207

5626 S Doubloon Court B Tempe 85283

2492 W Desert Spring Way Queen Creek 85142

1326 W Ivanhoe Street Chandler 85224

7807 E Main Street C-4 Mesa 85207

550 S Allen Drive Mesa 85204

1632 W Huntington Drive Tempe 85282

Mesa 85201

3929 S Mill Avenue Tempe 85282

8311 E Desert Trail Mesa 85208

930 N Mesa Drive -- 2092 Mesa 85201

5917 E Player Place Mesa 85215

1855 E Kirkland Lane Tempe 85281

650 N Hawes Road 4015 Mesa 85207

600 W Grove Parkway 1053 Tempe 85283

1905 E Jamaica Avenue Mesa 85204

9828 E Pueblo Avenue 88 Mesa 85208

2329 N Recker Road 117 Mesa 85215
