Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
Type of investment company that invests money in mortgages and various types of investment in real estate, in order to earn profits for shareholders. Shareholders receive income from the rents received from the properties and receive capital gains as properties are sold at a profit. REITs have been formed by a number of large financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies. The stocks of many of them are traded on security exchanges, thereby providing investors with a marketable interest in real estate investment portfolio. By law, REITs have to distribute 95 percent of their income to shareholders, and in turn they are exempt from corporate taxes on income or gains. In exchange for this special tax treatment, REITs are subject to numerous qualifications and limitations including:
- Qualified asset and income tests. REITs are required to have at least 75% of their value represented by qualified real estate assets and to earn at least 75% of their income from real estate investments.
- Shareholder qualifications. Generally, REITs are not permitted to be closely held and must have a minimum of 100 shareholders.
Popular Real Estate Terms
Real estate sales contract where possession and use is provided to the buyer, but the deed is kept by the seller until the full purchase price is met whereupon the title is placed in the ...
Value of property is reduced form usage oven time. The problem is worsened when repairs and maintenance have not been made. ...
Money payments to be delayed for a future date or extended over a period of time. ...
See concrete block. ...
Generally speaking, the meaning of warehousing refers to the act of storing assets and keeping a physical inventory expecting a sale or distribution of goods at a later date. Warehousing is ...
If you’re a renter and you own a pet, you might be familiar with the term pet rent. There has been a lot of discussion about the meaning of pet rent and controversy as it isn’t ...
The geographic moving of an individual from one region to another usually because of a change in employment. Relocation normally involves the complete moving of the individual's ...
The phrase used for the period in which the escrow agent communicates to both the buyer and the seller as to what documents or moneys have to be deposited with the escrow agent to satisfy ...
Property that is similar in characteristic and when exchanged is a nontaxable transaction. Any property that is not like-king, such as cash (boot), is taxed. As a result, a gain is not ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.