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
The prime rate, a benchmark interest rate banks use, plays a significant role in the real estate market. Essentially, it’s the interest rate that commercial banks charge their most ...
An offering of securities, stock and/or debt, directly to investors rather then through the public exchange markets. An advantage of a private placement to a real estate business is that ...
(1) Judgment against a defendant who does not respond to the plaintiffs lawsuit or fails to appear in court at the hearing or trial date. (2) Judgment issued by the court against the ...
Formal statement by an auditor, after through examination and consideration, as to whether a real estate company's financial statements fairly present financial position and operating ...
The appraisal approach is used to estimate the value of an asset, based on various factors to reach the closest educated guess of the asset. While an appraisal approach does consider the ...
Judicially determined minimum selling price for auctioned property. For example, a judge rules that a foreclosed home may be sold for less than $200,000, ...
person designating an agent to act for him. Primary individual having full financial liability. Amount being risked in a real estate investment. Owner of a real estate business. ...
A reciprocal transfer of property from one entity to another. A market for securities of a real estate companies, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ...
Legal proceeding whereby a person's property is attached and used to pay an obligation. The employer may withhold part of the employee's salary to the court until the debt has been paid. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.