REIT Or Real Estate Investment Trust Definition

A REIT is a business entity formed to invest in real estate, mortgages and/or securities backed by real estate.

Real Estate Investment Trusts are required to pass through 95% of taxable income to their investors and are not taxed at the corporate level. The three major types are equity, mortgage and hybrid.

Real Estate Investment Trusts tend to specialize in property types. For instance, there are Real Estate Investment Trusts that specilize in Apartments, Offices, Hotel's, Retail stores, etc.

Real Estate Investment Trusts can either be public traded or private.

To learn more about Real Estate Investment Trusts, visit National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts website.

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