Tuesday, March 10, 2009

REITs: Invest in Real Estate in Malaysia Bypassing Bank PNB

If you have a diversified investment portfolio, you probably have put some money into the real estate sector. But have you considered REITs? What about foreign REITs?

Let's start with the basics. REITs are Real Estate Investment Trusts. These are funds that invest in real estate ventures. Consider these as holding companies that take your funds and money from other shareholders then purchases and manages real estate interests such as apartments, condominiums, business buildings and industrial parks.

The way you profit from a REIT is not through the sale of land, but rather the leases and rent that are paid on the properties that have been purchased by the management group.

If you are purchasing REITs that are based in the United States there are specific rules that dictate where the money in the REIT can be spent as well as how the profits from the REIT must be given back to the shareholders.

But if you are planning to purchase REITs overseas, the rules are not the same. One of the countries that have seen a number of REITs open up in recent years is Malaysia. But before you ever invest in a foreign property, you need to know what you are getting yourself into.

Here's a look at some of the rules related to their investments:

Types of Real Estate – When investing in the Malaysian REIT market, your money is only allowed to be used to purchase land, single purpose companies, and companies whose main assets are real estate. With this said, the government of Malaysia also allows REIT funds to be invested in other real estate investment trusts as well as debt securities that are backed by the government.

While this may seem that the government is allowing the company to purchase more things that are not as clearly defined as in the real estate market, they do also have a rule in place that demands at least 50% of the funds in a company must be in real estate or single purpose companies in order for the REIT to be valid. Additionally, their investments into assets that are not real estate related cannot be more than 25% of the fund.

In many respects, this does offer a little more variety, and possibly a little more stability in Malaysian REITs. Since there can be more diversity within the REIT, that often leads to more chance for profit, or at least a larger opportunity that there will be stability overall if one part of the REIT is having a bad time.

Getting involved in REIT investing overseas should always involve a lot of research on your part. Make sure you know what you are getting into, and the rules for that country before you buy. Also, if you are looking at Malaysian REIT investments, you need to remember that no two funds are alike and what one fund has inside may be completely different than the stock that another holds.

Websites like REITBuyer.com can help you sort through the maze of Malaysian REITs, find the purchases that are best for you and start filling your portfolio as they are also an investing real estate broker.

REITs: International Real Estate - The Wise Investment

In today's touchy economic climate many people want to be doing something to invest their money wisely, but are not sure how to do that. It seems every time you look at the business section all you see is more bad news about markets taking a tumble.

So, what is an investor to do? Well now may be a good time to take on an investment in something that is solid and has assets backing it up like Real Estate.

Sure, you're thinking that the real estate investment market has taken its share of hits. Yes, it has. But if you compare the hits it takes in a down market to the other mutual funds, stocks, bonds and options out there, you will see real estate is still the way to go.

For example, in one chunk of the market drop the regular stocks were down in a painful way. People then looked to see what the more stable commodities were doing. Even they were down. Utilities were down 4-5 percent. But at this same time real estate funds were down less than a percent. That should tell you something. Even when the rest of the investing building is crumbling, real estate is still a pretty strong corner stone.

Sure, some markets are still rather low for where most investors would like them to be, but if you look at this in a different way you may see the light.

While the funds may be low now, real estate is an asset. That means real estate will never completely lose it's valuable. That tangible piece of land or building will always retain some value. Therefore unlike the regular stock market where a bad day could wipe all of your money away, the real estate investing market will usually allow you to at least keep your investment, although you may not see as much profit as you would like.

How to Invest in Real Estate

The next thing you may be wondering is how to start getting invested in real estate. The first thing you need to do is your homework. You need to know what is best to invest in and how to get your money into those markets.

Begin by going to REITBuyer.com. This is a website that is in the business of real estate investments and real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Unlike other brokerage firms that just want your money, they also want to make sure you know what you are getting into. The website is filled with information about REITs and the real estate market in general. This will give you a good base in the options that are out there and which ones you may want to consider purchasing.

Once you know which ones are the best to put into your portfolio, REITBuyer.com can take care of that part of the process as well, making the purchases for you.

After the purchase has been made, they will also help you keep up with your REITs and follow their progress in the weeks, months and years to come.