Talk:Real estate investment trust

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Minor Cleanup

Changed the wording about Japanesse REITS

Removed MeriStar Hospotality since it is no longer a REIT and replaced with Host Hotels

Moved article

Article moved from REIT.--Jerryseinfeld 01:23, 8 Jan 2005 (UTC)

This is turning into a real article! Bearian 03:55, 3 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

History

The history section appears essentially verbatim on this page. Not sure who copied who. There is a reference in the article for the first paragraph of the history section, but I can't find any of the information on the linked page. Also, the history section itself is entirely US related. Probably it should be renamed "History of REITs in the US" (or similar) or, if REITs originated in the US, then the text could be edited to reflect that. I'd change it, but I don't know much about this subject and the whole citing of sources issues makes this a big mess. Sewebster 19:29, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I took it all out. Good catch. Probably both were copied from investinginreitsDOTcom -THB 20:08, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think you mean investinreits.com, but I couldn't find the information there. I moved the remainder of the history section to the bottom of the US reit section since the information wasn't particularly historical. Hopefully we can re-add a history section when we find a good source. Sewebster 01:24, 15 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think a well-written history section would vastly improve this article. I'll try later if nobody else does it. Bearian

One Question:

When I look at the financial data on REIT's, usually their dividend is listed as exceeding their earnings. I assume that the dividends are treated as an expense that is deducted before the earnings are calculated, but I've never seen this stated anywhere. If it's true, could you add it to the article here? User:Carl Ponder 16:02, 10 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Actually, the effect that you are seeing is a result of non-cash expenses, particularly depreciation. A REIT is able to distribute more than its GAAP earnings because of these expenses, which reduce the book value of its assets without reducing cash on hand (from which dividends are paid). Even more confusingly, the income on which tax is calculated (and which determines how much the REIT is required to distribute in order to maintain its pass-through status) may also differ from GAAP income, since the tax rules often differ from the regular accounting rules. That is why REITs generally quote "Funds From Operations" (FFO) as their primary performance metric. There is, however, no legally-standardized definition of FFO like there is for earnings, so investors have to do more work to compare the performance of REITs than they would for other kinds of businesses.

Normally, when one bases investment decisions on ignoring depreciation and other non-cash expenses, one must eventually pay the piper when those depreciated assets are used up. However, real estate investors generally operate on the theory that real estate will hold its value, or even appreciate, over time, and on average, those properties which do depreciate will be more than offset by the appreciation on other properties in the portfolio. 121a0012 01:56, 5 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Indian Section

This reads rather like advertising from a firm selling Indian REITs. How can one verify the claim that it is good to be invested in Indian property at the moment, since one can only know for sure after the fact? Perhaps there are some statistics on the rapid growth in the amounts invested in Indian REITs, which demonstrate their popularity and would be more helpful for encyclopaedic purposes. 91.106.219.250 (talk) 21:33, 28 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Listing of Property Trust on other stock exchanges

Singapore has emerged as a established real estate investment trust (REIT) market in Asia due to its lower tax structure, easier equity raising and lower interest rates among others.Indian Property Developers Like Unitech,DLF plans to list their trust on SGX. But in the current scenario when stock markets are falling, companies are also evaluating other securitisation options such as real estate mutual funds, listing their business trusts in the UK and Australia, public listing among others. Latest occurring in Real estate Investment Trust Market should also be observed in the article as it will be a good source/guide for the Retail Investors.Jain puneet (talk) 13:28, 16 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Removal of content sourced to non-English websites

I removed a section of content sourced to non-notable websites that didn't meet the basics of WP:NONENG, but I wanted to clarify that even the English versions of the websites would not adequately source the content. As this is the English version of Wikipedia and about a subject that is complex/controversial/sensitive, edits should be sourced to articles written in English published in recognizable publications meeting WP:RS. Flowanda | Talk 06:51, 28 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Possible copyright violation

The last section was taken word for word without attribution from the webpage at:

http://www.reit.com/AllAboutREITs/tabid/54/Default.aspx —Preceding unsigned comment added by Robinsoz (talk • contribs) 21:40, 23 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

As the entire section was added all at once here, this seems likely. I've removed it. Kuru ^talk 00:32, 24 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Global Economy

Although the below is a truthful statement, it really only reflects a present sentiment. Think of it this way...in 10 years, this sentence will be meaningless. It should be updated with dates or re-written to reflect the fact that REITs are particularly vulnerable (if they actually are) to market fluctuations and global economy, and as such are (more or less) risky than other investment vehicals. Just because we are feeling down about the current economic situation, doesn't mean a factual wiki should be tainted or reflect same.

"REITs face challenges from both a slowing economy and the global financial crisis, depressing share values by 40 to 70 per cent in some cases.[1]" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.88.249.253 (talk) 15:26, 30 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Questions about REITs

Are REITs scams? 206.47.141.21 (talk) 15:37, 27 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

No. Kuru ^talk 01:30, 28 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I suppose the management could be bad, but the concept/idea is real?? Buddha24 (talk) 02:00, 28 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]