Investing in REITs: Real Estate Investment Trusts, 4th Edition

Summary

• The first REITs, born in the early 1960s, ranged in size from about $10 million to $50 million; their property management functions were handled by outside management companies; and their combined assets were only about $200 million.
• As a result of their negative experience with mortgage REITs, investors of the 1970s became disenchanted with the entire REIT industry.
• During the 1980s, when investors were seeking the tax shelters offered by limited partnerships, real estate prices became inflated; this limited REITs' ability to grow through attractive acquisitions.
• REITs' performance improved substantially in the early 1990s as they were able to pick up properties at bargain prices resulting from the bear market in real estate that began ...