So today I am combining the next two points on Mel’s Money Manifesto – in which I tell you what I’ve learned about REITs.

Mel’s Money Manifesto is a list of money and life goals I made for myself nine years ago when I started this blog and this series looks at the progress I’ve made during that time – or if that goal even matters to me anymore.

Essentially REITs are a way you can invest in real estate through the stock market.

REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust and it’s a company or collection of companies that own income producing real estate.

It’s not that much different from any other kind of stock.

So did I invest in one?

No. I actually invested about $1,000 in REM – iShares Mortgage Real Estate ETF

As of today, it is down $428.24, so not my best investment choice in my portfolio.

Of course, is right now the best time to sort what the winners or losers in a portfolio are? I have several stocks that seem to do really well during recessions that are currently doing exactly that and some that have been rockstars for years that are just not right now.

Overall, people need homes and most will have mortgages, so I feel pretty ok about the purchase overall.

Will I be looking to invest in more real estate through the stock market – like via an actual REIT? Probably not.

I try to keep my investments from getting overwhelmingly complicated and I’m fairly happy with the my current portfolio which has half of my investments in two general index funds and the other half spread across 10 other stocks.

Those 10 other stocks are 75% long term, solid companies I believe in and 25% insane shoot the moon things like a cannabis company and an IPO for a company I used to work for.

So what appealed to me about REITs? Especially back in 2013 when I was first trying to learn more about personal finance?

I suspect I was drawn to the claims that REITs provide pretty stable dividends while also often appreciating over the long run.

This is my kind of investment strategy.

Less awesome is that dividends are taxes as regular income and the fees can be high.

Overall, I’d say I’m glad I know what a REIT is and I’m super cool with not owning one.

If you’re interested in seeing how the other goals on my Money Manifesto are going, you can read those posts here:

1. ) I will pay off all my debt. 
2. ) I will tithe 10%
3. ) I will save at least 15%
4. ) I will build up a $10,000 emergency fund.
5. ) I will max out my IRA every year.
6. ) I will put effort into learning how the stock market works better.
7. ) Then I’ll invest in it.

Have you ever invested in REITs? How do you decide what to invest in?