Real Estate Investment Trust
REITs were created by federal law in 1960 to enable small investors to pool their money and invest in real estate while being able to diversify their risk and have professional managers. There are three main types of REITs: mortgage REITs, equity REITs, and hybrid REITs. A mortgage REIT makes or owns loan obligations that are secured by real estate property; an equity REIT owns real estate, rather than issuing loans; and a hybrid REIT combines both strategies.
Webster's New World Finance and Investment Dictionary Copyright © 2003 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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