A Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) is a company that invests its assets in real estate properties for rent. You receive a share of the earnings, depreciation, etc., from the portfolio of real estate holdings that the REIT owns. Owning shares in a REIT is much like owning shares in a stock.

If you want to have investments in property but do not want to be a landlord, then REIT maybe the investment you are looking for. An advantage to REIT is that you have a much more liquid investment than you do when directly investing in real estate.

REITs are rather conservative investments. This is because rental revenues do not usually vary as much as revenues of large Dow Jones firms. One important thing about REITs is they are one of the best inflation hedges around. Many of them yield 7-10% dividends. However, they almost always lack the potential for tremendous price appreciation (and depreciation) that you get with most common stocks. If you decide to invest in REITs, pick several. Diversification will limit your overall risk.