What's the difference beween REITs (real estate investment trusts) & real estate development & management co.?
969193
a REIT is publicly traded and strives for profits and dividends for its stockholders.\na real estate mgmt company may or may not own properties - its function is 3rd party property management.  the emphasis on the bottom line is not as great.
766351
You have to look at the condo as you would any other investment.  Do the condo rules allow you to rent out the property if you needed to relocate for school?  Would such an asset disallow you from any low rate student loan programs for medical school? Can the property be sold in a timely manner if you needed to liquidate?  Are the property values rising at fast enough rate to justify the initial investment?    I realize these are more questions than answers but they are all important to your issue.  The most important one is the last one because real estate is just like any other investment if you are looking on a short term basis.
364240
Owning a house is the best from an investment standpoint. Condos are pretty good too although the market is different. They don't increase in value as much, you have to pay an extra monthly fee but you don't have to worry about taking care of the outside. Renting is money out the window but you may want to consider it first so that you can really take your time and look over the housing market in the area you will be going.
445692
Mutual Funds are public, hedge funds are private.  Both require groups of investors, but hedge funds have few investors.
869391
Actually, there is not difference in costs assuming they are open ended funds.  Closed end funds carry the cost of brokerage commissions to buy and sell so with those there would be a slight difference.  \n\nIn general one is better off risk and reward wise owning several different funds with different investment philosophies.  It tends to avoid specific risk.
147946
Investments (that would be addressed with a QDRO) can be defined as pre or post tax investment. \nPre means that tax was deferred on both the basis ( the initial contribution) and the income. A post tax investment means that the basis was already taxed, so tax is only due on the income. Tradition IRA's and 40lK's ( or similar plans) can have both. \nRoth IRA's are post tax investment where the income accrues free of add'l tax.\n\nIn each case, beyond any tax,there are penalties for premature withdrawl. If the funds from the QDRO are transferred into an equivalent IRA or qualified plan, then ther is no penalty and you pay any tax  onlyat the time when you  actually take a distribution. \n\nIf you take a distribution now and do not rollover, you will be required to pay applicable penalties beyond the tax.
224191
Well, since you're a high schooler I doubt you'd be able to get a high paying job in real estate investing or business management - simply because you have little or no experience.  If you're simply looking to make some decent money then look into being a waiter/waitress for a nice restaurant - you can make pretty decent tips.
884875
I started my investing with Edward Jones. They are lucrative and they have strict requirements before even considering someone for employment.  I have long since moved onto my own (and have done very well at it too) for first timers go ahead and pay the fees to invest in the long run its worth it.
604703
Find a financial advisor you trust (through interviewing them).  They will provide good investment advice.  Both IRA's grow tax deferred (you don't pay earnings along the way).  The differences are that \n\nTraditional ira- tax write off on contributions, taxed fully when withdraw, can't withdraw b4 59.5yrs old w/o 10% irs penalty and taxed on everything\n\nRoth- all contributions are already taxed (can't use it as a write off), by the time you're 59.5 yrs old (and assuming you had the account at least for 5 yrs) everything is tax free.  You are also allowed to take out the principal at anytime w/o penalty.  Some other rules apply to fully withdraw w/o penalty (i.e. 1st home purchase, higher education, etc.)\n\nAgain, if you have little to no investment experience, DO NOT listen to those hot stock tips, Suze Orman, or whatever is on TV.  By the time you hear of those 20% returns, you're already too late (i.e. real estate).  Please, please work with a professional.
1047746
Nothing personal BUT I dont agree with the comment to hold a property for a short term. A true investment in Real Estate is one that is held for profit in the long term.\n\nIF you are a speculator or flipper (which sounds like you are not) you might want to becareful. This is not the right market to be doing that.\n\nAll in all SFR are less hassle because you dont have to take care of multiple unit problems and problems between the tenants but of course you have the benefit of better cash flow in Multiunits. So it's really what you are trying to accomplish with your INVESTMENT!.\n\nGood luck
588477
There are multiple ways of obtaining that. Not sure if your making a comment or asking a question. Private money will be expensive, however if your investment property generates enough money to off set those costs, then they can help in the short term.
799712
Are you sure you mean passive income and not investment income. In the U.S. passive income and loss comes from investing in real estate for rent or a business that you don't participate in.\nInvestment income comes from investing in stocks, bonds, savings accounts, cd's and raw land.
632828
If you have an on line stock broker account, they probably have access to S&P reports that will give you the historical data. \n\nNot all REITs are anywhere near the same nor do they pay the same dividends. And many times a portion of the dividend is a return of capital. \n\nThere are even multiple categories of REITs. Appartment REITs, Office building REITs, shopping mall REITs, even storage bin REITs, hotel REIT's, and probably others I am not familiar with.
164477
As you have realised, your portfolio is very heavy on property.\n\nOne of the fundamentals of investment risk management is to diversify. When you are diversified when one investment type experiences a decline another might go up. \n\nIf you are carrying no debt on your 2 properties you are actually in a good position but might need to move things around. Are all of your properties currently rented? What is happening to the income from that?\n\nYou may want to consider buying some shares as an additional investment. They will provide you with a semi regular income and can be sold very quickly and in small parcels, unlike property. \n\nYou'll obviously need some money to purchase shares. Would you consider selling one of the units in your complex for this purpose? Or taking a loan against the units? \n\nAnother investment category it sounds like you should be strongly thinking of is cash. You should have a "rainy day" account that could keep you going for at least a couple of months.\n\nI would suggest you talk with a financial planner. Shop around for a decent one and understand what services they offer and how they get paid e.g. are they going to just flog product from one place. \n\nSounds like selling the unit block and converting the proceeds to a smaller block or less units and shares and cash may be a good idea.\n\nI am not an expert and don't know anything about your situation so it's hard to comment
495287
In simplest terms, mutual funds are just groups of investments.  They can be stocks, or bonds, or a combination of the two.  They can even be investments in real estate (REITs).\n\nIn an active mutual fund, a fund manager decides what to purchase for the fund.  In a stock fund, the manager picks the stocks to buy in hopes that the stocks will go up.  In bond fund, he picks bonds.  In some funds, the manager has the option of choosing between both stock and bonds.  He may even decide buy nothing if he can't find anything worth buying, keeping cash on hand until he finds something worthwhile to buy.\n\nIn an index fund, a fund manager's main job is just to buy the stocks or bonds in an index.  For example, in an S&P 500 stock fund, the manager's job is to buy all the stocks in S&P 500 and hold them.
16306
Most REITs pay a nice dividend (GGP, SPG)\nA lot of the DOW components also pay dividends.\n\nGE, XOM, CVX, PG also pay dividends.\n\nALD pays a really high dividend as well.\n\nKeep in mind, just because they pay high dividends doesn't mean they are good stocks.
800162
Investing in a business that you love can effect your judgment as to the quality of the investment (believe me I know). Your better off going for your first house and getting a real asset on your sheet.