Building Wealth, Brick By Brick – How Black Women Are Winning With REITs

Women using cellphone
If you’re interested in diversifying your portfolio through real estate investing, but aren’t ready to take the plunge into landlordship, it may be time to look into REITs.
According to Investopedia, real estate investing trusts (REITs) are companies that own, operate, or finance income-producing real estate across a wide range of property sectors. The outlet explains that these investments allow you to earn income from real estate without having to buy, manage, or finance properties themselves.
Sounds great, right? You’re not the only one that thinks that. Data from real estate data hub Nareit, 145 million Americans are invested in REIT stocks, as of 2020. Black women are cashing in on the movement.
On TikTok, more than 22M videos about Black women in stocks, and content creators are sharing their insight on REITs for followers.
Ashley M. Fox, former Wall Street analyst and founder of personal finance platform Empify says REITs changed her outlook on investing.
Article continues after video.
“REITs have changed my life,” Fox shared in a TikTok video. “They gave me the opportunity to recognize that you don’t have to have a lot of credit, make a lot of money, dedicate a bunch of time, or even be an expert {to invest}. “You are just partnering and owning stock.”
She goes on to explain what owning a REITs means and how investors get a return on their investment.
“When you invest in a REIT, you’re owning stock in a company that owns malls, office buildings or commercial real estate {for example}. They’re looking to have really good tenants and strong leases that produce consistent income. REITs were created for the everyday person to still build wealth and get exposure to real estate.”
Getting Started
First, start by opening a brokerage account with an app like Robinhood, Fidelity, or Charles Schwab.
Then start doing some research on which type of REITs make most sense for you. Experts suggest that novice investors begin with publicly traded REITs, mainly because the financial barrier to entry is low. Public Storage, Acadia Realty Trust, and Brookfield REIT are a few examples of these.
As Investopedia points out, private REITs, on the other hand, are only open to accredited investors and have minimums fees starting in the low thousands.
Building On The Progress
Once your account is open and you have an idea of which REITs you want to invest in, it’s time to start buying shares. Again, this type of investment allows you to reap the benefits of real estate investing without having to buy an entire building. Instead, you buy small pieces (shares) of a REIT. With that, many REITs give you dividends, which means they pay you a little bit of money just for owning them. Over time, if the REIT does well, the price of your shares can go up.
Will you be investing in a REIT anytime soon?