Foreign Real Estate Investments

 Real estate has certainly had its share of bad news since the downturn which became a crisis in 2008. The crisis was felt worldwide and it could take several more years before we really begin to see a turn around.

 With values at historic low levels, this might be a good time to seek bargains in the investment market. There are currently at least 11 ETFs (exchange traded funds) that invest in foreign real estate. There are both international and global funds to choose from.

 International would include real estate investments out of the US and global would include the US.

 Several of the real estate funds are yielding more than 5 % and one had an annual yield of 7.12 %.

 The funds are heavily invested in Asia especially in Hong Kong market. You will find ETF’s in the European area such as the UK, France and Holland.

 If mutual funds are more to your liking there are numerous real estate mutual funds to choose from.

 Real Estate funds invest in companies that do just about anything you can think of that has anything to do with real estate, directly or indirectly. This includes companies that own large tracts of raw land or land currently in agricultural or forest production, office buildings, apartment complexes, shopping plazas and industrial parks, home builders, real estate developers, lumber companies, suppliers of building materials, REITs and diversified real estate companies.

 Check List:

•  Review Morningstar’s website to check out risk ratings and find out which real estate mutual funds are currently performing best.
•  Request the prospectus for each fund in which you’re interested.
•  Read each prospectus carefully. Compare fees as well as projected gains and losses.

Dan