What do you think of REITs as an investment? Do you know anything about Vestin Mortgage?

Question

I have been watching two funds managed by Vestin: VRTA and VRTB, both listed on Nasdaq. Both are trading at substantial discounts to book or original value. Both are paying dividends.
What is the market telling us?

Answer 1

Reits have been a great investment but have have had such a big run at double-digit gains that yields & values are low right now. Some Reits are just mortgage pools - Vestin may be but I forget. You have missed the Reit boat for now & would avoid except for SNH which is in a great area & well managed.

Answer 2

I think REITs are a bit overvalued right now. They have been going up for a long time, and their dividend yields are a bit low. That said, here is a portfolio of some of my favorite REIT stocks:

http://www.top10traders.com/ViewPortfolio.aspx?userID=565

This link is from http://www.top10traders.com - this is a free site that lets you create a portfolio of stocks with $100,000 in "play" money. Each day the site ranks the best performing portfolios, so you can see how your picks perform compared to other investors. You can also read posts on investing from the best traders, as well as share your own investing ideas. There is also a charting feature , so you can see how your portfolio performs compared to the S&P 500.

Here are this month's best traders:

http://www.top10traders.com/Top10Standings.aspx

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

REITS are great for the long term (20 yrs or more).

In the short term, I feel that they are slightly overvalued, and there is room for a pullback.