Brad Thomas has over 30 years of real estate investing experience. He's published over 4,000 articles during the last 13 years, and he is the top writer on Seeking Alpha, the world's largest investing community. He is also the CEO of Wide Moat Research, senior analyst at iREIT®, and a REIT ETF provider (iREIT¯® MarketVector¯(TM) Quality REIT Index). Brad teaches REITs at New York University and other schools such as Penn State University, Clemson University, the University of North Carolina, Cornell University, and Georgetown University.

Introduction 1

Part 1: Getting Started with REITs 5

Chapter 1: Who Wants to Be a Virtual Landlord? 7

Chapter 2: It All Starts with Real Estate 15

Chapter 3: Unlocking the First Level of the REIT Universe 31

Chapter 4: Understanding How REITs Make Money 45

Chapter 5: REITs around the Globe 61

Part 2: Exploring the REIT Universe 83

Chapter 6: Exploring the Primary REIT Sectors 85

Chapter 7: Exploring Alternative REIT Sectors 105

Chapter 8: Putting on Your REIT Analyst Hat 125

Chapter 9: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff 149

Part 3: REITs for All Investors 161

Chapter 10: Building a Smart REIT Portfolio from the Ground Up 163

Chapter 11: The Big Fish REIT Investors 179

Chapter 12: Pressing the REIT Easy Button 195

Part 4: The Part of Tens 211

Chapter 13: More Than Ten FAQs About REITs 213

Chapter 14: Ten Mistakes to Avoid When Investing in REITs 223

Appendix A: Assessing Weighted Average Cost of Capital 233

Appendix B: Determining Net Asset Value 237

Appendix C: Calculating Adjusted Funds from Operations 241

Glossary 243

Index 261