How Neat Are REITs? These Web Sites Will Help You Decide

The year's best-performing real estate investment trusts , or REITs, have been those with holdings in lodgings and resorts, up nearly 36%. Industrial real estate REITs are up more than 32%. Apartment complex REITs are up some 26%.

I found this out not from some press release but on the Web site of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, where aggregate performance stats are refreshed monthly. (The ones I cite are from Sept. 30.) As you'll see, it's one of a handful of spots on the Web where you can comparison-shop and perform due diligence on REITs.

For the uninitiated, REITs are asset-management companies that own real estate -- everything from trailer parks to prime downtown office buildings to state prisons. Another species of REITs holds mortgage debt. For tax purposes, REITs are organized a little like limited partnerships. Instead of paying taxes on their profits, they pass them along to shareholders in the form of dividends. However, unlike limited partnerships, REITs trade just like stocks. ...