New buildings are a big plus for investors

Today’s low interest rates continue to help Canadian REITs reduce interest expenses. That, in turn, steadies their cash flow and sustains their distributions for investors. In fact, most REITs have already moved to refinance much of their debt at today’s low fixed rates. This helps to… Read More

Here are five key ways to value REITs

Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) have different valuation measures than, say, industrial companies or banks. Here we look at five popular methods to compare the valuations of REITs.
The net asset value (NAV) approach
Most REITs regularly value their real estate portfolios, either internally or by appointing… Read More

Investing in REITs

Investing in REITs

A REIT is also known as real estate investment trust. Investing in REITs lets you hold income-producing real estate such as office buildings, shopping malls and hotels.

REITs can save you the cost, work and risk of owning investment property yourself.

Owning rental properties can be profitable—but… Read More

Dear Pat: I am a U.S. citizen who has lived and worked in Canada for over 20 years. I hold Canadian citizenship as well as my U.S. citizenship. I’ve recently heard that the IRS is becoming stricter about investments that U.S. citizens hold in Canada, and I wonder about the best approach to take with my investments. Thanks.

The U.S. is the sole country worldwide that requires its citizens to file an income tax return and report any income regardless of where they live or whether they hold dual citizenship in another country. That’s unlike Canada, which mainly bases its tax system on… Read More