Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Residential REIT

I wish to explain the concept of investing and living in a residential REIT:

a) As you investor, you own investment units in the residential REIT
b) You receive an annual dividend based on the net income of the REIT
c) You pay a rental for the use of a housing unit in the REIT

If you stay in the same size of housing unit as your invested sum, the net income should be slightly smaller than the rental, as there is a management charge of (say) 5%. You will benefit from the following:

a) It gives you the flexibility to rent a smaller housing unit (relative to your investment) and keep the excess income
b) You have the choice to sell off some investment units monthly to meet your living expenses. This is similar to a draw down annuity or reverse mortgage.
c) You can decide to live elsewhere and enjoy the full dividend from your investment units.

This concept is similar to timeshare, but avoids the high marketing cost, and most of the investors are likely to live in the property. I hope that this idea can be developed by a private sector developer.

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