How Many Jobs Are Available in Real Estate Investment Trusts?

Would you like to grow your career by focusing on real estate? What if you need to know how many jobs are available in real estate investment trusts? How do you go about this? There are approximately 2.6 million jobs in the REIT industry.

Real estate is the 5th fastest-growing industry and offers employment opportunities to many people. In 2021 alone, there were up to 16,000 job opportunities in the financial sector. This means the field has many investment trusts, which we shall look into shortly.

What Are Real Estate Investment Trusts? (REITs)

Real estate investment trusts are businesses or organizations that own and typically manage income-producing real estate holdings. A REIT business may own residential, commercial, or both real estate types.

Real estate investment trusts can be sold privately or traded publicly on major stock exchanges. The publicly traded real estate investment trust’s assets pay shareholders at least 90% of the taxable profits.

Office buildings, warehouses, movie theaters, shopping malls, hospitals, and hotels are all examples of commercial real estate. On the other hand, the residential real estate comprises manufactured houses, apartment complexes, single-family homes, and student housing.

Infrastructure, industrial, diversified, and retail or specialized REITs are other REIT sectors. Additionally, they could be equity or mortgage REITs. Real estate investment trusts come in wide varieties; however, we’ll discussthe main ones in the section below.

How Do REITs Work?

A real estate investment trust gets funds from institutions and private investors to purchase real estate developments, which they rent out or sell.

Image Credits: realestateinvestmenttrusts.com

Without even owning or maintaining the property themselves, the investors of this scheme will profit from renting and selling a portion of the property.

Types of Real Estate Investment Trusts

a) Commercial REITs

Commercial real estate investment trusts concentrate on buying properties that can be used for businesses. The buildings or parts of the buildings that office-focused REITs own are rented out to businesses.

Image Credits: REIT.com

Retail REITs own buildings that house shops that concentrate on product sales. Plus, commercial properties can meet most needs related to business operations.

b) Residential REITs

Residential real estate investment trusts concentrate on acquiring homes they lease to tenants to make money.

Image Credits: westerninvestor.com

Larger residential buildings that can accommodate numerous tenants at once are often the focus of residential REITs. Additionally, residential REITs invest in various housing types, including multifamily residences and student housing.

c) Medical REITs

Hospitals and nursing facilities are among the structures that medical real estate investment trusts buy.

Image Credits: themotleyfool.com

Particularly as the U.S. and worldwide populations continue to age, REITs specializing in elderly care and nursing facilities typically perform well.

d) Hospitality REITs

Tourism-related properties are the main focus of resort and hotel real estate investment trusts.

Image Credits: napleshotelgroup.com

Around the world, real estate investment funds are more likely to own hotels and resorts than private people.

e) Industrial REITs

Other REITs favor industrial real estate because it may provide high rental yields. For the most part, industrial real estate investment trusts lease factories and warehouses to other companies.

Image Credits: thebusinesstimes.com

For example, an industrial REIT might oversee a distribution center where your online order is shipped. Industrial REITs also manage manufacturing-related real estate projects.

How Many Jobs are Available in Real Estate Investment Trusts?

Like many other companies, a REIT has different job functions with different departments. This means many job opportunities, and any qualified candidate can try their luck. Let us go through these posts to see how each is different.

Image Credits: khusoko.com

1. Real Estate Managing Broker

A broker and an agent differ from what people think. The broker is a certified real estate personnel qualified to oversee a real estate business with numerous agents.

Real estate managing brokers are licensed at a higher level than real estate agents. Also, real estate professionals are licensed as brokers in some places.

Even if you hold a license as an independent broker, you need to obtain a higher-level license before you can hire agents or even other brokers to work for you.

Brokers must not permit unqualified agents to work for them since doing so carries significant risk and may result in consequences. In addition, brokers are responsible for training and supervising their agents due to the risks associated with running a brokerage.

2. Asset Manager

An asset manager monitors the financial and operational success of the REITs’ asset portfolio. To accomplish their goal, asset management services must work with acquisitions, accountancy, finance, and development. Additionally, they must follow the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and REIT requirements at all times while they are employed.

3. Leasing Consultants

You will spend much time interacting with renters on behalf of landlords as a rental property consultant. Since most tenants want to examine houses and fully comprehend the lease agreements, it can be an interesting job, especially if you enjoy looking at properties.

Searching for the ideal rental property can be challenging for tenants, so the leasing adviser must have strong social skills. A leasing consultant’s responsibilities include managing all leases, setting up property viewings, marketing rental listings, executing new lease agreements, negotiating lease terms with the landlords, completing all paperwork, managing regulatory services, and more.

4. Real Estate Agent

A real estate agent’s responsibility is to help people buy and sell real estate. Agents in the real estate industry can work with either residential or commercial properties.

Buyers and sellers of rental homes are connected by those who deal with residential properties and serve as a middleman. Plus, they work with residential properties, vacation homes, condos, etc.

Commercial real estate agents link sellers and buyers of commercial real estate. They specialize in renting apartments, offices, warehouses, hotels, resorts, and commercial centers.

You must obtain a professional license to work as a real estate agent. Remember that as an agent, you can advertise your real estate business through real estate SEO to be on top of your competitors. To make it better, you can have a look at the best SEO practices to improve your rankings.

5. REITs Analyst

Researching and analyzing new business prospects is the responsibility of the REIT analysts. They aid the business in making wise judgments regarding real estate acquisitions.

Their responsibilities may include assisting with leasing, marketing, financing, and property purchase. In addition, analysts employ financial tools and modeling to assess the firm’s current assets and purchases.

Analysts for REITs also oversee the social media presence and official websites of REIT companies. They also keep up the Geographic Information System (GIS system) for the business.

6. Real Estate Attorney Jobs

In REITs, lawyers serve as a conduit for communication between the firm, sellers, and purchasers. Contracts are a necessary part of owning property. Therefore, attorneys are required to act as a middleman between the parties.

Image Credits: thedavisgraduate.com

Moreover, lawyers settle legal disputes involving transfers of ownership in real estate. In addition to legal conflicts related to real estate property ownership, they mediate the issuance, transfer, and documentation of title deeds.

Finally, lawyers provide advice on legal matters to both buyers and sellers. That ensures everyone follows the right procedures, which helps avoid problems in any real estate deal.

It would help if you had legal and real estate-related coursework under your belt to work as a real estate investment trust attorney. Additionally, you can use lawyer SEO to enhance the search result rankings of your law firm’s site.

What Are the Benefits of Real Estate Investment Trusts?

a) High Profits

Because they are required to distribute at least 90% of their taxable revenue as dividends to shareholders, REITs have the potential to provide substantial returns. In addition, it implies that they can frequently reinvest their profits and expand more quickly than other kinds of investments.

b) Diversification

You can diversify your portfolio by adding a REIT as a new asset class. Through diversification, you can increase your exposure to several real estate types, such as office buildings, malls, apartments, warehouses, and more. In addition, it can lessen risk and increase earnings.

c) Transparency

REITs must abide by SEC rules and are extremely transparent. As a result, it offers additional protection to guarantee that the management does not misuse the investor’s money.

Frequently Asked Questions on Jobs Available in Real Estate

1. Where is the most money in real estate?

Your investment goals and objectives will determine this. Mortgage REITs might be suitable if you’re seeking high current income. When interest rates rise, mortgage REITs are more profitable than equity REITs.

Whatever your objectives, REITs can give you access to the real estate market while offering some significant benefits that other investment options might not.

b) What is the average return on REIT?

Depending on the specific trust and the general status of the economy, the average return on a Real Estate Investment Trust can change.

The 10-year index’s average annual return in June 2022 was 8.34%. The index has a 25-year return of 9.05% compared to the S&P 500’s 7.97% and the Russell 2000s 7.41%.

However, compared to other investments like bonds or stocks, REITs often give investors larger returns. It’s because REITs must legally pay most of their profits to shareholders, guaranteeing a steady flow of revenue.