How to Invest in the Real Estate Business

Real estate is a class of investments that includes both physical commercial and residential real estate, as well as stocks of companies that specialize in real estate. For the average person, buying and selling whole properties is out of the question. A great way to invest in the real estate business without much effort on your part is to buy a real estate mutual fund or real estate investment trust. Both of these can be bought in the same way as a stock with a normal brokerage account. As an example, we will invest in AvalonBay, a real estate investment trust specializing in upscale apartment communities.

Instructions

1. Open up your online investment brokerage account.

2. Navigate to the "Trade" or "Place Order" page. Insert the ticker symbol for AvalonBay (AVB) and check the current market price using your preferred financial information source (Google Finance, Yahoo Finance, etc).

3. Insert the number of shares you want to buy and indicate the type of order you want to place.

4. Click on "Confirm" or "Place Order" to complete your purchase of AvalonBay REIT shares.

5. Receive confirmation of your ownership in AvalonBay Real Estate Investment Trust. You are now invested in the real estate business.

Tips & Warnings

• Mutual funds may have minimum initial deposit requirements. Check with the individual fund to confirm how much they require you invest.

Resources

• REIT.com "Publically Traded REITs"