Investing in an REIT ETF will allow you to get involved in the real estate market with a minimal investment. If you are trying to choose between REIT ETFs, there are several factors that you will need to consider. Here are the basics of how to choose the best REIT ETF.

Management

When you are looking at an REIT ETF, one of the first things that you will want to look at is the management situation. Every ETF is going to have a management team in place to make the individual investment decisions for investors. You want to learn as much as you can about the management team that is in charge of the ETF. You want to look at their history and determine if they have been successful in this field in the past. You also want to look at the company that is offering the ETF to see if they are a leader in the investment industry. Typically, you will not want to get involved with a company that does not have much experience in the investment arena.

Diversification

One of the major advantages of investing in an REIT ETF is diversification. You will be purchasing shares of a very diversified portfolio of real estate investments. When choosing between all of the REIT ETFs out there, you want to look at the level of diversification that they have. You want to find an REIT ETF that has a high level of diversification in the portfolio. Look at the holdings of the REITs to see what type of properties they have invested in. Ideally, you would like to get involved with a fund that has as much diversification as possible.

Earnings

When comparing REIT ETFs, you will want to make sure that you look at earnings. Look at how much money each REIT ETF has brought in over the past year. You will also want to compare the performance over a longer period of time, such as the last five years. Ultimately, you are investing in an REIT ETF to make money. This means that you want to find an REIT ETF that has a good history of bringing in earnings for investors.

Expense Ratio

Something else that you will want to take into consideration is the expense ratio of the fund. Every ETF is going to have some type of expense ratio associated with it. This is the money that is charged to investors to cover the operation expenses of the fund. The expense ratio is going to pay the salaries of the fund managers and the rest of the administration staff. It will pay for the rest of the administration costs for the fund as well. While many investors do not pay much attention to the amount of money that is charged for the expense ratio, it can have a dramatic effect on your overall returns. You want to find an ETF that has the lowest expense ratio available.

Existing Home Sales

Existing home sales is a statistic that is released by the National Association of Realtors. This is one of the most important statistics when it comes to gauging the strength of the economy overall. This statistic is used to gauge how many existing homes have been sold over the previous month. This statistic is released on the 25th of each month in most cases. When this statistic is released, it has an effect on many different financial markets. For example, certain stocks will increase or decline based on this information. In the forex (foreign exchange) market, the value of the dollar will also fluctuate.

Real Estate Investment Group

A real estate investment group is an organization that has the purpose of making real estate investment readily available for investors. This type of group will actively seek out or build properties that can be sold to investors. Once the investors purchase the property, this group will also take care of the maintenance and day-to-day operations of running the property. In exchange for this service, the investors give a portion of the rent to the real estate investment group. This type of investment is essentially likely a real estate version of a mutual fund or an ETF (exchange-traded fund) with the management functions.