3 Industry-Leading High-Yield REITs to Buy With $1,000 and Hold Forever

The S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) average yield is just 1.2% today. You can do much better than that without too much effort. For example, sector-leading real estate investment trusts (REITs) Realty Income (NYSE: O), Prologis (NYSE: PLD), and AvalonBay (NYSE: AVB) have yields that range from 2.9% to 5.5% at their current share prices. You can find higher yields than 5.5% in the REIT sector, but what you won't easily find are industry-leading performers like Realty Income, Prologis, and AvalonBay. Here's why each is worth buying and holding, hopefully forever.Roughly 73% of Realty Income's rent roll comes from single-tenant, triple net lease retail assets. Triple net leases require tenants to pay for most property-level operating costs such as taxes, insurance, and maintenance. The rest of its portfolio is a mix of industrial assets and some large one-off properties (including vineyards and casinos). But, all in, Realty Income is basically a retail-focused REIT. It happens to be the largest player in the triple net lease niche, with a market cap of about $50 billion and a portfolio of more than 15,400 properties.Size carries advantages in this situation, because Realty Income generally has greater access to capital markets than its smaller peers. With its investment-grade-rated balance sheet, it can raise capital at lower costs than its rivals. That lets it bid aggressively for properties and still turn a profit on them. It also has a reach that few can match, and is increasingly investing in Europe as well as in the U.S. There's a reason Realty Income has been able to increase its dividend every single year for three decades: It has a good business model and executes well. With the stock paying a lofty 5.5% yield at its current share price, you'll want to buy this REIT and hold it for a very long time.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool