(NYSE: UDR) is one of the largest publicly traded apartment real estate investment trusts (REITs) you can buy. It differentiates itself from its peers through the structure of its portfolio. Today the stock offers an attractive 4.8% dividend yield. That's roughly a full percentage point higher than industry bellwether AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB). Before you buy UDR, however, you need to understand this key fact.

AvalonBay is a well-run apartment REIT, showing material skill on the construction, redevelopment, and acquisition/disposition fronts. Dividend investors who want to own the industry's biggest and best names would do well to consider it. However, AvalonBay's portfolio is heavily concentrated in and around major metropolitan areas. For the most part, that means it has a coastal focus. It is only just starting to inch its way into the Sunbelt region.

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Source Fool.com