1 Easy Step to Earn More From Your REIT Portfolio

Most people don't have the time or resources to work a regular job and buy investment properties. When they do, it's often in the highly fragmented single-family space, where a landlord may own one or two assets and self-manage the properties.

But that too has now become institutionalized. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) level the playing field. They are even better investments, however, if you know this one tax trick.

One of the interesting things about owning an investment property is the cash flow it creates. Cash flow is an important term because an owner gets to depreciate an asset, essentially writing off a little bit of the value of the property each year. That basically allows income to flow to the owner without it being taxed. It's a complicated topic that might require an accountant to get right, but the key here is that directly owning a property has a tax benefit on the income front.

Source Fool.com