Realty Income (NYSE: O) and W.P. Carey (NYSE: WPC) are two real estate investment trusts (REITs) that live in my portfolio. I like them both, but I have a particular fondness for W.P. Carey. In fact, I would suggest that anyone looking at Realty Income buy W.P. Carey first. Here's why.

Both Realty Income and W.P. Carey are what is known as net lease REITs. That means that their tenants are responsible for most of the operating costs of the properties they occupy. Across a large portfolio this is a fairly low-risk investment approach, given that the tenants end up having to deal with inflationary impacts on things like maintenance and taxes. So from a top-level view, both of these REITs are doing very similar things.

Image source: Getty Images.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com