Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are usually popular investments for income investors. They purchase a lot of properties, rent them out, and split the rental income with their investors. They also need to pay out at least 90% of their taxable earnings as dividends to maintain a favorable tax rate.

Unfortunately, many REITs slumped over the past two years as rising interest rates made it more expensive to buy properties, curbed the growth of their business tenants, and made fixed income investments like CDs and T-bills more appealing. But as Warren Buffett said, investors should be "greedy when others are fearful" -- and it might be smart to get greedy with REITs before interest rates decline again.

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Source Fool.com