Real estate is crucial to most companies' operations. They need a physical location to house their corporate headquarters and critical manufacturing operations, or to serve their retail customers.

However, while real estate is often mission critical to a company, many find owning these buildings is optional. They can free up the capital tied up in their real estate by selling the properties to investors in sale-leaseback transactions, enhancing their financial flexibility. That's opening the door for real estate investment trusts (REITs) to steadily acquire these buildings, allowing them to grow their portfolios, rental income, and dividends.  

There's an estimated $13 trillion of owner-operated properties across North America and Europe. They're ideally suited for sale-leaseback transactions, with REITs focused on owning freestanding single-tenant net lease real estate. Three of the leaders in this sector are Realty Income (NYSE: O), National Retail Properties (NYSE: NNN), and W. P. Carey (NYSE: WPC). These REITs have a long runway to continue growing their portfolios and dividends.

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Source Fool.com