Many investors consider real estate investment trusts, or REITs, to be generally boring investments. REITs don't tend to have rapidly growing businesses, aren't particularly innovative companies in most cases, and are designed to produce a higher-than-average level of income for investors, so it isn't surprising that many feel this way.

While many REITs' businesses can indeed meet a reasonable definition of "boring," that doesn't make them bad investments -- quite the opposite. Realty Income (NYSE: O) is an especially interesting example of a REIT that is designed to be boring in all the best ways, and has worked out wonderfully for investors over the years.

Realty Income owns about 11,400 properties in the U.S. and Europe. It specializes in single-tenant properties, with the bulk of its tenants in the retail industry.

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Source Fool.com