Well, Like Ziggy.. But I'd been in them for yrs prior .. Mostly in the early yrs in Vanguards VGSIX and a few others with Less $.. Then I Went Into the Light..LOL and moved most into CGMRX. with a Strategy from someone that had done very well with it.. Basically the EOY system.. and Approaching Reits Just like Stocks/Equities.. They are not Bonds IMO..And need /require Constant reseraching and Monitoring.. and Of course Rebalancing and Having A few resources to Follow their lead..
But the First Riet to own? = Paying Off Your Home..vs loading up a Roth Account..( Get a 15 yr Mort ) and then you can go play with Extra $ burning a Hole in your pocket..LOL
And Notice.. Alot of, if not all of the Pro's Portfolio's have Added Reits in the past 3-5 yrs, where as prior it was not considered a Primary Category to invest in..And as usual, most of them were just a few yrs late to the Train.. hardly no-one rec'd Reits prior to the Bear of 00'..
Buying Opportunities? It's really about the same as Looking around in your Town's Commerical District.. Ck the Prices on Comm. Buildings, etc.. Ask a Com. RE agent how the prices have Fared..Get The Prospectous on the Fund and look up it's holdings, then look up those co.'s of what they own..and where they are located..( You want To own Com. Property in NYC, Boston, SF, Chgo. or In Buffalo Breath Mont., New Orleans or Detroit? )
Then Finding a Reit fund that sticks to and finds the Best RE Stocks that own the Better Comm. Buildings and Malls, etc.. in the Right States..( an Alternative Fund? WMRIX/WMMRX is a Balanced Fund.. but plays heavy in Reits..just ck it's RE Stocks )
And you can go keep out say 20% of the $ you want to Put into Your Reit fund and use that to ? > Buy Some of it's top 5-10 stocks and buy them On Margin..giving you +50% more buying power and can boost your Investment by +25% over-all..
I reduced my CGMRX by 75% in Jan. 08'' only because? Following this Guys EOY system and a +80% yr--ie: took Profits, ( He and I did the same in 01, 03',05.... )
And Been Accum. It again Since March.... DCA ing in 25% Increaments..on the dips..
And I don't advocate starting out with more than (a) It's Min. req'd to Open or (b) not more than 5% of your Savings..for the 1st yr or so..and If you want to devote the Time( Ave 1 hr a week) ? to be a Amature Specialist so-to-speak... and after say 1-2 yrs or paying your dues going to school.? Then Start playing it..also ck out using a 200 day and 150 day moving ave. system.. and just to "help Increase your odds" from 20-1 against you to maybe 5-1...LOL
They say B&H is dead? maybe, but I prefer to Say be more of a Buy and Monitor and play it more like a stock vs a Bond.., otherwise? Just own GNMA's.. And I hear thru the Grapevine? The Fed is Trying to "Influence" some Reit Fund Mgrs. to buy certain stocks of RE and Home Builders and others ... I wouldn't put it past them...
FYI? Reits are still #1 for the past 10 & 9 yrs.. ( starting with VGSIX )...
From yrs 00-07'..Having an Accum value of about $33,000 per $10k Cost basis.. and a $20,000 Value after past 10 yrs..of the other 4 indexes I track? Only The Mid Caps come in a distant 2nd at about $15k past 10 yrs value..
and of course, Past Performance May not Guarantee the Future, but It sure can Help Improve your odds.... and M* has a New feature ( Chart Beta) that you can go back more than 10 yrs now too ...for the really LT types..