REIT vs Owning Rental Property
 
What is a REIT? A Real Estate Income Trust is a company that owns property, collects rent, and distributes the profit to shareholders. It's an easy way to get real estate investment exposure without getting your hands dirty or managing tenants. However, the investor has no control over properties, purchasing or selling decisions, and especially the market.

Rental Real Estate
Advantages
There are advantages of owning rental real estate directly.

• To start, you get control over the property, cash flow and tenants.
• The investor can pick and choose which properties to purchase, as well as which repairs or upgrades to create value.
• There's something to be said about having capital in a physical property that's more "real" than having money in the market.
• There are many tax deductions when owning rentals and if you own multiple units, you can claim a portion of your vehicle and home office.

Downside
As with any investment, there are also drawbacks.

• Owning rental real estate is a business and can be time consuming.
• Working with non-paying tenants can be challenging and stressful if cash flow is tight.
• Owning rental real estate directly is illiquid and quite costly to dispose of should the need arise (real estate, legal fees, time on market etc).
• Leverage (mortgage) may be required along with the now minimum 20% cash down payment.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
 
The Good

• What I like most about REITs is how "hands off" it is and how picking strong REITs can provide a steady passive income source.
• The investor can get real estate investment exposure without directly dealing with clogged toilets and late rents.
• The barrier of entry is much lower where any investor with a brokerage account can get REIT exposure.
• One of the major advantages of REITs over rental properties is the diversification possibilities. Instead of having a large portion of your capital in a single property, you can have them spread out over many properties across the country via a REIT.

The Bad

• For those of you who like the "control" of owning rental properties, REIT performance depends on the management of the company.
• Your investment capital will be at the mercy of the volatility of market.
• Leveraging REITs can negatively impact the tax deductibility of the investment loan.

 Final Thoughts
There are many advantages and drawbacks of both owning rental properties and investing in REITs. Either can be successful depending on your aptitude and interest.
What do you think? REITs or rental real estate?