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Uncontested Investing - How Investors Earn Real Estate Income Without Owning Property (REITs Explained) (Part 1 of 2)

Written by RCN Capital | 2:35 PM on March 10, 2026


Uncontested Investing Podcast - March 10, 2026

In this episode of Uncontested Investing, Suzanne and I kick off a new mini-series on alternative funding sources by breaking down one of the most common, and most misunderstood, tools out there: Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs. We walk through what a REIT actually is, why they exploded after the 2008 mortgage crisis, and how they’ve shaped the single-family rental space over the last decade.

We cover the different types of REITs (equity, mortgage, and hybrid), the difference between public, non-traded, and private REITs, and what that means for access, liquidity, and risk depending on where you are in your investing journey. We also dig into the real advantages for real estate investors: consistent dividend income, daily liquidity compared to traditional property sales, built-in diversification across markets and asset classes, professional management, and powerful tax treatment — including holding REITs inside IRAs and 401(k)s.

If you’ve been curious how REITs fit into a real estate investor’s portfolio (instead of just a Wall Street portfolio), this Part 1 episode will give you a clear framework to decide if they belong in your strategy.

 

Episode Highlights

 00:00 Introduction

01:38 What is a REIT?

02:30 Publicly traded REITs and current market challenges

03:20 Types of REITs: Equity, mortgage, and hybrid

04:00 Public vs. Non-traded/private REITs

05:06 Consistent income stream from REITs

06:02 How REITs provide more liquidity for investors

06:50 Diversification of portfolio

07:34 Professional portfolio management

08:21 REIT tax structure benefits for investors

08:54 Holding in retirement accounts

Quotables

“A company that owns, operates or finances income producing real estate. They’re required to distribute at least 90% of the taxable income to their investors or their shareholders.”

“Well, the publicly traded REIT’s probably going to give you the ease of entry in that. That’s like buying a stock. No different than that.”

“It’s a great way for you to enter a different way of investing in real estate.”

Links

Website: RCN Capital https://www.rcncapital.com/podcast

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Email: RCN Capital info@rcncapital.com

Website: REI INK Magazine https://rei-ink.com/