The income bucket of the investment portfolio is different in both purpose and content from the equity side. Real estate is an important diversification tool that may add some pizzazz to an otherwise boring collection of securities. We don't need to own the real estate to benefit from both the yields and the cycles. Unlike other fixed income assets (corporate, government, and municipal contracts), rents generally rise over the course of time. Mortgage interest is almost always higher than bonds provide, and we don't need to be mortgagors or landlords to get a piece of the action.

The speculators whose properties became termite infested as the latest real estate bubble burst were owners of mortgaged properties that could neither be sold nor afforded. The other losers were lenders to unqualified property speculators and, of course, the wizards of Wall Street who regulators allowed to turn simple mortgage debt into multi-tiered financial quagmires. Every bursting bubble produces two things: pain and opportunity. When the going gets tough, the smart investor goes shopping.

There are dozens of REITs and managed income CEFs that are worthy of your confidence and attention. Some detailed analysis will reveal lower than normal prices for higher than usual yields based on monthly payouts that have not been reduced throughout the tailspin in the real estate and financial sectors. Read that again--- monthly payments and higher yields throughout the downturn--- hmmm.

Now don't just run out and buy all of these things you can find, and stay far away from new issues for all of the usual reasons. Make sure that you look at a lot of REITs and even more CEFs of various kinds to get a feel for the levels of income they produce. Most of these securities are "leveraged" to a certain extent, which simply means that management may choose to borrow some of the money that they invest.

Leverage is not a four-letter word when used properly, and (in my opinion) it is more likely to help your results than it is to hurt them. But it's always a good practice to stay within the normal income range, assuming that there is either a risk or a management reason for the highest and lowest yields, respectively. Be careful not to create a poorly diversified income portfolio. Bonds, Preferred Stocks, Royalty Trusts, etc., all deserve income bucket representation.

The major distinction between the two types of investing needs some re-emphasis. When purchasing stock in a real estate company (or any other company), your main objective should be to sell the stock for a reasonable profit as quickly as possible. You will then select some other stock and repeat the process. When purchasing a REIT or an income CEF, you are depending on the managers of these entities to generate income and capital gains that they pass on to you.

You buy these securities for the income, but always recognize that you have the bonus capability of selling your shares when they rise to an acceptable profit level. Similarly, be prepared to add to your holdings during market value downturns, thus increasing your income and reducing your cost per share at the same time. The benefits of this form of real estate investing vs. ownership of the properties themselves should be clear. It's a whole lot easier than flipping properties.

So when it comes to Real Estate, think: no attorneys, no debt, and no maintenance equal no problem.

Steve Selengut
Professional Portfolio Management since 1979 Author of: "The Brainwashing of the American Investor: The Book that Wall Street Does Not Want YOU to Read", and "A Millionaire's Secret Investment Strategy"