The No. 1 Secret of Wildly Successful Real Estate Players

When we look at real estate from an investing perspective, it's been nothing but green pastures over the last 40 years (yes, 40).

In fact, the real estate investment trust (REIT) indexes have outperformed stocks these past four decades, gaining a significant edge by paying attention to prices in relation to property value.

That's admittedly pretty shocking, especially when you also consider the nationwide housing crisis that devastated the global economy just over 10 years ago.

The inescapable conclusion? Don't be duped by the lingering sting of the recession or Jay Powell's currently hawkish agenda: Real estate is always a good market to have your feet in.

Now, you'd think I'd be excited by all the recent reports suggesting REITs are a strong buy right now since they trade at a substantial discount to net asset values on a historical basis.

It sounds sexy, but here's the problem: Investing in REITs at this level won't make you the kind of big, long-term profits you'd get if you took a different approach, like what I'm about to show you.

This is less about looking at the discount and more about listening to the discount. It sounds a little Zen, I know, but it's worked very well for me in the past.

And once you know what the discount is telling you, you're well on the way to making an unreasonably large pile of money in these consistently strong investments.

Here's exactly what I mean...

Tim Melvin

About the Author

Browse Tim's articles | View Tim's research services

Tim Melvin is an unlikely investment expert by any measure. Raised in the "projects" of Baltimore by a single mother, he never attended college and started out as a door-to-door vacuum salesman. But he knew the real money was in the stock market, so he set sights on investing - and by sheer force of determination, he eventually became a financial advisor to millionaires. Today, after 30 years of managing money for some of the wealthiest people in the world, he draws on his experience to help investors find "unreasonably good" bargain stocks, multiply profits, and build their nest eggs. Tim tirelessly works to find overlooked "hidden gems" in the stock market, drawing on the research of legendary investors like Benjamin Graham, Walter Schloss, and Marty Whitman. He has written and lectured extensively on the markets, with work appearing on Benzinga, Real Money, Daily Speculations, and more. He has published several books in the "Little Book of" Investment Series and a "Junior Chamber Course" geared towards young adults that teaches Graham's principles and techniques to a new generation of investors. Today, he serves as the Special Situations Strategist at Money Morning and the editor of Peak Yield Investor.

… Read full bio