Real Estate Investment Trusts

     I would really like to start learning more about Real Estate Investment Trusts. They are not like traditional real estate investment, where a person owns a house and rents it out in some way like traditional lease or air bnb. The traditional way seems extremely messy and time consuming, plus frustrating when you have to clean up after tenants who leave a lot of broken furniture and garbage. The houses in my neighborhood are like this, it seems whenever I see someone moving out from my neighborhood there is a yard full of broken furniture and trash bags sitting in the easement.

     Real estate investment trusts are an investing tool. They are companies that own and usually manage income producing properties. And to avoid income taxes, they distribute 90% of their earnings to their investors. 

     There are private and public REITs. For simplicity sake, I am only going to focus on the publicly traded Trusts.

     The NAREIT website has a complete list of REITs, and you can sort it by public and private. 

     So my plan is to invest in senior living REITs, particularly any that involve those big 55+ apartment complex and independent living facilities. I know that people are saying there are going to be fewer and fewer retirees utilizing those resources, but from my perspective I just see more and more people moving there. I see a lot of family disconjugation and seniors unable to take care of their homes, and these senior living complexes are a perfect solution. 

     I can also see the benefit in investing in hospital and medical office real estate. They seem like pretty reliable tenants. 

     I'm conflicted about commercial real estate. Seems like there's plenty of vacant spots all over town.

     It would be interesting to invest also in residential, as there is definitely a current demand for housing. That's why three adults and a toddler live in the two bedroom house next to mine. 

     The best website that has an active index of REITs is the NAREIT, where you can sort all of the known REITs by public versus private and what class of real estate they specialize in.

     

Recipe: Chargrilled Coconut Mouse

     I was trying to convince someone I know that eating mice/rats might be the way to go for long term protein stability. It's good enough for cats, right? Besides they reproduce like rabbits.

     Then I discovered that in Vietnamese cooking, eating rats is already a thing. Makes sense, because their climate is not all that different from the eastern seaboard. And if you arent eating fish then you arent getting a lot of protein both here and there.

     This website is Australian but the recipe is Vietnamese.

     I haven't actually tried the recipe myself, but I want to!

     Chargrilled Coconut Mouse

Living off grid in an RV, it is possible!

     Not long ago I was out and about, andI happened to see this amazing example of off grid living. The owners of this RV had hooked up several minimally sized solar panels, presumably to provide for or supplement their electricity needs. 

     Alas, I did not have time to as them how their setup works. I did find out that the RV park where I found this is one of the most reasonable around here, supposedly about $3,500 per year. That price includes water and sewer, use of the amenities which include a pool. Barrington Hills.

How to save money by brewing your own wine

     I was pretty excited to find grape juice available at the big box store near my house again. It has been sold out for months, but obviously November is a month where surplus abounds in the world of frozen concentrate.

     "Frozen concentrate grape juice?" you gasp in shock.

     Yes frozen concentrate grape juice. I had previously read that you couldn't use it to make wine, but I have since disproved that to be a myth. It certainly does ferment and well. 

Each frozen concentrate grape juice container makes approximately 48 ounces or one quart of juice once rehydrated. Cost per quart $1.86. Cost per gallon $7.44. 

      You will also need one packet of winemakers yeast, though I have heard that you can use breadmaking yeast. I should do a post about that experiment sometime. Amazon has champagne yeast $7.99 for 10 packs, cost per pack is $0.79.

      You will also need a fermenting bucket or carboy and an airlock. These are not different from the beer brewing supplies and so are cheaper to buy them that way. They are one time purchases and pay for themselves after a few batches.

     Place the room temperature grape juice in the brew bucket. Add yeast. One packet of yeast will brew about 5 gallons of wine. No need to stir. Put the airlock on. Wait 2+ weeks.

     Total cost for one gallon of wine equals an astounding $8.24! Beat that, box wine. Plus, since you didn't add any sulfates or problems the homemade wine is a lot more natural than the storebought bottled wines.