---
title: "REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust)"
url: "https://www.unknowngravity.com/en/glosario/reit"
site: Unknown Gravity
published: "2026-09-21T11:55:11+00:00"
modified: "2026-09-21T11:55:14+00:00"
language: en-US
description: "A REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) is a company that owns rental property, is listed on a stock market and distributes almost all of its profit as dividends, with tax advantages."
section: "Home > REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust)"
---

# REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust)

GLOSSARY · BLOCKCHAIN & WEB3

What a REIT is: the listed real estate investment vehicle, how it works, its Spanish version (the SOCIMI) and how it differs from tokenization.

WHAT IS IT? · FOR DUMMIES

A **REIT** (Real Estate Investment Trust) is a company that owns rental property, is listed on a stock market and distributes almost all of its profit as dividends, with tax advantages. It was born in the US and is the global standard for liquid real estate investment; its Spanish version is the [SOCIMI](/en/glosario/socimi).

WHAT IS IT? · PRO

The REIT bargain is the same everywhere: the vehicle pays little tax in exchange for **distributing most of its profit** (in the US, at least 90%), and the shareholder pays tax on the dividend. That makes it an income machine: diversified, liquid real estate exposure with listed-market governance.

The comparison with real estate tokenization is the same as for the SOCIMI: the REIT gives you a diversified portfolio and stock-market liquidity; the token gives you a specific asset, a small ticket and modern settlement — the full analysis in SOCIMI vs tokenization and in the ways to invest in real estate. And the boundary is blurring: tokenized REITs and listed funds whose register migrates to DLT already exist.

## 01 / Key points

- Listed company of rental property with mandatory dividends
- The vehicle pays little tax; the shareholder pays tax on the dividend
- Spanish version: the SOCIMI (Law 11/2009)
- Versus the token: diversified portfolio and exchange vs specific asset and small ticket

## 02 / Advantages

- Immediate liquidity and diversification
- Periodic income by design
- Global standard with variants in dozens of countries

## 03 / Disadvantages

- Correlated with the stock market: it trades like a share
- No control over the asset: you buy the whole management
- Sensitive to interest rates

This entry is informative. It is not legal, tax or investment advice. The rules cited change: check the current version on [BOE](https://www.boe.es) and [EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu).