REITs, depreciation and FFO.

The REIT business model is simple. REITs own real estate and they collect rent. For an investor to determine the investment potential of a REIT, one factor he would need to consider is earnings.

Asset value diminishes over time. Real estate is however a special class of assets because land and buildings are not like machines. Their values do not necessarily decline over time but tend to rise or fall depending on market conditions even if they are leasehold properties.

The concept of 'Funds From Operations' (FFO) gets around this problem. FFO excludes historical depreciation costs from net income. FFO has become the industry standard for measuring a REIT's operating performance.

Source: UOB Asset Management.

FFO is calculated by adding depreciation and amortization expenses to earnings, and sometimes quoted on a per share basis. The FFO-per-share ratio should be used in lieu of EPS when evaluating REITs and other similar investment trusts.

Source: Investopedia.

Related post:
Replies from AK71: REITs and their assets.

Asterisk Realty: Advisory for Japanese real estate.

This is a Japanese real estate brokerage that I came across. Its website provides views of the real estate market in Japan from within.  It is a perspective which I find bracing.  

From the beginning of fiscal year 2010 in April, we expect CMBS and lenders to offer some excellent properties one by one throughout the year. 

With more confident buyers, we may see a gradual rise in market level. In 2009, there were a couple of very attractive properties that were on sale at discount prices in order to take precaution against oncoming financial pressures, however many properties were unsold due to strict financing conditions during recession. 

This year, a number of these properties successfully underwent transactions as a result of optimism that the worst of the recession has passed. Economic recovery is imminent and the overall attitude towards buying seems to be becoming optimistic. 

Many non-Japanese Asian investors are taking initiative to acquire Japanese prime trophy properties. They are expected to have a significant future presence in the Japanese prime asset market. Japan real estate market generates strong demand from global buyers for its maturity, stability and one of a kind trophy assets in all of Asia.


Due to stable and high occupancy rate, residential is still the most popular investment sector for all investors relative to office, retail, and hotel markets


 We are recently seeing less opportunities of residential opportunities of 300 million to 1 billion JPY in Tokyo. Large size  residential properties (above JPY 3 billion) will be available one by one from loan lenders and merged REIT for downsizing debt. 

Middle class residential occupancy remains stable due to sustainable demands and some upper class residential occupancy start recovering due to an overall decrease in rent prices.


Related post:
Saizen REIT's properties: Would I buy?

Tea with AK71: A couple of thoughts.

Thought number 1:

Most of the time, I am so self absorbed that I do not think about socialising. Blogging has given me a means of socialising with many more people than I could ever imagine possible while remaining self absorbed. The internet is truly an amazing place. Virtual reality it might be but it is still a form of reality.

Thought number 2:

I spend a lot of my time thinking about things. I have always been a thinker. I remember those long bus rides between home and school and how I would spend time thinking about stuff. I was not a physically active kid. The ECAs I joined were rather bookish in nature: English LDDS, Chinese Society and the Library in secondary school; Drama Club and Chinese Society in JC.

I have always believed that the pen is mightier than the sword but perhaps I am just hiding my indolence.

Tea with AK71: Envious? Find our own way.

I recently had a conversation with a friend about how a friend of his keeps saying that he is envious of how rich my friend is and so on.

My friend keeps telling his friend that he is not rich and that he is using leverage to improve his cash flow.  My friend got fed up with his friend on one occasion and told him to stop whining and to do something about his life.

Make changes and be richer. 

This calls to mind a recent blog post of mine which asked "Do you want to be richer?"

Apparently, this person in question is in his early 30s and has a comfortable salary of $6K a month.  He is single, stays out and spends quite a bit of money having a good life.

So, to me, for him to become richer, he does not really have to work much harder to increase his income. He should work at reducing his expenses. He should think of planning for the next stages in his life.

For a person like him, if he is willing to listen, I would tell him that there are many roads to Rome and there are many roads to becoming richer. I have a couple of blog posts which were written with this in mind: "Roads to wealth creation in the stock market" and "Seven steps to creating passive income from the stock market".

For sure, there are many more ways to make money and my friend has found his own way to do so and that is to invest in real estate and renting them out for cash flow, taking advantage of the very low interest rate environment. It is something he does well and something he is comfortable with.

For me, a personal experience at a very young age of twelve when my family was on the verge of bankruptcy taught me that banks are fair weather friends and I try my best not to owe the banks large amounts of money if I can help it.

I do understand the need for leverage sometimes in order not to miss out on money making opportunities but I would try to repay my debts in the shortest time possible.

What am I saying? Everyone is different. Certain methods which are comfortable for some might not be so for others.

Finding the most comfortable path which would meet our goals in life is most probably a journey of self-discovery. Having reliable guides on this journey would be most helpful but decisions have to be made ourselves.

Ultimately, we have to find our own way.