Defining Real Estate Investment Trusts

Sean Zarinegar is a real estate professional with over 25 years of experience leading American Housing Income Trust (AHIT). Focused on real estate projects in Texas, Arizona, and Nevada, Sean Zarinegar seeks to turn AHIT into a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).

REITs are securities that invest in large real estate projects and can be traded on the stock exchange. These large-scale real estate projects include hotels, shopping malls, office buildings, apartments, warehouses, resorts, and mortgages.

REITs do not develop properties for sale but simply acquire them and operate them for profit. They offer investors an opportunity to obtain profit generated from real estate without having to purchase individual properties.

REITs are required by law to have at least 100 shareholders, and no five shareholders are allowed to hold more than 50% of the stock. At least 75% of the gross income should be derived from real estate.

REITs are also required to maintain dividend payout ratios at a minimum of 90%. They are allowed to deduct these dividends from their annual tax liabilities, though investors pay tax on these dividends.

Volunteer Work Performed in the Spirit of Faith Has Monetary Value

Sean Zarinegar, head of his own real estate investment company in Phoenix, Arizona, gives back to the community where he lives and works. The CEO of American Housing Income Trust, Inc., Sean Zarinegar volunteers his time with a local food bank, local high school sports teams, and his church in the spirit of his Christian faith, which emphasizes serving others.

Although volunteers seek no financial reward for their contributions, their work has real monetary value, according to Independent Sector, a leadership network for nonprofits and other organizations that contribute to the common good.

Independent Sector says the latest estimated value of volunteer time, reported in 2014, was $23.07 per hour. Independent Sector says that this figure is a national average and that estimates vary by state. The estimated value for an hour of volunteer time in Arizona, Mr. Zarinegar’s home state, was between $22 and $24 in 2014. In East and West Coast states such as New York and California, the average was more than $26 an hour.

Independent Sector cites statistics from the Corporation for National and Community Service, which state that Americans donated 7.7 billion hours of volunteer service, valued at $173 billion, in 2013.

More recent estimated values have not been reported. However, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics recently announced that the volunteer rate declined in 2015 by 0.4 percentage points and that about 62.6 million people performed volunteer work through or for an organization between September 2014 and September 2015.

The BLS report identified volunteering by demographic group, with women, married people, and people between the ages of 35 and 54 volunteering at a higher rate than men, unmarried people, and people younger than 35.