Real estate investment trusts have had a rough couple of years. Interest rates stayed higher for longer than anyone expected, share prices went sideways (or worse), and the recovery Brad Thomas promised us two years ago still hasn’t fully arrived. Realty Income (O) is still trading around sixty dollars. The ten-year treasury sits near five percent. If you bought REITs purely for a quick rate-cut bounce, your patience has been tested.
But here’s the thing, for dividend growth investors who are still accumulating, this has been a gift. We’ve spent the last two years buying at depressed prices, collecting yields between two and six percent, and quietly building positions we’ll hold for decades. On Episode 297 of the Dividend Talk Podcast, we walked through five REITs we actually own or are actively researching, each with a different risk profile, geography, and growth story.
These aren’t theoretical picks. Three of the five are in our portfolios right now. Here’s what we like, what concerns us, and why each one made the list.
VICI Properties (VICI) — The Las Vegas Experiential Play
VICI Properties is unlike any REIT you’ll find in a textbook. They own iconic Las Vegas properties — the Venetian, Hard Rock Hotels, Lucky Strike bowling alleys — and their entire model revolves around selling you an experience. That means 100% occupancy rates, because you can’t exactly leave a casino half-empty.
The flip side is tenant concentration risk. If Vegas goes through a rough patch, VICI feels it. But management knows this. They’ve been expanding into Canada and diversifying across the US, growing their portfolio from roughly $690 million in 2017 to over $3.35 billion today. That’s impressive for a company that’s barely eight years old.
The dividend yield sits around 6.3%, with most contracts linked to CPI — so you’re getting at least inflation-level growth baked in. Dividend growth has slowed to something more bond-like recently, but at that starting yield, a one-to-two percent annual increase still gives you a solid total return. NAV is sitting around $27–28 per share, and shares trade near $30, so it’s roughly at fair value. Below $25 is where the buying gets aggressive.
Big Yellow Group (BYG.L) — UK Self-Storage With Conservative Financing
Big Yellow Group is the largest self-storage provider in the UK, based out of Bagshot, with facilities concentrated across England — mostly well-connected to major highways and near London. What surprised us is that 80% of their customers are everyday people, not businesses. Students storing stuff over summer, families decluttering, people between moves. Only 20% is commercial.
The numbers right now aren’t flashy. Revenue grew 2% last year to £209 million. Adjusted earnings per share rose 2% to 59 pence. The dividend went up 2% to 47.2 pence. That’s modest growth, and the share price reflects it — trading around 827 pence, roughly half of its COVID-era peak, which puts the yield at about 5.7%.
What stands out is the balance sheet. Net debt to gross property assets is just 15%, which is extremely conservative for a real estate company. The CEO talks about this constantly. They’ve also got eleven development sites in the pipeline that should increase their lettable area by 13% over the next two years. If those projects come online and occupancy holds, the growth story gets more interesting from here. The net promoter score of 85% and average customer stay of 33 months tell you people aren’t leaving.
Healthpeak Properties (DOC) — Healthcare, Senior Housing, and Life Sciences
Healthpeak Properties is a name we hadn’t covered on the show before, and it caught our attention after our recent interview with REIT analyst Jussi Askola. The ticker is DOC — easy to remember — and they operate across three segments: outpatient medical facilities (your local doctors and clinics), senior housing, and biopharma labs.
The outpatient side is the steady anchor. Senior housing is the growth story — the US is heading straight into a demographic wave as baby boomers age, and demand for these facilities is only going one direction. The lab segment is the turnaround bet. Occupancy there sits around 76%, still recovering from a post-COVID hangover when the biotech sector cooled off. Management is actively recycling — selling older buildings and reinvesting into higher-yielding labs.
The yield is around 6.1%, paid monthly, with a payout ratio of about 70% to adjusted funds from operations. They kept the dividend flat this year while navigating the transition, which is a pragmatic move rather than a red flag. Quarterly AFFO for early 2026 was around 45 cents per share, showing mid-single-digit growth. They manage roughly 700 properties across the US, with about 34% in health services, 15% in senior housing, and 50% in biopharma. It’s diversified, and it’s in sectors that aren’t going away.
Defama (DEF.DE) — A German Micro-Cap Flying Under the Radar
Defama is the smallest name on this list and probably the one most listeners haven’t heard of. It’s a German micro-cap real estate company — technically not a REIT by structure — that owns grocery-anchored retail properties across Germany. Think Netto, Lidl, Kaufland, Penny, Rossmann, Deichmann, KiK. Their largest tenant is about 11.8% of revenue, so concentration risk is well managed.
CEO Matthias Schrade has been on the Dividend Talk podcast before, and he’s doing exactly what he said he’d do. When investors asked about international expansion, he said there’s plenty of runway left within Germany. And the numbers back that up — portfolio value has grown at a 13% CAGR, with 9% growth last year alone from €323 million to €352 million. Revenue jumped 16% from €27.3 million to €31.6 million. FFO grew 8% to €10.8 million.
On a per-share basis, FFO went from €2.09 to €2.25, meaning shares trade at roughly an 11x FFO multiple — cheap by any standard. The dividend yield is lower at 2.6% (€0.63 per share), with 5% compound growth over five years. Schrade has said publicly that he’s balancing total return investors who want him to reinvest with dividend growth investors who want more payout. The loan-to-value ratio of 58% is conservative for a company in active acquisition mode. The risk here is Germany’s broader economic weakness — industrial layoffs, energy costs — but Defama’s tenants are grocery stores and discount retailers, not luxury brands.
Agree Realty (ADC) — The Little Sibling That Might Outgrow Realty Income
Agree Realty is a triple net lease REIT focused on single-tenant retail properties — Walmart, Tractor Supply, Aldi, and similar essential retailers. Their top tenant, Walmart (WMT), accounts for about 5.7% of annualised rent, so tenant diversification is strong. What sets Agree apart from its bigger rival Realty Income (O) is management quality and focus.
CEO Joey Agree has been exceptional at capital allocation. When Walgreens (WBA) started showing cracks, he spotted it early and diversified the portfolio away from them before the market caught on. That kind of foresight is worth paying for. Net debt to EBITDA sits around 5.1x, and the company holds an investment-grade credit rating. As Joey himself has said, the dividend is “sacrosanct.”
The yield is around 4.1% with AFFO growth running at roughly 5% per year — that’s a solid combination for a net lease REIT. Agree’s share price has actually performed well relative to the sector, moving from the low forties to about $75 over the past couple of years while peers like Realty Income have been flat. We both hold positions — it’s number eleven and twelve in our respective portfolios. The bull case is simple: Agree is small enough to still grow meaningfully through acquisitions, while Realty Income’s sheer size makes that harder.
Other Headlines From Episode 297
NVIDIA (NVDA) hiked its quarterly dividend from $0.01 to $0.25 per share, handing CEO Jensen Huang roughly $870 million per year in dividend income alone. As we like to say — everyone becomes a dividend growth investor eventually.
Evolution Gaming (EVO.ST) announced a $2 billion share buyback programme, representing 16% of shares outstanding. The company cut its dividend earlier under pressure and has clearly pivoted toward buybacks to appease a newer, more growth-oriented investor base.
Chubb (CB) hiked its dividend for the 33rd consecutive year, raising it 5.15% from $0.97 to $1.02 per share. The yield remains low at 1.24%, but it’s been a total return machine — shares went from $100 to $327.
In listener Q&A, we covered anticyclical investing in out-of-favour sectors, Germany’s industrial job losses and what that means for investors in Siemens (SIE.DE) and SAP (SAP.DE), whether portfolio complexity beyond 30-50 stocks is manageable, Intuit’s (INTU) AI disruption risk for TurboTax, compounding potential of asset managers like KKR (KKR) and Blackstone (BX), and the hidden danger of inflation eroding slow dividend growers.
We also touched on AENA (AENA.MC), the world’s largest airport operator; LPKF Laser (LPKF.DE), a German semiconductor micro-cap; Eletrobras (EBR) and its Brazilian political risk; and the elevator sector with Kone (KNEBV.HE) and Otis (OTIS) versus semiconductor equipment names like LAM Research (LRCX), Applied Materials (AMAT), and KLA Corp (KLAC).
Listen to the Full Episode
This was a packed episode. If you want the full breakdown on all five REITs, our honest takes on each risk, and over a dozen listener questions answered — listen to Episode 297 of the Dividend Talk Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows.
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⚠️ Disclaimer: Derek and EDGI are not financial advisors. The content of this blog post and the Dividend Talk Podcast is for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing discussed should be taken as financial advice. Always do your own due diligence and consult a qualified financial professional before making any investment decisions. Derek holds positions in VICI Properties (VICI) and Agree Realty (ADC). EDGI holds positions in Big Yellow Group (BYG.L), Defama (DEF.DE), Agree Realty (ADC), VICI Properties (VICI), Evolution Gaming (EVO.ST), Chubb (CB), Chestnara (CSN.L), and Iberdrola (IBE.MC). Past performance is not indicative of future results.
