Real Estate Stocks For Dividend Growth Investors (That Aren't REITs)

In a recent article, I explained why the Real Estate sector is a top-three sector for dividend-growth investors to target this quarter. In this quarter, I will dig deeper into the sector and highlight opportunities for yield, yield growth, and capital gains within the equity market that are not REITs.
To start, the Real Estate sector is a tricky one from the equity perspective. You can't just go out and buy a share in a real estate development. There are ways to gain access, REITs are the most popular, but they have drawbacks. The primary is tax liabilities, REITs are a tax-sheltered investment vehicle which means additional tax burden for your portfolio. REITs are a fine investment, I'll highlight a few of them in another article, but not always appropriate within a portfolio.
What this means for equity investors looking for qualified dividends are real estate services. Real estate services come in many forms, including financial, insurance, sales, and development. I have chosen to avoid the financial and insurance services as those may overlap with other financial plays, I want a pure-play on real estate. The two stocks I have winnowed out are RE/MAX (NYSE: RMAX) and M.D.C. Holdings (NYSE: MDC). RE/Max is a franchiser of real estate brokerage offices, M.D.C. Holdings is a specialty home builder.
RE/MAX
RE/MAX just received a market-moving downgrade that presents a nice buying opportunity for those looking to invest new money. Bradley Berning, a sell-side analyst,... Read more