Realty Income $O, NNN REIT $NNN, and VICI Properties $VICI are the 3 REITs I currently own, but there are several others I have my eyes on.

In the coming months I will be doing deep analysis on many different REITs, so make sure to follow to stay in the loop!

6. Finally, I require a 5% dividend yield to invest in a REIT. I want dividend income from the REITs I own, and often that is a large portion of the REIT return. A 5% yield plus AFFO growth of 3-4% gives me a theoretical return of 8%-9%, which is acceptable in my eyes for REITs.

5. A reasonable dividend payout as percentage of AFFO. I don't assign a number to this, but anywhere from 60% to 80% is healthy. This gives the REIT a buffer in raising their dividend, so if there are short-term fluctuations in AFFO, the dividend is safe.

4. Investment Grade Balance Sheet. I want my REITs to be in a high quality financial position, and a key factor is the credit rating. An investment grade balance sheet allows for cheaper access to debt markets, which is critical for REITs.

3. Greater than 75% of the REIT's debt MUST be fixed rate debt. This is a non-negotiable for me. A high quality REIT will have predictable interest expense and will not have a large amount of variable interest rate debt.

2. Debt-to-Equity Ratio below 1, or stable near 1. I prefer REITs with a conservative capital structure, as they tend to perform better during market corrections / recessions. Often these REITs label their portfolio as "recession resistant".

1. I prefer to buy REITs classified as Retail REITs, and use sales-leaseback to purchase their properties. Personally, this is the model of REIT I understand best and can analyze properly.

You may feel comfortable with other forms of REITs, and that is perfectly fine.

It is important to understand your own goals as an investor when deciding what type of dividend strategy you want to pursue.

I hope to provide insights to any dividend investor, and help lead to better decision making.

Dividend Reliability is a category I've come up with in the past few years, and it is a grey area between growth and income. These companies grow their dividend, and earnings, at a modest pace, but don't offer high enough yields to be considered in income strategies.

Dividend Income entails buying dividend paying stocks of companies with mature businesses, lower growth, and pay out a large percentage of earnings as dividends. These stocks often have a long history of paying a dividend, and typically have higher yields than dividend growth stocks.

Dividend Growth entails buying dividend paying stocks that are rapidly growing their dividend, typically at a rate of 10% or more per year. These are often companies that recently started paying a dividend, are very profitable, and pay out a relatively small percentage of earnings as a dividend.