Excerpts of this article appeared in the March 2019 edition of the Forbes Real Estate Investor.

March is one of my favorite months in the year, especially because that’s when the biggest college basketball tournament takes place, and I’m a big fan. I played basketball back in the day but since I mostly warmed the bench, I didn’t get drafted by the NBA. 

Instead, I went on to become a financial writer. My passion for the sport has not faded and I’ve even found ways to utilize the set of skills needed to play the game in my investment pursuits. I use my offensive and defensive skills to score the best REIT returns and as editor of this newsletter, I like to think of myself as the coach to subscribers who depend on me for honest and dependable guidance. 

It’s a responsibility and honor I take very seriously. It’s also something we’re going to have fun with this month. In this issue, I’ve put together my own “March Madness” brackets for each REIT property sector. You’ll also find an updated rhino rating model, in which we pick the best REITs to own across the various categories. 

As you know, diversification is critical to a healthy investing model and REITs are an important form of diversification for many reasons. Perhaps the most important is how REITs have delivered long-term total returns that generally match—and often beat—broad market aggregates.