So, imagine if you had a special piggy bank that you could put your money into and then other people could use that money to buy buildings and things like that. That's kind of what an Australian Real Estate Investment Trust, or AREIT, is.
An AREIT is a company that takes people's money and uses it to buy real estate, like apartments or hotels or shopping centers. Then, they rent out those buildings to businesses and people who need a place to live or work. The rent money that comes in goes back to the people who invested in the AREIT, like you would get your money back with interest when you put it in a savings account.
So, instead of buying a building yourself, you can invest in an AREIT and become a part owner of lots of different buildings without having to do all the work and take on all the risk by yourself. And because lots of people are investing together, the AREIT can buy bigger and better buildings than any one person could on their own.
It's important to remember, though, that investing in an AREIT is still a risk, just like putting your money into a special piggy bank. If the buildings they buy don't get rented out or the rent prices go down, the AREIT might not be able to pay the investors as much back as they hoped. But, if everything goes well, investing in an AREIT can be a good way to make money from real estate without having to do all the work yourself.