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The majority of real estate investment trusts (REITs) are expected to post positive earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2011 as rent growth continues, according to analysts.

REITs, which are required to pay 90% of taxable income to investors each year, have outpaced the broader market, with average annual returns surpassing 10% over the past decade. REITs focus on renting properties -- generally either office, residential, industrial or hotels -- which has partially sheltered them from plunging real estate prices. Most profits are reinvested into building improvements or acquisitions, but the sector also has high yields for investors.

"We think REITs are in a good spot," said Alexander Goldfarb, senior REIT analyst with Sandler O'Neill + Partners. "The current economic environment is conducive to them."

Economic growth has boosted demand from tenants, but hasn't been strong enough to encourage excess development, restraining the amount of empty space on the market. Around a third of proposed development projects are unable to secure financing.

Each subsector of the REIT industry faces different conditions, but analysts see upsides across the industry.

IBTimes

How is a Distressed Asset Investment Fund set up? First, you need legal advice and consultation throughout the entire process. The laws, disclosure requirements, and particulars of each Fund are different. However, here is a legal guide. This is only a guide and should not be considered legal counsel.

This Legal Guide is meant to be educational and informative and discusses general legal principles; however, it should be used for informational purposes only.

Many assets have become distressed due to high vacancy rates, inability to refinance existing debt, depletion of reserves, and disrepair. This, along with the decline in the real estate market, have made these assets more affordable. But the capital funding needed to acquire, rehabilitate and reposition these assets is more difficult to obtain. Here are the basic steps and principles involved in the set-up of a Distressed Asset Investment Fund.

Step 1: Know your purpose.

In the current credit market environment, the traditional means of financing an acquisition of distressed assets have become difficult. Consider a strategy that includes successfully completing a private equity offering into a fund-type entity that will utilize its assets to acquire, rehabilitate and reposition distressed assets for cash flow (rentals) and residual proceeds (sales). These ownership entities have a greater chance of obtaining financing than individual or corporate borrowers, and are also able to occupy a better position as a buyer of distressed assets due to the fund's capitalization.

Step 2: Create a Set of Offering Documents.

What needs to be achieved is a private equity offering that meets the requirements of the 1993 Securities Act, and the applicable state securities statutes, also referred to as the Blue Sky laws. These are the "securities laws", that require you to prepare a set of offering documents that clearly lay out your plan, the risks involved, your financial assumptions, and the projected returns investors could achieve. They should also included a series of full and adequate precautions ensuring that the investment is appropriate for the investors, and that the investors are appropriate for the particular investment, given their financial sophistication, net worth or earnings capacity, size of investment, and the relativity of the risk to their tolerance for such risk. This is where you separate investors as either "accredited" or "non-accredited" as that term is defined in the Statute. You should also create a corporate structure that will receive the funds, and hold the investments.

Step 3: Raise Capital.

This is easier said than done. You need a full and legally adequate set of offering documents that will present the investment to accredited investors so  that have a clear understanding of the investment, your business plan, the risks involved, and whether or not they will be able to have access to their capital. Your business plan needs to be well thought out and detailed.  It is also helpful to have identified, and secured the commitments of the people who are to act as your management team.

Step 4: Identify appropriate investment opportunities.

Stick to the parameters that you identified in your business plan and the asset investment requirements that you committed to in your offering documents. Use industry sources, and other such information to source and identify appropriate investment opportunities for your fund.

Step 5: Make sure that you are capable of rehabilitating the assets and repositioning them in the marketplace.

Most distressed assets are deteriorated and will need rehabilitation. You will need to have access to a general contractor and construction related expertise, and an attorney to draft contracts that define the process, the payments, and the job. Eventually, you will either be holding the property for rental and will need a property manager, and a leasing staff, including your business attorney to draft leasing documentation; or you will be looking to sell the property and reinvest the proceeds in another appropriate asset, which will require finding a buyer and closing the sale.

Step 6: Keep your investors informed and create a compliance/administrative operation.

You will need to manage investor disbursements if this was promised in your offering documents, investor and property tax considerations, ensure you have adequate working capital for property repair, management, and additional capital investment, and ensure that you are in compliance with property management requirements, tax payments, investor questions and reports. This will require adequate management and compliance skills, as well as professional accounting and legal assistance, for both purchases and sales of assets, as well as for leasing, eviction issues, disputes, insurance issues, injuries, and other daily property management concerns.

Wind power is facing a make-or-break moment in Congress, with renewable-energy firms' projects on hold as lawmakers debate whether to extend subsidies for new wind farms this month.

Currently U.S. tax credits are available only for facilities that come online before the end of 2012. Iberdrola Renewables, the second-largest U.S. wind operator, has suspended work on new U.S. projects for "anything we can't build in 2012," said Rich Glick, vice president of government affairs for the unit of Spain's Iberdrola SA.

Industry players see two main chances for Congress to act this year. One comes in February, when the wind subsidies could be tacked on to an extension of payroll-tax cuts. The other would come in the lame-duck session after November elections, when lawmakers must address the expiration of tax cuts from 2001.

The tax credit has helped bring down the cost of wind power, making it more competitive with rival producers, but wind's backers say they need a few more years to build out a U.S. supply chain. The sharp fall in U.S. natural-gas prices has made this a particularly sensitive moment for wind energy by giving gas-fired power plants an extra cost advantage.

Previous delays in extending the wind-farm tax credit have led to drop-off in wind installations. The credit, designed to help level the playing field with coal and other fossil fuels, is worth 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced during the first 10 years a wind farm is in operation.

A delay could also stunt efforts to bring down the cost of wind-power technology. "We face the loss of domestic expertise and the momentum to build a strong domestic supply base," said Luis Miguel Fernandez, chief corporate officer for the North American arm of Spain's Gamesa Corp., which has a factory in Pennsylvania.

Last month, Vestas Wind Systems said it will cut 1,600 U.S. workers if the tax credit isn't renewed, on top of 2,300 jobs it is already shedding world-wide. An industry-backed study by Navigant Consulting said in December that thousands of additional job cuts could occur if the credit expires.

About 6.8 gigawatts of wind power were installed in the U.S. in 2011, bringing the total nationwide capacity to nearly 47 gigawatts, enough to power about 12 million homes at any given time, according to the American Wind Energy Association. That is about 3% of total U.S. generating capacity.
 
Without the wind tax credit in place, Navigant said, about two additional gigawatts of wind capacity would be installed in 2013, as opposed to more than eight gigawatts expected to be added in 2012, when the tax credit will still be in place.
 
Other predictions are more dire. Iberdrola's Mr. Glick said there would be "close to zero" gigawatts of wind capacity installed next year without an extension soon.

Some in Congress say it is time to end subsidies for renewable energy. The wind industry "simply cannot continue to rely on the American taxpayer," said Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.), who has a bill that would cut many energy-related credits from the tax code. "Each time it comes up to a year of expiration, they say, 'If we just get a few more years our technology will mature and we will become more competitive.' It's time for them to figure out how to do that."

The industry's supporters argue that Chinese manufacturers also get government support, and they say companies need more time to build a U.S. supply chain and drive down costs.

Denise Bode, president of the American Wind Energy Association, said that in several years' time "we will not need" the tax credit but losing it now could stunt efforts to attract new investment.

Some U.S. facilities may keep going without the credit, thanks to foreign demand and mandates in many states for utilities to buy increasing amounts of renewable power.

Twenty-three governors have backed a bill that would extend the tax credit by four years. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said late last month the credit is "extremely important" and suggested it should be included with the extension of the payroll-tax break.

Some House Republicans have supported the four-year extension. But Rep. Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican and lead House negotiator on the payroll-tax bill, has said energy tax credits shouldn't be part of the payroll-tax discussions.

Original Article – Wall Street Journal