Better Dividend Stock: Equity LifeStyle Properties vs. Sun Communities

Going off the beaten path to focus on an underappreciated niche market can be a rewarding investment strategy. For example, manufactured home communities have quietly been one of the most resilient property classes to invest in over the decades. They benefit from durable demand due to housing affordability issues and the expense of moving a manufactured home out of a community. Sun Communities (NYSE: SUI) and Equity LifeStyle Properties (NYSE: ELS) are leaders in owning manufactured home communities and other niche property types. That strategy has enabled these real estate investment trusts (REITs) to pay attractive dividends that have grown over the years. Here's a look at which of these residential REITs is the better buy for dividend income right now.Sun Communities is the largest publicly traded owner and operator of manufactured housing communities (288 properties with 97,000 sites), RV communities (179 best-in-class locations with 59,000 sites, including 34,000 annual sites), and marinas (138 locations with 49,000 wet slips and dry storage spaces). It's also the second largest owner/operator of U.K. holiday parks (54 parks with 18,000 manufactured home sites and 4,000 transient sites). Overall, it has about 660 developed properties with over 179,100 developed sites (plus the nearly 49,000 marina slips/spaces) across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool