I'm not sure if you're still looking for any new answers but it's perfectly okay to do both. In fact, it's a great way to start getting in the habit of reading financials. This is important if down the line you're looking to diversify and want to invest in other options outside of REITs. REITs are great because they're low cost, some actually offer a monthly return and one of the biggest advantages, is you can pull out in a day if you need the money or something happens. You obviously can't do that with a home/apt. Some other disadvantages off the top of my head are, you are taxed pretty heavily during the sale within the first year as well as any dividend not coming into your Roth ira. You are also not able to tap into the equity in the way that you would with a home, so expanding will prove to be more difficult. Few other issues are lower returns, lack of write-offs and your portfolio value is dependant on not just the RE market, but the fluctuations of the stock market as well. Scared investors pulling their money out for whatever reason, driving your price per share down. I personally do both and don't see an issue with both. I would caution to just only invest, what you're willing to lose going the REIT route. Some of my personal favorite tickers are "O" "TWO" "NRZ" and "IIPR".
