I have done value analysis on a few distressed REITs.

The only one I thought worth investing in was shorting SPG at 100, a position I’ve half exited.

None of the others seemed worth going long or short.

The mall and shopping center REITs have a lot of
problems, but their loans are usually only secured by individual properties, and they trade for pretty close to their liquidation value.

Without looking at that one, red flags are concentration in SF/NYC/Seattle with riots/covid/anti-landlord laws all being issues that hurt both current rent collections and future value.

“less leveraged”

That’s neither good nor bad in the abstract. Lots of low rate loans locked in for 40 years? Sign me up!