REIT stands for Real Estate Investment Trust.  REIT is a type of security that invests in real estate.  They are traded in 3 different markets and regulated differently by SEC (Security and Exchange Commission).

Public REITs: traded in major exchanges and regulated by SEC.  The daily prices are published in major financial publications and websites.

Public non-listed REITs: not traded in exchanges, but regulated by SEC.

Private REITs: not traded in major exchanges and not regulated by SEC, it is also called private placement REITs. 

Private REITs have no transparency and no liquidity.  You don't know the valuation.  They are hard to redeem as well.  What you have is what the broker tells you which most of time is not quite correct.  The brokers' goal is to sell you the product, not interested in whether this product is suitable for you or not.  They will take in huge fees for selling you that.

In the rising intereat rate environment, it is very challenging for real estate development companies to make a lot of money since the cost of money is going up.  I will never touch private REITs.