It's no secret that the net lease marketis attracting many investors, new and veteran, seeking a safesector for their portfolios. While there's no sure thing in theinvestment realm, net lease does have its pluses, includinglong-term tenants assuring a steady income stream. But with so manyplayers in the market looking for a great deal, how can savvyinvestors stay ahead of the pack and land the best net leasetransactions? Real Estate Forum spoke with several industry expertsto get their take on the net lease market and how to make smartchoices when making acquisition decisions.

"Things are getting competitive," says Jason Fox, managingdirector and co-head of domestic investments with W. P. Carey inNew York City. "We have a low-interest rate environment and despiteaggressive pricing, it's inducing a lot of sales. A lot of usersare considering sale-leasebacks, and private-equity firms areconsidering them for their portfolio companies as a way to accesscapital to finance growth and expansion."

On the flip side, Fox adds, the market is also competitive forinvestors. Property yields have been driven down, and pricing thatresembles 2007 is emerging. "There are good opportunities, though,"he says, "in a range of asset classes including retail andrestaurants, despite the aggressive bidding out there. The goodnews compared to 2007 is that you're still able to generateappropriate risk-adjusted rates of return for this type ofinvestment, given the spreads between property yields and lendingrates."