REITs, or real estate investment trusts, come in many different shapes and sizes these days with most REITs trading on major stock exchanges. They offer a number of benefits to investors and represent companies that own or finance income-producing real estate across a variety of property sectors. REITs provide individual investors the chance to own valuable real estate, present the opportunity to access dividend-based income and total returns, and help communities grow, thrive, and revitalize.

Today, we're going to take a look at three REITs that break the mold from your typical retail or residential REIT.

Gladstone Land Corporation (Tii:LAND) was founded in 1997 and is now a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and then leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. Gladstone understands the importance food plays in our lives, which is why they currently own 113 farms, comprised of approximately 88,000 acres in 10 different states, valued at approximately $892 million.

Gladstone Land continues to actively acquire farms across the U.S. and primarily targets fruit and vegetable cropland in regions with established rental markets and strong operators.

Safehold (Tii:SAFE) provides a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Through its modern ground lease capital solution, Safehold helps owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality and mixed-use properties in major markets throughout the United States generate higher returns with less risk.

Safehold has been the pioneer in ground leases which can be part of the capital structure of almost any property within the $7 trillion+ commercial real estate industry. The company's business model can mitigate the uncertainty of maturity risk by providing ultra-long duration capital at a low cost of funds, predictable year after year. That helps customers better manage liquidity, even in an uncertain world.

Innovative Industrial Properties (Tii:IIPR) is the leading provider of real estate capital for the medical-use cannabis industry. Their focus is on the acquisition, ownership and management of specialized properties leased to experienced, state-licensed operators for their regulated medical-use cannabis facilities.

IIPR is capitalizing on the tremendous momentum of state legalization around medical-use cannabis in the U.S. which has led to a transformation in the way patients can obtain treatment for a wide spectrum of medical conditions in a safe, reliable and compassionate environment, giving hope to millions.