Been looking at some real estate stocks to buy lately, and two names keep popping up in my feed: Realty Income and NNN REIT. Both are dividend machines in the retail REIT space, which honestly surprised me given all the doom-and-gloom narratives we heard about retail properties over the past few years.

Let me break down what I'm seeing. Realty Income is the heavyweight here—we're talking 15,500-plus properties with about 80% of rent flowing from retail tenants. Dollar General, Walgreens, Home Depot, Walmart—these are solid anchors. The occupancy rate sits at 98.7%, which is pretty impressive, and they renewed leases at 3.5% higher rates. Their AFFO came in at $1.09 per share year-over-year, and the board has been hiking dividends quarterly for over 30 years. That's not just talk; they're putting money where their mouth is. Current dividend yield is 5.7%.

Now, NNN REIT is smaller—around 3,700 properties—but that's actually interesting to me. Smaller means they can still move the needle with new acquisitions. Their occupancy rate is 97.5%, and AFFO rose from $0.84 to $0.86. They've got 36 straight years of dividend increases, just hiked their payout by 3.4%, and the yield sits at 5.9%. The portfolio is more focused on convenience stores, automotive services, and restaurants.

Here's what I keep coming back to: the retail REIT space has actually held up way better than people expected. Through the first nine months of 2025, retail-focused REITs averaged 6.9% returns. That's not nothing. Both of these companies invested in properties for businesses that aren't getting destroyed by economic swings—grocery stores, convenience chains, quick-service restaurants. That's the real estate stocks to buy logic that's working right now.

The trade-off is pretty clear though. Realty Income offers stability and diversification at massive scale, but that size makes explosive growth harder. NNN REIT has more room to run on growth, but less diversification. If I'm being honest, I'd lean toward NNN REIT for the growth potential, even though it comes with less cushion. But if you want the safer, more predictable income stream, Realty Income does that job well.

Both have similar yields and proven dividend discipline. Really comes down to whether you want the established giant or the more nimble player. Either way, if you're hunting for real estate stocks to buy with solid income, these two are worth the deeper dive.