Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been beaten down since the start of the year, but now may be the perfect time to open a position in one.

As the Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSE:VNQ) is down roughly 30% year-to-date, many real estate investment trusts have been dragged down further than the sector itself. For instance, UMH Properties is down roughly 41% year-to-date, while General Income Properties is only down approximately 3.53% year-to-date.

Learn more about these two REITs with yields higher than the risk-free rate.

• General Income Properties Inc. (NASDAQ:GIPR) offers a dividend yield of 10.69% or 65 cents per share annually, through monthly payments, with an inconsistent track record of increasing its dividends. This internally managed real estate investment company is focused on acquiring and managing income-producing retail, office and industrial properties net leased to high-quality tenants in major markets throughout the U.S. As of June 30, it had $3.6 million in total cash and cash equivalents and has total net debt of $35.5 million. Its tenants include Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) and La-Z-Boy (NYSE:LZB).
• UMH Properties Inc. (NYSE:UMH) offers a dividend yield of 4.95% or 80 cents per share annually, utilizing quarterly payments, with a track record of increasing its dividends once in the past year. The company owns and operates a portfolio of 132 manufactured home communities with approximately 25,000 developed homesites, across ten states.