I am new to investing and am not sure of to read financial statements or the earnings reports very well. What are some tell-tale signs for me to spot that investing in a particular REIT is a no-go?

My - possibly contrarian - view is that single REIT investing will even with time intensive analysis lead the retail investor as the pro to nothing, i.e. underperformance.

Retail investors cannot be successful against an appropriate index, can not predict the future, often cannot abstain from buy & sell (instead of successful buy & ultra longterm hold).​​​

Yes, as you have rightly stated, the first thing you must do is to be able to read and analyze financial statements. Don't bet a single cent blindly yet. Next, learn how to value shares and then try to understand what makes the share prices up and down. There will be many gurus claiming that they have this and that formula. Examples, some believe in going with the flow while others taking a contrarian view. some believe liquidity will continue to move the market higher and higher while others say the market plunge is imminent, some say technical signals tell everything while others believe in fundamental, and so on. Whatever it is, understand the fundamentals and make your own call, but remember you are playing against professionals who know more than you through years of learning and experience and watching Bloomberg terminals in front of them for information and news that move the market.