The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-08-05

s,ues sHaous In Real Estate I'm New York.
ransscons in real estate for tue last twelve sigh-
teen months wholly suspended, have least BEEN
fat stale and Improbable. euch operations - have
bssn effected have sprung out Of the various
ties Of debit and credit rather than out OF the spirit Of
speculation.
The reason the why and the wherefore Of this state
Of things to bs found In tho great question which 10
the turning point OF the WHOLE Of getting money at
per bond and mortgage. During the period
above named thie general thing, could not be dons
In ordinary times money lenders real ssats-os whom
there are thousands-sre willing to loan bono and
mortgage about hall OF low cash estimate of the
value Of the property provided the title be sooa the
property situated liz EghtAble locality. and that 1t
10 6rst mortgage; for = second mortgage beyond half
the above specified value very hard If not inpessoss
TO be got Where second mortgages exist, they gene
rally constitute part Ct the purchase money, on the
occsiion Of the property changing hands.
When money Is very easy, then 1t IL not difficult to
got loans 6rst class property SIX per cent and to
even more than half the value But Il mas. be pro-
perry situated low down town. the best and
the business part Of the cy-such instance
are occupied by the heaviest merchants. IA general
fact the higher You 60 up town the more dBcut it il
to procure loans The best property town which
to effect loans is property, yielding the most
for mercantile purposes, as, for example, the
Eighth avenue which IL the leading business avenue,
and the in which rents and Of course, property
ITSELF are for scarcely necessary to say
that In the portions Of the city the value OF
property depends wholly upon present or prospective
rent. The worst improved property up town, down
town. and where which to get loans, tene-
ment property Capitalists never Like to touch 1t; and
to avoid the possibility Of being obliged to buy 1t in,
in the event Of foreclosure they win generally re-
fuse peremptorily to loan 1t. Also, during
the period above named, 1t has been nearly
cant lots In order to escape difficulty in the pay
ent either Of interest Of mortgage when DUE CAPT
asts prefer to property improved and yielding
an annual noome rather than to invest in vacant lots
which are absolutely useless until improved. II, when
mortgage becomes due the capitalist in order to pro-
tct himself 10 obliged to buy in the vacant property,
he Of makes investment in what yields him mo-
neome which 10 not the object he has In view in invest
ing and he does not IKE to take any risk Nothing
Of absolute security and absolute certainty and
regularity Of income, will suit him. The very idea OF
seven or of per cent money lender implies that
his object much increase security, certainty,
and regularity Accordingly not only must the proper
ty be al right but bondsman must be all right He
must be Of character and responsibility, as well
as OF responsibility. man known to DO care
less in meeting his obligations when due, will lad
it hard to got money ON bond and mortgage,
even though he be 81 responsible . Roths-
their foot into future law trap-msn more desire
to lend than to buy into law suits ssven Per cent
men in their very nature exceedingly sensitive to
everything having the reotest resem ,lanse to risk or
loss, or even trouble And the history of the past
twelve months will show that than encounter
such risk loss, trouble, those men win quietly let
their money lie idle In the vaults the bank This they
have done. They are nervous, sensitive and timorous
to degree, snuhng mischief, like the prairie buffalo,
In hrsAz aud,u nv ctau
without going into heightened details, will state
Of the facts which locked mp money from real
tate and stopped checked the progress Of improve.
ments within the past year and q half.
And Arst shall the extraordinary high prices
which real estate reached about two years ago This
frst caused apprehension which into caution,
distrust and ultimately, under the operation of other
causes, into panic.
Next the prospect and shortly the reality OF Euro
pesn In the event Of capitalists the Hrst
to take alarm. They know not what is coming, and
they adopt the policy Of mastery Inactivity This sub
ject has been often and fully discussed that We
pass It.
The third and last great cause Of depression in real
estate the drought and consequent short crop last
esson The disastrous effect of this scarcely
be oversatsd. In ls36-'36, the destruction OF
twenty odd millions Of real estate BY ERE broke nearly
all the insurance companies in the city, which threw
into market, under compulsory sale, some Eve sx
millions Of mortgages. The consequence was, real
estate went down like avalanche The loss by Ere
actual destruction Of propeity-not in changing
hands, In the Schuyler juggery, but positive loss.
Last year the loss BY drought, il not positive, was
negative and far more calamitous.
The grand result Of these and other was the
destruction Of confidence In financial affairs. Money
was NO longer to be had at per cent and,
inevitable consequence the business Of building spe
culation came to end. What little was done was
simply to meet the actual wants Of the people.
Now came season Of cool, quiet reflection amosg
builders and spectators. Now thought who never
thought before The questions discussed and examined
mainly to locality and the kind Of buildings
be erected II found that buildings would sell
At profit, while others would not SELL loss.
1t discovered that many builders had constructed
buildings In certain localities such they supposed peo
pie ought to want but which in point Of fact nobody
did want On these and other points shall now
proceed to give the result OF observations and
reflections.
The frequent and palpatle blundsr which build.
made the disproportonate cost Of the build
ing erected and Of the lot which 1t erected For
instance, they would . lot worth 81, 900 put up .
house costing, they say, 900, but will say
$4,000 We point to houses Of this description
Lexington avenue costing four Eve times the value
Of the lots Now in opinion, the unsaleable
of all houses are those which most exceed the cost
of q lot; and, conversely the most sAlsabe, and OK
the most desirable houses those whose cost
approaches nearest the cost Of the lot. Builders
seem TO run of . notion" that certain amount of
mason's carpenters and plumbers work make house
Some Of them, happen to know, have discovered
their cost that there another element in the thing
called house besides brick and boards and that ID oca
ton They discovered that IT possible to build splsn
did brown stone houses four stories and high
twenty feet 'front.' fifty feet deep, in the very beat
manner with all the modern Improvement costing to
erect, say, materials and labor then were, Slo,-
ooo lots worth not 5000 which aftsr ali
done would not sell at cost to say nothing of profit.
these builders discovered that they had put
much expense in boards and brown in proportion
to the cost OF the lot. There purchasers who liked