The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1877-01-19
RENTsFORIs77,
What the real Estate Men Have

tObay Upon the subject.
The season Of anxiety expectation,
speculation, ETC., among our hopsekeep;
ers and business men who are not prop
erty owners In regard to the possible rise
or fall In The price Of rents Tor the com.
ing year has now sci In, and everybody Is
DESTROYS OF hearing all they can In the
matter. Opinions are much divided on
the subject; while honsekeepers, general.
ly, think rents must come down, as In the
present hard times people are not able to
pay them Ms they stand, the property
owners and landlords say that rents are
80 low now that they barely realize the
interest on the money invested in the
houses, and they cannot afford, therefore,
10 ask lHss than they are receiving now.
DOWN TO HARD PAN. 81
The exiSting depression, which Il Is
generally conceded will disappear with
the inauguration Of President Hayes,
has brought many families face 10 lace
with condition Of affairs TO which they
had always heretofore been strangers.
Those In which the element Of respeclR.
bility il strong have struggled hard,
managed with economy 10 pay the rent
and buy food and clothes, but upon the
striking OF the domeatlc balance sheet Al
the end Of the year II has been found in
many cases that the income and expendi-
iure were about equal, and that In few
instances were there any small balances
left for deposit. The reader will Of
course understand that from this cate.
CORY those whom fortune haS placed be-
yond the power Of hard times to affect
were exempt On the other hand how
many families are there who have
found that for the past three
years the debit side Of their &C
count has been gradually increasing
until II now exceeds the credit side "by
large majority" The husband and sons
out Of work, with only nm occasional job
here and there, and the ClAmOr Of nuIner-
Gus hungry tongues to be stopped, the
question not only Of food but Of rent rs
well demands the serious consideration
OF the head Of the family.
THE MOST DESIRABLE TENANTS.
The people who depend upon their
daily labor as the source Of their income
may he divided into two classes: The
thrifty and hoDesl, who want 10 anil who
try 10 pay the rent; tho shiilless ind dis.
honest, who, no matter how adequate
their income, neither want TO nor try to-
meet the demands of their landlord. 1t
is unnecessary TO point out which Of
these get The preference. Both being on
an equal financial footing, the former in
variably gets the refusal OF desirable
dwellings. They are the ones whom the
landlords intend to retain MS tenants this
spring even il il must be done al a pecu.
mary sacrifice.
OPINIONS OF REAL Es-ATE AGENTS.
Several real estate agents have been in.
Lerrogated upon the subject by an INTEL
l.lUENCER representative, and the opin-
ion il almost universal amongst them
that the landlords must make further
concessions this year. Il Is the real es.
Tale agents business TO keep informed
about n prospective decline or rise in
rents, and our declaration that rents will
be lower is based upon n careful inquiry
among them. The reduction will principal
ly Affect the larger dwelling houses-those
renting for upwards Of $500 per year. 1t
is hard TO say exactly what the reduction
will be in houses renting for above $500
per year, but II is generally conceded that
il will be at least twenty-five per cent on
those that during the past year rented
for between $3.50 and 5000. One Of the
most prominent real estate agents, who
transactS large business in the way Of
renting houses, informed the writer that
in his opinion the rents OF all classes of
dwellings would be a shade lower. lie
thought IL little too early vet TO deter
-mine the per cent OF the reduction that
would take place, but he was sat
istied that the people would not pay the
same rates they are doing now, and that
consequently landlords would come
down gracefully. Many parties now
occupying large houses are looking about
for smaller ones. Their incomcs have been
abridged, and they must contract TX pemli.
lures if they would make both ends meet.
This will result in an increased demand
Tor houses OF five, six, and seven rooms,
for which a rent OF from $500 to $3.50 per
annnm is asked, and surplus OF houses
that bring n rental value OF $i00 and up.
wards. Z atI.t "Hl Ns. .EfsH''.H
A TUMBLE IN THE RENT OF LARGE HOUSES.
II is on the latter class that The greatest
reduction will be made. A number of
large houses were idle last year, which
the landlords intent TO rent, If not alto.
gether impossible. The old saw, "neCcrsity
knows no law" will apply in the present
instance in the case Of dwellings Of tile
higher class. The increased demand for
small houses will tend to keep the rent
from falling, except where landlords will
make reductions in preference 10 losing
good tenants, The locality Of the houses,
also, will betaken into consideration.
Az regards small dwellings we have
heard Of some rents being, reduced, while,
on the other hand, we know OF q large
property owner on the Island who has
advanced the rents Of several Of
his houses over last years prices! One
landlord with whom we conversed wasof
the opinion that the rents Of small houses
in general would be about. the same as
last year; that the capital invested can
not bear further reduction. Another
was OF the opinion that rents in some |
cases wouldhave to come down. Other
persons, small property owners, thought |
somewhat differently from the above. |
They were decidedly Of the opinion that
all rents must come down, and especially |
those Of the smaller houses, as the tenants |
must live and could not afford to pay the |
present tariff. Even now many land
lords are letting tenants who are sure 10 |
pay have houses at lower figures than |
the market price rather than take the |
general nof them and run the risk Of
losing all. > srfr 3. ifIIga I.tf
BUSINESS HOUSES. ~ I
In regard TO business houses, rents will |
probably, with a few exceptions, be about
the same as last year. The agents seem
10 think that store rooms, in good locali-
ties, will carry their own. Trade Is i'm
proving; slowly, to be sure, but still i'm
proving, and this mnst tell in rents az In
everything else. Many business houses