The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-05-13
Real Estate Values In
Richmond TWO DeCa-
des Ago and Now,
PEEP INTO THE
CITY RECORDS
1T Tells How Property on Broad
Street and Other Streets Run
ming With It Has Adj
vanced in Value
NJ Within Twenty
y Years. {.

BIZ Richmond real estate has always been
valuable. tina, is to ST. yeyer since Byrd
y laid or the town, aud It has been In
y ciensing ingraluc gear By year ever
since. ,t
.Eil or; course there have been exceptional
years, because Richmond has had re-
" markablc history, and there have Dsen
things TO happen that were well calcu-
lated 10 dcpreciate rchl estate values ! or
THE time being. Just for lance: Take
the year 1865, say from April to Novenl-.
Yer who would have had the nerve TO-
Is bly, auy kind OF property in Richmond
i.thcn? I'm Il ( E.
With most OF the .lciiy3n ashes ana
alien city and State governments pilllis
the taxes upon tiit aisle piles u man
Who would have bought much Richmond
property then would have been regarded
MS a tit subject for d lunatic asylum. But
there would have been millions in 1t II
I he had bought largely.
Before then and since then, Richmond
has passed through come depressing
pc RODS and read estate values have tens
porary varied. But taking the whole
period from tho days4ofR Byrd lip-to date.
s. real estate In this city has grown in
value year, BY year, and has always lccn
a good investment. = &.
The tax assessors, books do not always;
show the true cash value OF real estate,
because there Is a kind Of unp'ritten law
in Virginia and in all the balance Of
tho world. perhaps that land values for
taxation and land values for sale and
purchase are two very different things
vcry--rcry different JUST TO illustrate
In parepthesis: The writer knows OF price
of real estate within Il store y 4 throw OF
Murphy's Hotel Enn BROAD "a street. upon!
which tho assessment has been Increased
every five ycars for the past thirty yea rs,
until now II is assessed q I 1850 for ia xat-t
ton. Less tran4 month d 90 the owners
refused n cash offer OF 1900 for this
property ana modesuy set the selling
price at S9G,c0o. They: can get the last
named figrare, too 5, ~
This same piece of property was as
sesed in 1856 ut $3.50. Ten years later
It was assessed at 10000. and IN 1905
1T goes down on the books OF the com.
missioner ar revenue at s15,5So, IT VIII
take 100000 cash to buy IT,
Another Illustration.
Another piece OF Broadsstreet property.
fronting sixty-nvc feet. was assessed In
1886 al s35,Ge5. sInE 1896 at $4,000 and
this year ut $4,000. The improvements
on 1t have undergone no change except
that they ;se twenty years older now and.
of course. less valuable than they were
IN 1856. II will take 100000 to buy this |
property
a careful study OF the books IN tho |
office Of the commissioner OF revenue |
viii show that all Broad Street property,
say from Ninth 10 Bclvlderc, has ad-
vanced In value In like proportion Within
the past two decades. Main Street prop
crty, say from Fifth to Twelfth, has un-
dergonc similar changes Just one piece |
will bc sufficient to illlstrate and II is
selected for Illustration because the i'm
provcmcnts OH it have * undergone no
change since 1856. except that the build
ings arc twenty years older and OF
course less valuable. This property |
fronts ffty-scvcn and n half feet and was
assessed II 1856 at 4l,5ss; in 1896 at
$aS9OO and this year at, $50, %. II you
want to get the cold shoulder, offer
SIS 900 for It.
Franklin and Grace Street property
lying between the points named above
and which In the ma In Is residence prop
crty, llns advanced In value In like pro-
portion rs the tax books will show.
And set there arc croakers in Rich !
'mond who say that real estate values
have not Increased, and all this talk
about n real estate boom Is the Wild
talk of real estate agents and tho gush
OF newspaper reporters The croakers do
not know.
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