The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-16

mavbe il wa a little later, bought at auction
forfy.one lots in Pelham avenue. East
Fordham, for $50 a lot, sold them for $3.50 a
lot in 1888 and the same lots are now worth
from 81, 500 to q 5000 each.
sLots once included in the old o estate
and bought in the early sos Tor $7S anu
500 are now valued at $500, because stu
ated on Weetcheeter In the nea.
ford Park section lots which as late as 1888
brought only $500 TO $3.50 are snapped up
now at 81, 500 to 5000. and myself gladly
paid $500 to q woman the other DAY Tor a
lot which cost her $3.50 twelve years ago.
.One of the most remarkable instances
I can recall Of the steady advance IN tine
price Of and in this part OF the city mas
10 do with ancestors OF Henry Lewis Motifs,
n~eighborhood Of Boston road, now Thiru
ain 1858 Mr.. Morris's grandfsther-I think
his name was Gerard MoTris-sold TO Ieople
by the name Of Nimphius a plot Of ground
100 by $50 feet at the southwest corner OF
road for $3.50. The city began To grow
in that direction, and the MINI hiuses started
a small saloon in part OF the front oil the
lot and a blacksmith shop at the rear OF the
lot, both of which fourished.
I'm 1880 the owners caused some excite
ment in real estate circles up here by selling
about twenty feet Of the avenue front for
IS 600, but that was not a circumstance 70
the amaz ement Of us all when the city came
along In 1897 demanding a slice OF twenty
feet TO id to the t~horoughfare ana got IL
only by paying $4,000.
"1nd that was not all. Four years later
along comes Henry Lewis Morris, GRANDSON
of the original owner, bought back the lot
minus the twenty feet sold TO the city Tor
81, 900 and put up on it an Office building
which now brings him a yearly rental OF
SIS 900.
And I could tell of perhaps twenty-five
cases almost as remarkable. Land bought
eight, ten, twelve years ago In some cases
now rents for more than it cost, and, to
put IL mildly, has increased in value at
least 25 per cent.
"A building on Third avenue near 14eth
street the sale OF which for $27 500 l hell ed
to negotiate nine years ago now rents for
81, 900 a year. Yes, IL rs the same old build
ing minus any modern tixings. And Pre-
cisely the same thing will go on and on for
many years to come, ! am sure.
There il no secret bout the successful
buying and selling Of real estate, no art
which must be learned. Ii is merely a ques-
ton Of judgment and OF studying a map OF
the city.
Density Of population is what determines
value and the city is growing like wildfire.
Srread out q city map, trace carefully the
diff erent streets n avenues. studying
well their formation, and one can barely
help coming to a conclusion as TO which
are likely to be the most populous and pop
sAs for a young man putting his money
into unimproved lots, q good deal may
be said on either side. II he can AFFORD
oughfare, In my opinion he is doing the
very best thing possible for his future:
and the next best thing is TO buy a lot, or
lots, anywhere he can along the probable
line of the city''s growth. -,
The other day ! rode down town with
Mr.. Van Cortlandt, after whose family
Van Cortlandt Park is named and who Is
now SO, and during our chat he said
with all my long experience in real
estate l have never known a mar who
owned a good bit Of realty ever going broke,
whereas ! rave been acquainted with many
owners OF easily negotiated stocks N
bonds who were suddenly reduced to COM
parative poverty
~The reason for this, Mr.. Van Cortlandt
thought, was that real estate can't always
be sold in q hurry, that a man Is apt TO haVs
plenty OF time to think before striking a
bargain ,o.. 10 mali. r,orsr hv ~
vesting in New York real estate are as
good now as they ever were, but / have
this homely advice always on tap for young
men: Don't bite of more than you can
chew. In other words, dom burden your
self with mortgage 80 DIG that there would
be no possible way OF meeting it should it
be called in a hurry, for in that case you
run the risk Of losing almost every dollar
you invested, property sold at foreclosure
generally bringing bottom prices"
Money invested IN real estate must
double itself in thirteen years, or one is
operating at a loss, a fact some young men
forget when they start in TO buy real estate"
explained a dealer in the Fifth avenue
section OF Manhattan. The founda ions
of some of the largest New York fortunes
were laid by buying n selling farming
land. and IL will always be 80 although farms
disappeared from Manhattan long ago.
The Astors, Goelets, Gerrys, Rhmeland-
ers and others owe their fortunes mainly
to this fact. The Astors, probably the
largest holders OF real estate in this country,
acquired the Eden farm, which lay around
Forty-second street, now one Of the c~ostliest
sections in Manhattan, for a mere song,
and that, like almost every other parcel Of
land bought, they held fast TO.
Now, naturally, making money in real
estate after that fashion Il no longer ms
sible in Manhattan, and for that very reason
many people are inclined to think that " hen
money ia made now IL is due to an accident.
sudden boom like, for instance, that caused
by the projected building OF the PennsyI-
vsnia Railroad station in West Thirty
third street, when for q few months real
estate in h a n~eighborhood scared ire
mendously IN price. But that's wrong.
Recognizing only legitimate business
along ordinary lines. due to increase of
population and the consequent multiplica-
biOtA Va AACtOts aAo DucihC.t CUMMINGS H.
we'll as private houses and fiat houses, the
fact is that the hance to make money in
real estate are precisely as good now az
they ever were; also that the chances will
continue to be Just As good for generations
10 come, only 10 takes more none 10 20
into the real estate business or to buy real
estate now than when Manhattan " as
mostly farm land.
Only ten years ago there we're plenty
OF men, clever business men, too, Mo
IL a. -
estate could or would jump sny higher,
and yet they did jump. Similarly. the men
who nov think that real estate in the heart
OF Manhattan has reached top notch figures
are away of.
Fifth avenue Is destined TO be the great
tisuous TO that thoroughfare will share in
it's prosperity. The young ma who can
buy . lot In Manhattan 10 mighty lucky, FOR