The San Francisco call., 1906-10-13
High Insurance and
Exorbitant Rentals
Take Profits.

QAO L lOlllOs
Retail merchants are not in the best
confronted by two evils and neither can
be said to be worse than the other.
One evil is the high insurance in the
unburned area and the other is the high
rental IN the burned district They have
no hope for consideration at the hands
of the insurance men, and all they can
rely on is that the owners of property
in the burned district will. as they put
1t, come to their senses and ask rea-
sonable rentals"
The situation is far from being pleas
ant The retail dealers on Van Ness
avenue claim they are being made to
pay an exorbitant insurance, entirely
out OF all proportion. and the insurance
men on the other hand say that they
are compelled to charge. at the rate of
10 per cent because the fire risk is
great on Van Ness avenue.
An instance is quoted of a prominent
dry goods man conducting an estab-
nshment on Van Ness avenue who
during the week received an impor-
tation worth 100000 and placed the in
suring of these goods IN the hands of
his regular insurance broker. The bro
ker reported that the very best he could
do was to get rate of 10 per cent. This
means that men who are doing busi-
ness on the avenue will be compelled
TO come down town.
There is a movement on foot among
the merchants on Van Ness avenue to
locate in the burned district" said a
prominent merchant, which is due en-
tirely to the fact that we are charged
q too high insurance rate. Some of the
merchants who have two-year leases
are congratulating themselves that
they are not tied up for longer terms.
They would go down town even before
the expiration of their leases IL the
down town property owners would re-
duce rentals for the first two or three
years.
When we remonetrate with the In
surance people we are told by them
that they have covered as much insur-
ance as they possibly can in the un-
burned district, owing to the construc-
tion of the buildings. which are of
wood and infiammable. On the other
hand the insurance IN the down town
district is low"
MUST COME DOWN TOWN.
On the shoulders of the down town
property owners rests the responsible
ity of the building up of the city. With
in the last few days the demand has
grown insistent that rentals and prices
must be reduced If anything is to be
accomplished. A real estate man whose
name carries weight declares that un-
less there was a material reduction
not pay more for land now than before
the fire.
The fact that many owners are anx-
ious to sell but are unwilling to build
is not a warrant for the holding
up Of prices, and. what is worse.
they are asking higher price
than they did before the confiagration.
Owners, many real estate men say.
must get down to business. At the
prices they are asking they cannot ex-
pect the Eastern investor. who is ready
TO buy, to invest here. These men are
well posted on values and when they
are confronted with real estate owner
who asks more for his land than he
did a year ago they drop all idea of
purchasing.
1t is claimed that a syndicate offered
a real estate owner s1,250,0O0 for a
piece of downtown property. and the
offer was turned down. as the owner
said he would not think of selling for
less than s1.750,o00. The project was
dropped at once. Another owner was
offered s750,000, and held out for a
This is not business" said a dealer
1T means that property owners are
continuing to uphold an unnatural con-
dition of affairs. At first all values
were exaggerated. High figures were
given in rental because there were few
places to rent, but now all is changing.
and we are travelling rapidly toward
normal conditions, and real estate own
ers must realize this if they want
business to keep up"
TAXES WILL REGULATE OWNERS.
1t is asserted that the payment of
taxes will do much toward bringing
down the ideas of real estate owners,
and that with the payment Of the first
installment will come the desire to be
reasonable. If this is the case there
viii be a big number of investments
made, as it is reported that there are a
number of Eastern men who have their
agents here ready to buy. Notwith-
standing the fact that sales have been
slow owing to high prices. Speck &
Co. report sales amounting to $685.
600 during the last week.
There is still big demand for small
lots, and @. H. Umbsen & Co. report
that there has been no falling off in the
inquiry for cottages in the Mission and
lots in the Glen Park tract and in the
Richmond District. A member of the
firm said that last Sunday he sold
eighteen lots at Glen Park before 10
a. m. and the prices were from $3.50
to $3.50.
In the Richmond District, on Twen-
ty-third avenue, twelve lots were sold
last Sunday at $3.50 each, while the two
corner lots brought $1,000
The same firm sold several lots on
Jersey street near Twenty eighth, for
the Hfbernia Bank at the rate of
$1,000, one-ifth cash and the balance in
monthly payments at per cent.
The property owners of the Mission.
and also of the Richmond District, as
sert that property values in their sec
tions are leaping. In the Richmond
District the owners assert that all
values have gone up, but they do not
view with anything like favor the. erec-
tion of the relief cottages on Four
teenth avenue and California street.
There Is still considerable specula-
tion as to what will be the ultimate
fate of the plat on which stood the
Russ House. The lot is pretty well
cleaned up, but as yet it is not known