Los Angeles herald., 1908-11-15
FIELD FOR TAKERS
DlMINlSHES DAILY
ORGANIZATION OF AGENTS AS
SURES INVESTORS
Los Angeles, the Real Estate Clearing
House of California, Is Mecca
for Land Thieves and
ScaVengers
BY HERBERT BURDETT

preferable TO investment anywhere
else, the first consideration is the
safety of the investment. 1 propose to
show why the real estate agent is
an important and positively necessary /
factor in a real estate investment, /
small or large. And subsequently IN /
der different headings I Will briefly .
state what in my opinion are the ,
prominent features, respectively, Of !
investment property and residence I
property in Los Angeles, and last, but |
by no means least, farm lands and /
orchards, not only in Southern Cali /
fornia but in the state at large.
Presumably most investments viii
be made through real estate agents in |
one form or another.
The essential thing about a piece of
land is the title. When you pay over
your money for its purchase do you
get perfect title? In another column
/ will explain why the element Of
title safety is present in California in
an exceptionally high degree.
Nearly all investors viii admit that
expert advice is a necessity in the
matter of titles. But who is to ad-
wise as to the competency Of the til
tie expert? And before the title is
searched or seriously considered in a
deal the property must be examined,
the assertions Of the owner as to its
advantages and the conditions at
tached to it must be verified and a
number of details must be gone into
before the value can be even ap-
proximated.
Expert Advice Is Necessary
The foregoing all necessitates ex-
pert advice and the competency and
integrity of the expert employed
should be, like the title itself, the best
IL
matters are real estate agents. The
only way to be sure that a real estate
agent is competent and a man of high
integrity is to deal with members of
such organizations as California State
Realty federation, of which Los An
geles Realty board and the other city
real estate bodies Of high standing
are component parts.
1t used to be thought, or assumed
by a majority of people, that anyone
could be a real estate agent. In le-
gal sense, unfortunately, at present
that is true. But the business Of deal
ing In real estate is not only Of the
utmost Importance, but is a complex
business, one abounding in technicali-
ties; and to be a first class real estate
agent is to be a man of varied skill
of education, Of high intelligence
having experience and knowledge OF
and of excellent judgment. Above all
the real estate agent should be man
Of honor in the highest sense of that
term. For to him is entrusted almost
daily the future of a family; UPON
him falls the duty of guarding the
interests of the widow and the or
phan, the ignorant and the trusting
It is comparatively easy for him tC
delude or deceive, for a while, the
credulous, those unversed in business
methods and in many cases even peo-
pie of ability and knowledge in Other
lines Of work.
ScoundreIs Cause Suffering
In the absence of legal restrictions o.
examinations as to the fitness Of thosi
engaging in the business, the real es
tate men, in common with the public
have suffered from practices Of scoun
drels who have taken advantage o
those who trusted them, who hav
preyed upon the defenseless; and ais
from the ignorance of unfit persons VIII
have entered the business withou
qualifications or equipment And be
tween these two classes the term rea
estate agent became in the minds 0
the unrehecting and indiscriminatine
almost synonymous with that of rob
Der.
Goaded by the contempt directe,
toward them as a class, suffering il
pocket by the general diminution 0
business resulting from the dishonest
Of competitors, the better agents i
California followed the example Of thei
fellows in the east and within the pas
six or seven years they have organize
all over the state, in nearly all case
rigidly excluding from their member
ship agents Of bad repute. Since tn
formation OF Los Angeles Realty boar
in 1903, and of similar bodies in otht
cities a little later, the standard of tt
entire business has been raised at lea
100 per cent. The organization Of II
seven leading local bodies into a sta
federation, which includes individu
members in most Of the smaller citii
and towns, occurred IN 1905. Rig
scrutiny Of applicants for membershi
rules requiring submission to an arb
tration and grievance committee Of di
| ferences or complaints against agent
with severe penalties provided for Il
offending. have made It possible Z
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