Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-13


sary for people to come to this city
either to learn about the opportunities for
the investment Of money in real estate
or actually to make such an investment.
1t can all be done by mail. Through cir
cuars and advertisements in the local
newspapers throughout the country lne
attention of the public is called to build
ing sites and to lots in subdivisions in
the vicinity of the city.
Considerable areas OF land have been
disposed of in this way. But the houses
that have been put up have been from
the money furnished by men who live
here and who have invested in building
sites for the purpose of providing homes
for themselves and their families. For
the most part the other buyers have taken
the property mainly as a speculation,
trusting that in the appreciation of values
they would be able to turn over the lots
at a good profit.
improvements Move Rapidly.
In proportion to the entire amount OF
land that has been laid out In building
lots in and near this city, there is d
surprisingly small amount marketed in
this fashion, or else If this occurred in the
first instance. the ground has passed into
other hands and the work of improvement
has set in. There are but few instances
OF properties which are today mere
stretches of commons showing the faint
marks of streets that have been fur
rowed out by the plough some time be-
fore when the acreage land was turned
into building lots.
The rule has prevailed here. with al
most no exceptions, that actual settle
ment has followed closely on the wake
OF any land movement AS soon as the
lots were ready for house building s,,cll
improvements have been made, and while
In some cases building operations have
halted and stopped, or gone on with snail
pace. still there has always been in these
SUBDIVISIONS, as they are called, evidences
from the outset that they were intended
to provide home sites, and concrete eX-
amples are not wanting Of the kind and
style OF house suited to the neighborhood
But Few Failures.
The spectacle of unimproved land that
has once been under the plow and the
shovel of the maker of suburban sub
divisions, showing after an interval of
years no signs Of a house. and, what is
worse, showing all the dispiriting condi-
tons of an enterprise that started out
TO accomplish something and halted be-
fore 1T had achieved is not a common
one In this locality
The market here has been so good that
1t has not been necessary TO go far
at1eld in search OF customers. The in
stances where subdivisions have been
merely exploited are easily distinguish
ed. Such are cases where the lots are
i'll the hands OF out-of-town owners. who
nave no interest in the property except
to sell the lots they have and get back
as much of their money as is possible.
1T has also happened that the advance
of the city has come up to the property,
and the demand has been such that the
mere speculative holders among the
property owners have been displaced by
actual builders. so that at last the local
lty begins to take on the prosperous ap-
pearance that originally existed mainly
i'm the magma tons of those who sold
the lots in the first instance.
Confidence in the Future.
An important consideration that makes
the market here attractive to outsiders
is the widespread confidence which ap-
parently exists in this country relative
to the future of this city. OF course
some might be inclined 10 Sneer at the
judgment of those who are attracted by
proposition to buy lot for a couple
of hundred dollars on the inStallment
plan of one dollar down and one dollar
per month until paid. While that has
been the general style of some schemes
of this character at the same time men
syndicate operations here by buying up
tracts Of land of greater or less size and
for the purpose Of retailing them out,
and also in some cases of making i'm
provementS.
To float a scheme of the latter sort it
is, of course, necessary to convince those
who put in their cash that there is
cource alone. At the same time such a
conclusion can only be reached by show
ing the condition of the market here and
the need for additional building sites as
we'll as for more houses. In other words,
the growth of the city must be dem
onstrated. as well as the prospect of the
future in this particular. The grounds
for faith in this city are most easily
shown by visit so promoters of en-
terprises OF this character say.
City and Country.
Then it is pointed out that the advance
ment OF the city to a large extent has
kept progress in the past and will con-
tinue in the future with that of the ma
ton. As the country grows so the city
will grow is a favorite saying, and is
one that rests on experience as well as
COOL Judgment 1t is also a truth that