The Washington herald., 1909-05-02


week has been quiet. sales running along
IN the stereotyped groove Of moderate
priced residences, lots in the suburbs, and
q few pieces Of business property. No
large deals have been reported, and the
business has gone quietly on with no
startling developments.
Investment in property Is continuous.
and most of the local brokers are busy
with deals such as those described. The
aggregate IS a considerable volume OF
business for each dealer, and the record
Of transfers figures up well from day
to day.
The extension OF building into the out
lying districts is the most interesting
feature OF the situation. In the suburban
territory as many as 200 houses are go
ing up. and now IN various stages Of
construction. The majority OF these are
sold before they are finished, and the
new purchaser moves in almost before
the plaster upon the walls is dried out
TEis Is true OF the house built for spec
ulative purposes, those built by COM
panies TO start a subdivision or the
more pretentious home erected for the
prospective purchaser Of larger means
Many Now Buying Homes.
This year the purchasers OF homes for
the occupancy Of their families is unusu-
ally large. Many families v-ho have lived
IN the city several years in reuted houses
are using their savings to get a roof
/ tree over head. Families also are con-
tinually coming 10 the city and locating
/ here. finding il delightful place OF resi-
I dence. These two classes afford the chief
clients Of the real estate man this year.
/ and among the sales reported more often
/ than otherwise appears the statement.
! The purchaser wiz occupy the property
/ as his home.
/ Investments in real estate for renting
/ purposes possibly constitutes one-hah %
I the transactions made this year Men
/ with money 20 invest find IL pays gOoo
/ dividends when put into houses IN
/ Washington for the past fifteen years
/ there has been so little idle property that
! hOuse-hunters have found il difficult many
times 10 obtain places IN which 20 live
( that suited them It has been the history
o. many a family that they have taken a
Z
) purposes and then have existed and
waited until they could buy or locate n
some house better suited 10 their desires.
4 good house. kept in decent condition.
( need not 20 without a goOd-psying tenant
F in Washington That Is a fact 50 wen
I understood that there is a constant
1 stream Of money from the outside com
/ ing into the city for investment In houses
+ that always earn their dividends.
Building Progresses Well.
I Building operations are going on very
rapidly this year For one thing. little
/ rain has fallen in the District since the
I passing Of the winter While much OF
/ the time the weather has beer cold. Il
! has been well suited 10 the work Of the
: contractors. and the rapidity with which
/ houses have been built in Washington
I this spring would seem miraculous, if Il
I did not happen all the while before the
/ eyes Of the observer
/ IN the northern section OF the city.
i where This method OF building goes on
( most vigorously. houses are already Occu-
+ pied that were started less than SIX
months ago. This feature Of the situation
/ enables the contractors ana fnanciers
1 alt f1Nh Nt.tttAtlAE tirlA caAtRliS ~ AErlthr
/ quickly upon their investments. and
money put into real estate ventures and
/ buildings bring returns with almost start
+ Ing pr0mptness in Washington
I In the business district a good deal Of
! Improvement is going on. This is al
most equally divided between COnstruc-
. ton from the ground up and Temodeling
+ or repair. Many old houses in the old
/ residence districts are having the ground
/ floors made over into business places aud
( the upper stories fashioned into apart
ments. improvements Of this kind are
( generally thorough. amounting almost 70
/ the complete rebuilding OF the structure
{ except the side walls and the roof.
Many OF these structures are exceedingly
( convenient and comfortable when finished.
and the owner naturally gets a much
( larger rental after such Improvements.
+ Through methods such as these the bust
ness district is constantly widening. and
the multiplication Of small business places
{ IS quite as large a feature OF the growth
Of Washington this year as the exten-
T sion OF the city by the addition Of new
/ homes in the outlying territory