Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-19
WOMEN REAL ESTATE AGENTS
Their Work Chiefly Selling Suburban
Property.
SOME VIEWS OF EMPLOYERS
Dealers Agree that Il IL Not Easy TO
Find Women with Perseverance
and TRct-TwO who Make
six Thousand a Year.

and Tact-TwO who Make
Six Thousand a Year.
NEW YORK. Sept. 1S.-The recent open
ing Of river tunnels and bridges has In
creased woman's chances Of making a Nv
ing in the real estate business. Until re-
Gently these chances we're pretty slim.
They are slim now where city property is
concerned. Perhaps in no other occupation
has woman found it so difficult to get a
footing.
one of the exceptions is a woman who,
falling a chance to make a beginning with
an established real estate firm. started in
business for herself in a small way nearly
a decade ago and today is successfully es-
tablished in quarters near Fifth avenue.
This woman declared that unless a woman
can afford TO start in busines for herself
the chances for getting a foothold in New
York are slim indeed.
ITO be quite fair" she continued, per
haps real estate men have discovered what
l myself know, that in this work women
have less stick-at-it-ness than men. that
the most enthusiastic candidates at the
start are often the most easily discouraged.
Also they may have found that women
more than men object to doing exactly as
they are told, believing that they ought to
be allowed to work out original IDEAS with
out interference. and most women trying
this work believe that they have original
ideas and that they ought to be patted on
the back because Of them.
Women lay wonderful stress on an abil-
ity to talk fluently, supposing they have
that ability. Nearly always the first thing
applicants tell me is, I'm a good talker,'
and every time / make 1t clear that In my
opinion hard workers rather than good
takers are the more likely to succeed In
this business and that the loudest cheep
doesn't always mean the biggest bird
But these faults are not universal in
women who want to enter the real estate
business. and my experience has been that
the right sort Of woman, given the chance,
is more than ordinarily successful. Maybe
the right sort Of women are not plentiful.
1t is certain that so far in New York the
chances for women to make a living In the
real estate business have been anything but
plentiful. In the suburbs, though, the
woman real estate dealer is now almost
numerous compared with what she was ten
years ago, and to my own knowledge there
are two who keep their men rivals h%ustling
to get anything like AZ equal share of the
towns business.
Then in the last two or three years
women have had a chance to sell country
property-some women have been urged to
do 1t in ~faot-showing that some valua-
ton at least is put on woman's ability to
handle real state"
The manager Of the sales department
Of a firm selling country estate property
said that since the suburbs and the city
had haan hrouUht into clOaar fn,,oh hu a.
to-date transportation facilities there had
been more or less demand for saleswomen.
There would be more demand, he thought.
sort. Said he>
whether she shall take her place in the
real estate business with the same success
as she has taken 1t In other lines of bust
ness and in the professions. One thing is
certain-no one is putting obstacles in her
way when it comes to handling country
real estate. There is no prejudice there to
combat, whatever may be the case In
Manhattan.
But you are aware" he continued,
that to get women with good usine
instinct and some selling ability is far
from easy. Not long ago, to Illustrate, we
advertised for a saleswoman to work on
commission, and we had about thirty APP
~plicants, not one OF whom would, in my
opinion, be OF any use to us. There was
no use in letting any one Of them begin
and work weeks, undergoing all sorts OF
discouragements, to no purpose. AS l re-
member. every one of the thirty was thor
oughly respectable and Of fair education
Some we're eccentric In dress and man.
ners. Others had an irresponsible man.
ner not calculated TO inspire confidence
One or two were too ornate in appearance
to coincide with so dignlfied an occupa-
ton.
Two of the best sales made by us last
month were put through by two women
not regularly in our employ, who are
in fact for a commercial re-
tail house where they come in contact
with a good many moneyed men. Each
discovered that a customer wished to set
tie In the country. When finally these
clever saleswoman came to me, each with
a purchaser of considerable wealth In tow
there was nothing left. to be done but
make out the deeds and hand out the
saleswomen's commissions, which footed
up more than their yearly salary. Business
women Of that sort are beginning to flint
out what chances there now are fol
women in selling country property.
The head OF another concern which IL
developing Hudson river property wher
asked II he employed women, answered
that three were now included in his fore,
Of agents and that one OF them brought
In more business than did any one man IT
tho place. mot only is this woman g
good saleswoman, but she can put through
a deal without help, attending to all the
legal technicalities before a notary and at
torney with the most painstaking thor
oughness.
What sort Of a person is she and how
did she learn the business so well in 4
few years?' repeated the manager. Her,
she comes. Judge for yourself"
The woman was quietly dressed ant
quiet of manner She was almost alarmed
at the idea Of attracting public attention
by anything she might say or do.
II DC not think" she began. thought
fully, when asked for the secret of he,
success, that in this work a former bust
ness experience is altogether necessary
In my own case l had been employed b,
a piano firm for fifteen years before