The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1910-12-09


@VNW your boys life work, has it
e4 occurred to you that the
W W apparently we'll known real
estate business might be just the
thing?
But don't think for a moment that
all your boy would have to do after he
got started in this line of endeavor
would be to buy and sell lots; for,
though that is an important phase Of
the business, and one, to make high
success, requiring much ability. mod.
ern advancement has raised the real
estate business to such Importance as
to embrace the best efforts in large
number of distinct specialties. So in
this truly comprehensive occupation
will be found such variety of work
that, after he Is started in it, your boy
can develop his choice of several lines
of work, each of which may lead on
to a good sized competence, perhaps a
fortune.
There is no special preliminary edu-
cation that would be of particular
value to boy taking up real estate
for his lifework, and more than all the
general learning he can acquire. Even
the schools and colleges have not seen
fit to take up real estate as a branch
Of learning, all that is being done in
a direct educational way being few
courses taught by the Young Mems
Christian association in some of the
large cities, and few more or less
complete correspondence courses.
So boys only chance to learn the
business is to go right at it and get a
job with real estate Arm. OF course
the larger the firm, the greater variety
of opportunities he will have to ad.
vance, and some of them are great
enough to take him to the very top
of the profession.
His first job will be that of ordinary
Office youth at a salary of four or five
dollars a week, If the candidate should
be particularly young and inexperi
enced, or, if he has gone through high
school and can write and figure pretty
we'll, he might be put on at minor
clerkship at eight or ten dollars a
week, or even might start in as a
stenographer or typist.
Your boy, Of course, will wish to get
a general knowledge of the business
before he attempts to take up any par.
ticular line, and so he will likely 90
through some or all of the different
stages of filing clerk, record clerk, au
ditor's clerk, mortgage clerk, etc.
being promoted from time to time, till
after three to five years, he will be
getting SIS to SIS a week. He can
stick to the clerical end and become
chief clerk of one of the depart
ments at say as much as $35 weekly.
In the meantime, however, If he de.
sires to get out of the purely Office
end, he will be picking up pointers on
outside work, and, perhaps, be learning
how to sell and buy lots. There is
more in this than appears at first
thought, for the qualities that make
q successful book agent are not enough
to make q successful real estate sales
man.
To sell lots successfully, your boy
must know pretty mucn everything
that enters into a variety of things
that don't appear on the surface. He
must, for instance, have a good &C
quaintance with the general values OF
property in the neighbo-hood; the cost
of various obvious Improvements that
have to be made; the price of adjoin
Ing and nearby property; street i'm
provements and assessments; what
will be charged to make connections
with sewer and gas mains; the facili
ties and cost of the prospective owner
getting to his place of business; adj
vice as to the cost and difficulty OF
getting q mortgage on the property
etc., etc. In addition, he must have
the ability Of a salesman; for, granted
that he can furnish all these details
he still has to convince the caller that
the particular piece of property under
consideration is just the one he wants
and then your boy has to deal with the
6ClACA, WIZ Uoy OO Oh uANOAA ~ OAAAo
ing Individual.
A first class salesman, generally
speaking, will earn anywhere from
$4,000 up to $4,000 or more year in
commissions. Some become so prof
cient that they scorn all other lines OF
work and offers of salary and stick tc
selling real estate until they accumu
late the stake to retire on.
The other lines open to your boy
Well. almost every phase Of this bust
ness is a specially. He must know. all
the details about unimpro7ed property
This may be suburban lots, which it is
desired to acquire in big chunks for
the purpose of making improvements
and selling as improved property. Then
he has to know low to advertise and
make opportun: lies to unload the prop
erty after 1t is improved. He must
know the cost of building apartment
houses, and the attractive features OF
various modern improvements in such
dwellings so as to lure tenants to them
He must be student of the trend OF
traffic, so as to appraise Office build
1ngs and the value Of land adapted to
such purposes. Factory sites, trans
portation facilities. tenements, stores
boulevards, parks, small farms Tin.
Guiding the adaptability of the soil
for agricultural purposes), the trend
of population of various classes, the
probability of this particular section