The Washington herald., 1910-06-12
Manner of Reaching that
End Briefly Told.
REAL ESTATE AGENT USEFUL
How Purchaser should Proceed to
Protect His sInterests and Save
Time and WOrry-what Termr lie
Can Make-wisdOm of Owning an
Abiding Place.
BY j. CLINTON RANSOM.

/
buying a house. He said he had about
Sl,O00 in the savings bank and that he
had decided TO buy a house and make a
permanent home for his family. With
some show of anxiety he requested in
! formation regarding the way to proceed
safely and economically to realize his
desire
1t may be that others OF the Washing
ton Herald readers are more or less in
the fog about the ways and means of
making their first excursions into the
real estate field. and il is specially for
| them that this article Is written.
In the first place there are two ways
Of buying property-one to pay for It en-
/ tirely and take a clear title. and the
other 10 buy under deed of trust pay
! ing part cash and the balance by IN
stallment The plan OF late so much in
vogue in Washington of paying down
/ 500 and the price of the rental monthly,
which IS credited to the remaining debt,
! comes under the irstallment plan as here
| understood. In any instance under the
/ part payment plan, though the buyer
/ take a deed. his title is not clear until
/ the deed OF trust is satisfied and re-
leased upon the property records.
How to Find n House.
Having the requisite money to buy the
property or 10 make a first payment.
the next step is 10 find the property
desired. This may be done by looking
about among new houses or those adj
vertised for sale until the desirable one
shall be found The prospective buyer
may apply directly TO a reliable real es-
tate agency and there begin the negotla-
tons for the purchase. This IS many
times the better way, as the real estate
firm viii provide means Of conveyance
and take the prospective buyer 10 visit
many or Ell the pieces Of property listed
with that firm. Generally the field man
VIII see 70 1t that the buyer does not
see any other
To the novice the appeal TO the real
estate man is usually the better way. He
viii be given opportunity TO see q variety
of houses without cost 20 himself. He
VIII be given the advice Of the heads Of
the firm, and the detail OF making the
purchase, drawing the deed and trust
papers, their record. insurance OF title
and their final record VIII be looked after
without any care on the part of the pur-
chaser. In each well equipped real estate
Office the machinery for doing all this
is provided
May Employ an Attorney.
The only other safe course TO pursue,
after deciding upon the piece Of property
20 purchase would be to put the matter in
the hands OF an attorney, as the ques-
ton Of title. especially in the District OF
Columbia, should not be left to chance.
The search of a title by one unacous-
toned to such labor becomes a rather
formidable task.
As between the cost Of buying through !
the office Of a real estate firm or in |
dependently through a hired attorney !
would perhaps not be material. though |
it would probably favor the real estate |
Office.
In case the purchase Is made through |
a real estate Office the purchaser upon |
agreeing to take the property pays a /
small amount. usual 800. as deposit |
on the property. and receives a receipt |
setting forth the nature OF the transac-
ton. This deposit is in the nature OF |
a guarantee of good faith and when the |
negotiations are finished It is credited as
part of the first payment
When Papers Are Signed.
Sometime later the purchaser will be
Informed that the conveyance papers are
ready 10 sign and then the first payment
on the property is handed over. for which /
the purchaser receives proper receipts. |
The papers in the transaction then go /
to the Office of the recorder OF deeds TO be
recorded. The papers should contain a /
deed for the property. the trust papers
in which are set down all the conditions
Of payment and otherwise under which /
the property Is purchased. An insurance
policy covering the period of the trust
should accompany the package. a tax
certificate showing the payment of all
obligations al the District Building to the
date Of purchase, and an insurance Of
the title from title company.
According TO the cost of the property
the fees for all this should include the
premium on the fire insurance, the fee
for the insurance of title, and the cost
of registration Of papers. To this is
sometimes added a fee by the real estate
Office for drawing and executing the
papers. The commission TO the real
estatefirm should be paid by the seller
OF the property, and not by the pur-
chaser.
Terms of the Purchase.
AS to terms Of purchase a difference
will ensue according TO the cost OF the
property. the amount Of the first pay
ment and the form in which the pur-
chaser elects TO make payments under
the trust. The advantage of having a
substantial amount to pay down on the
property comes in here by way OF Civ
ing the purchaser q better chance to dc
tate terms We will suppose that
house and lot worth 5000 TO 5000 is 10
be bought. If the purchaser has one
third Of the purchase price TO pay down
and IS able to pay say 5000 TO $1,000 an
nually upon the trust, he can usually
elect to make monthly payments. quar-
terly payments or the whole annually.
The advantage of the more frequent nav
ments is 10 stop interest as fast as
possible.
A very frequent plan is for the pur-
chaser to pay a stipulated sum each
month. in which case the notes are so
drawn as 10 cover either the interest
on the whole trust for the month or for
the single payment to the time OF maxi
ing II. In the latter case interest on the
main trust would be paid semi-annually
On the amount due at the time of pay
nent.
a common way OF handling the deferred
payments on property is TO obtain the
oan on the property from a building and
oan association, making payments on
principle and interest weekly or monthly
lntil the debt is discharged. II
May Divide the Trust. |
In cases where the original owner Of I
he property ar some financial insttu- I
ion holds the trusts. It is usual to divide !
he deferred payments snso a first and i,
second frS1sS.+ Tar a farm AZ nfo.rf 49,. / :