New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-08-18
Topics of Discussion
Relating to Various
Features Of the
Market.

The duty 81 a broker toward his clients
is once again one of the principal topics
@. discussion I'm real estate circles. There
seems to he considerable doubt az /"
whose interests he should most carefully
safeguard
The broker usually first represents the
owner OF the property. and consequently
many people think he should work harder
for the seller than Cor the buyer. But
under all circumstances he should avoid
making misstatcmeuts 20 buyers. In other
words. while protecting the interests OF
the seller. he should do everything posi-
BILE to help the buyer successfully carry
out his plans regarding the property.
one OF the cardinal rules OF the realty
business is: Never offer q property Tor
sale or lease unless you know us worth
The broker who offers property Tor SAFE
without examining It and determining
whether or not the description as FUR
nLshed TO him by the owner Is correct 10
not hurting the prospective buyers In
terests as much as his own.
No one who is I'm the brokerage or
agency business can ever know too much
about real estate. OF course, II IL not
possible for u broker 70 inspect all the
properties which ne offers for sale but
81 he really seeks 10 DO valuable service
he must know tho weak ana strong
poipts Of what he considers are the cholc-
est offerings of his list.
The smoothest road TO success In the
realty market is marked Dy specialization
II the majority OF brokers have not the
time 10 note the physical characteristics
Of most of the growing sections OF the
greater city. their general knowledge or
values is based on reports, ana not on
actual sales.
How valueless TO buyers are the Views
Of brokers whose business activity covers
the entire island OF Manhattan was emo" i
some yoars ago when big builder asheu
a number of these brokers If a certain
site could be proftably used Tor ONCE
purposes and TO submit to him their hs-
urcs on the probable cost of the improve
ment
An had . true gauge OF the past ana
prevailing front foot prices for plots IN
the section They also were able to learn
quickly the average cost OF the erection
of buildings similar TO that proposed LOT
the site. But when their figures for tue
necessary excavation work were scrutin-
ized bv the builder he saw at once that
this feature of appraisement work had
received scaut attention from them. ono
estimate was s3j0,QoO, another S2'ooW, sun
another 100000, and even one report SAID
that $4,000 would be rather high price
for the proposed task.
The actual cos OF the 1OO was $Ji6|J.
IL IS not likely that the builder VIII ever
again seek the advice OF euch appraisers
Realty men are continually talking
shop. Naturally. the average owner crit
clses the agent ana vice versa. At al
most regular periods Of the year the land
lords arc charged with sellishness and
with being serious obstacles in the paths
of realty progress And at other times
the most nauseating faults OF living CON
ditlons in old New York are laid ut the
door Of agents.
But absentee landlordism Is held for
most of the intolerable neighboGnoOd
nu,saIsns in the past, and q large num-
bier OF cae present by james III. Collins
the author. Tic has lllucH 10 say dppu'
absentee landlordism In recent issue OF
"The Saturday Evening Post"
Within the last two years new electric
lamps have come widely into use. giving
better Hight for half the current says
Mr.. Collins In his article. ''ln many
places. however, the observing central
station man will find New Workers cling
ing to costly old lamps
YES. 20 know the new lamps would
give us more light and cut down the bills
SURE says the tenant, hut we get our
current from our landlord. IL We cat
down the bills the agent would raise thu
rent"
The absentee landlord. through his Jaw
yer Is making the electric current with
little plant-perhaps ten years old-.n
the basement Each year the general
public is provided with modern devices.
Each year the landlords little plant
grows more. antiquated and hopeless.
But he is a New York landlord and
persists in running his footrace with