The Washington herald., 1913-03-01

probably in for not only a protracted
wait before anything Ii realized out OF
the estate. but also for a very substan-
tial loss In the settlement Of the es-
tate There are GASES OF record In which
the estate Is doubled and tripled in value
during the period of settlement; but the
rule applies pretty well to real estate
holdings I'm sections that go through a.
normal period during the period Of set
tlement
The blundering and stupid way in which
the average layman buys real estate Is
a source OF constant wonder to the real
estate operators themselves. In thou
sands of eases particularly where prop
critics are extensively developed. men
buy haphazard in much the way they
would buy a newspaper or some other
thing that was to be thrown away pres
emily after having served fleeting pur-
pose.
A clerk handling the records of lot
sales In a suburban development on
Long Island made the statement that
out of forty-five people who bought lots
In a two-day campaign last summer. only
six read the essential papers and records
covering titles, &C. The other thirty
nine. although none of them had ever
had dealings with the company before.
Paid their money over I'm a casual way
and took the right OF the seller to de-
liver the lots for granted They also
took for granted, of course. that the lots
were free and clear OF Hens as repre-
sented. that taxes had been paid. and
that the other necessary preliminaries
of the sale had been accomplished.
Once in a long time, one encounters
case where fooishness of this sort
blunders into fortune. In the estate
of member Of the London Stock EX-
changer, who dropped dead a few years
ga -. las.,.I l. .e..N-
there was discovered a deed to eight
lots In a suburban section of Toronto,
Ontario. This deed had been passed over
by the assignee in bankruptcy of no
value. After his death, It turned out TO
be good enough to provide his widow
with a comfortable home in which to
live and with sufficient other property to
pay her an income of nearly $500 a
year in rentals. That was an accident.
Occasionally accidents happen in finance
that are favorable, but they are not
sufficiently frequent to make 1t worth
while taking chances on them.
As matter of fact, the buying of
real estate for an Investment is a.
business proposition. There is no other
form Of investment that will depreciate
so badly. IL IL is not properly looked
after. The very feeling of security
which it gives to the average buyer is in
itself source Of danger. Equities in
income producing properties, If they are
carefully managed and watched. and II
costs of administration are kept down by
all possible legitimate means. are a
perfectly legitimate business proposition.
They are not. however. the kind Of thing
that a man would want to pass on TO
his widow or his children. particularly
II the children are not Of an age to be
able to take actual charge of the prop
erty. Even very good properties OF this
sort, when they pass into second hands
like this are apt to prove very great
source OF trouble and care and to entail
upon their owners burdens of which the
buyer never dreamed. II is not at all an
unwise thing to provide by will. II one
has been in the habit Of owning this class
of investment. what Is to be disposed of.
and even to intimate the methods that
shall be followed for its disposal
4 great many investors in real estate
who look very wise during their lifetime,
have come to look very foolish long after
they are dead. The case Of the Brooklyn
man cited in this story is a case in point.
II has taken about six years to dissipats
all that ne had accumulated during a life
time and had invested in what he consid-
cred to be perfectly sound form of in
vestment.
Other Financial News on Opposite