Omaha daily bee., 1917-12-30
Business District
Has Many New Buildings Added to Its Large Quota
DODGE COMP ANY IN
SEvENTY-SEVEN CITIES
U. S. FOLLOWS WEEKLY
PAYMENT PLAN

The large volume OF Uncle oalh
sales of $50 bonds and thrift stamps
on weekly payments shows that when
real value is offered in small units,
at a price within the reach of all,
success is assured.
SIT was just few years ago" says
N. P. Dodge, "that real estate men
laughed at the proposition to sell lots
at 81 down and 80 cents a week.
Today the government is following
the same plan in selling bonds and
thrift stamps. Woolworth has also
shown that the small unit price
builds a large volume of successful
business.
"Hugh Fullerton says that the
breaks in base ball have their coun-
;erparts in the careers Of business
men. The break in my business ca
reer came on a hot August morning
when I was sitting in my office on
the ground floor fo The Bee building
looking at map. John L. McCague
stuck his head in the door and asked:
What are you doing" / replied:
Looking at snap why don't you
buy it?' Haven't the money said /.
What will it take to tie it up? Five
hundred dollars We'll, l have $3.50
you can loses' Within ten minutes l
was in Father Kelly's office with
$500 to pay down on the Toner farm
on @ street in South Omaha. / have
often felt grateful to Father Kelly
for selling me that farm. With the
financial assistance of John F. Flack,
we organized a company and develop
ed the Homestead property. Mr..
Flack took the lead and did most Of
the work and in September we sold
976 lots inside Of week.
"That was incentive enough for
me to forget the brokerage business
and look for another Homestead 1t
was two years before I finally closed
on the purchase Of 100 acres between
Dundee and Benson, known as Morn
ingside.' 1t was owned by nonresi-
dent estate, but patience and hard
work bought the land. That was the
first addition we put on alone. We
sold 936 lots in about three days and
nights. The following week we sold
our first addition outside of Omaha,
when we put on our Sioux City prop
erty. Strange as it may seem, al
though for eight years we have done
little else than plat and sell additions,
we have never sold more lots in less
tmie than our first two sales in
Omaha and Sioux City. Today, we
have sold and scheduled for sale in
1918 eighty-seven different additions
in seventy-seven cities. y
eve have learned from experience
many truths not Of common know
ledge in the real estate business. Cen
orally speaking, Prosperity is mere
Iy a local condition; one city will be
dead because its local industries are
quiet, or nearby crops destroyed,
while another city is booming. For
instance, in Oklahoma today the agri-
cultural market towns are dead from
drought and have never recovered
from the boom of fifteen years ago.
On the other hand, the oil cities are
remarkably prosperous and places
like Bartlesville, Tulsa and Okmulgee
have had a marvellous growth. This
year the cotton cities in northeast
Texas broke all records for cash in
hand among farmers and the colored
"We have about $4,000 lots in our
additions. The weekly payments are,
with few exceptions, quite steady un-
less there is shutting off Of wages
in the community. The war has given
the wage Garner better salaries and
steady employment. AS a consequence
our payments are kept up very we'll.
"We sell only properties posses
sing real value and our average price
for lots ranges from 500 to $500.
Through experience we have built up
a system of advertising and selling
that has been remarkably successful.
We believe that specializing in sub
division work has an unlimited
future if it is conservatively managed
and good judgment is shown in TAX
ing contracts or investments.