The Washington herald., 1920-10-24

trouble in our city is that people
have not been educated in high
rents. Rents have only increaSd
on an average OF 40 per cent while
building material has increased 200
per cent"
One of the realtors who is going
ahead Is Charles b. Hays, Kalama-
zoo. Mr.. Hays writes: II have been
in the real estate business for thir-
ty-three years. ] have built some
thing over 1000 houses in this city.
From August, 1914, until this year
practically no houses were built in
Kalamazoo, other than a few high
class residences for individual own
ers. However, the Kalamazoo Land
Company, of which l am president.
purchased 627 lots in the fore part
of this year, investing 100000 for
the purpose of building houses to
supply the demand for additional
homes for wage earners. We now
have so in course of erection They
will range in price from $500 to
$500. We plan to build an addi-
tional 240 by the close of the COM
ing year, subject entirely to the
needs of the city and the actual
demand"
Valuable Facts Learned.
To the third question, will your
own forces build them?" there have
been received 116 replies. OF these,
thirty sublet or place contracts for
the buildings and sixty-six do the
actual construction work them
selves with organized working
forces.
The replies on buying materials
are even more favorable. Out of 1876
replies received. 118 buy their ma
terials and fifteen do not. indicat-
ing that some who sublet contracts
for building nevertheless direct the
purchase of materials.
The replies received from this
questionnaire must beregarded as
highly Illuminating and important.
In the FIRST place it includes com
paratively few cities and probably
for none of these cities are the re-
turns anything like complete. And
yet this questionnaire. illustrative
as it is, returns totals of over $500
houses a year. with a cost of per-
hapss 1912, 500, 900.
An interesting summary of the
construction situation. SO far as it
relates to the real estate man, was
made by Harold Jungck, Portland.
Ore, secretary of the International
Realty Associates. Mr.. Jungck
said:
I'VE arc glad to reply to your
QUESTIONABLE for the reason that it
is the writer's absolute belief that
the existing conditions of the rea-
estate market have thrown upon
the realtor greater responsibility.
In the past he has had only to mark
OF lots and then sell them.
Later he cut streets through
rather roughly before selling the
plots. Still later he found 1t neces-
sary and to his advantage 10 pave
the streets and plant trees and lay
the sidewalks.
been carried one step farther and
now must not only lay the property
out along beautiful landscape lines,
pave the streets, lay the sidewalks,
seed the parkings and plant trees,
but must also build the house aud
have prepared for the prospect the
finished product, "a complete home.
whether it be workingman's cot
tage or a business mans mansion
In other words the constant Sc
ries of hesitations that the pros
pective buyer goes through. in first
the selection OF location: second.
making plans; third. letting of con-
tract: and fourth, actually building.
are so many and so serious that he
does neither. and in the end, when
he has no PLACE to go, he is ready
to buy the home than an expert has
already provided for him and that
expert is none other than the pres
ent day expert realtor."