The Washington herald., 1922-09-30
Essays Depict Reasons
Why Home-Seekers
Should Buy Now.
l,zOO PUPILS ENTER
Fifteen Year-Old Boy Pens
Clever Writings. Wins
Prize.
By THE NATIONAL REAL ESTATE
JOURNAL.

.Neh 6Seate 6oaru recently con-
iucted an essay contest among the
students OF the Chester High School,
giving as the subject, why Should
own My Home, and How 1 May Ac-
quire One" The faculty of the
school, believing the subject to he
one OF unusual value to the pupils,
TOOK the matter up and designated
the subject as that also for the
: usual spring term essays.
As result there were over 1900
entrants in the contest. The teach
ers of the English department first
judged all Of the essays submitted,
ard the. six which they deemed best
were then turned over to the judges
The judges were three bankers of
the city. aot members of the Chester
Real Estate Board. Cash prizes OF
$50. $40 and IS pere awarded for the
three best essays.
The Chester newspapers gave con-
siderable publicity to the contest
ana published the winning essays
in full Seymour Adelman. 15-year-
old son of S. H Adelman, a we'll
known Realtor Of Chester, proved
the winner of the contest and was
presented with the $50 prize. His
essay Is as IOllOWS.
"why You should Own Your Home,
and Means of Acquiring It.,
Home! Recently an article ap-
peared in the American Magazine
entitled, TT Takes a Heap o. LIvin'
In a House to Make It home Writ
ten, as IL was. by Edgar A. Guest.
the famous American poet Of home
life. We may believe his statement
Suest described the time he lived IN
IN apartment. a rented house and a
some- He owned the home A vast
Inference lay between the three.
You could feel the drabness of rhs
apartment, the on't-give-a-conti-
mental air of the rented house and
he happy atmosphere of the homo.
Reasons for owing your homer
They are so numerous that II would
almost take an adding machine to
make an accurate count. However,
we'll place a few of the most i'm
portant into three classes-namely,
financial. social and civic. Each d.
vision shows the advantages of
owning your home. in its own
sphere.
In these days of high finance we
may as well discuss the financial
side Of the question first. A reason
that would. most likely. give 4
great number of tenants pleasure.
is the elimination of rents. A deed
of ownership looks much better
than a stack of rent receipts. Some
pessimist may say. Don't forget
taxes" All right. But We have yet
to see the landlord who pays out
more money in taxes than he re-
Ceives in rent.
Then. again. the possibility of
your property greatly increasing In
value is ever present. Probably the
most sheepish expression a man
can have is when he tells friend
wife that the home he contem-
plated purchasing has gone up far
beyond the price he might have
bought II for. Real estate, as an
investment. is comparable to the
United States Liberty Bonds-none
better
The landlord stands supreme In
his domain, the rented house The
rent may go up at any time. even
IL your salary doesn't. Then it's a
case of either paying the increase
or being placed in the delightful
position of looking for another
house.
Remember that the sudden or
desperate need of money demands
immediate action. The home. like
a faithful friend. stands ready to
offer itself as security. Remember
also that II expects no favors in re-
turn. Up. S.-But perhaps a little
paint would brush it up a bit)
Now. we come to the part that
every good citizen should be inter-
ested in: the civic side. Is a prop
erty owner held In higher estimation
than one who isn't? Become one
and see.
Suppose you had never before
taken any interest in voting. How
ever. an ordinance is placed on the
polls to determine whether the
street on which your home is situ-
ated shall have a certain improve
ment Are you going to vote now?
Home-owners are personally inter
ested in law and order. Happy and
contented. they have no reason to
agitate trouble.
"I would like TO buy q home
you may say. but I haven't quite
However. there are so many differ
a
easy terms that anyone who really
wants one can buy II.
Building and Loan Associations
are deservedly popular. They are
able to loan more on real estate than
banks, and are equipped to give
helpful service to the prospective
home-owner. After borrowing a
certain part of the purchase price
from the association. you can pay 1t
back easily in weekly payments, in
stead Of large sum several times a
year.
OF course. a mortgage may be
placed on the home Usually a
mortgage carries heavy interest.
which must be paid on definite
dates To remedy this. another type
of mortgage. known as the limited,
Is now used rather extensively. The
feature of il is this: instead of pay
ing the interest on the mortgage
once or twice a year. it may be paid
off weekly or monthly. As the prin-
cipal becomes less. so does the in
terest- minute of arithmetic will
show how great the saving is. 1t
is a fine cure for tired eyes to see
how quickly the principal goes and
the home comes nearer. In many
instances the home may be paid of
to suit you A set sum is paid down;
then the rest, in almost the same
way as rent, plus a few carrying
charges. The little difference means
owning the home at the end of a
few years.
According to these reasons, IL
seems desirable to own your home.
But to be really convinced the best
way is To try, and buy. and find out