The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-29
MADE FORTUNE
 SELLING FARMS ---.a ..-.- < x TOCITY PEOPLE
, Says Natural Instinct ras Turns Mans Mind
 Toward Country

v 1.-the city. When city apartment-dwell- CTS feel cramped in their limited quar- ! ters and find that the economic strug- gle has become too much for them, "a place in the country" becomes their dream.
 Consequently there are thousands of farms all over the country left vacant yearly. And there are thousands of city folks looking for nice comforta- ble place with some cattle, perhaps, and room to raise some vegetables.
 How can they get together? Edwin A. Strout answers this question. He is the real estate middleman between the farmer who wants to sell and the city man who wants to buy.
 An understanding of mans natural in- stincts and knowledge of how to ap- A peal to them, the ability to organize, sAand long line of agricultural ances- < forg are the clements to which Edwin jSzA Strout who sells farms to city folks, nttributes his success.
 In bringing farmhouses on acres of s green fields, great dropping trees and fertile pastures to urbanites, Mir. Strout has not only built up an enormous business that spreads over a whole na- ton, but has also satisfied the longing of city-spent workers and brought them Ito a realization of their dreams.
 t "In every man," says MT. Strout, s'there is an instinctive desire to work out under the blue sky, to thrill to the growth of tender plants, to watch cat &le grazing on green pastures, and pick fresh, ripe fruit from heavily laden trees.
 .'It is because of this instinct that we have found selling country farms to city people such a successful busi- ness"
 How Idea Was Suggested
 When he began business life Mir Strout had no thought of entering real estate. He was a salesman for a whole sale window-screen manufacturer in New York. But treading daily the un- compromising city pavements was irk- eome to a boy who had been brought Up in a homely farmhouse set on the aide of a green Maine hill.
 "Td like to go back to the farm," he said. And then he thought, There must be others who want to get back, too. And there are old folks know in Maine who want to sell their places III bring them together"
 This thought started him on his ca Taer. The business went slowly at first. but it grew and grew, until Etrout had almost 500 agencies in towns an over the United States and Can ada. His headquarters cover whole floor of great office building in the Financial district of New York.
 ssAn annual catalogue informs inquir- CTS of the available farms, a descrip- Al. the prices, and any particular advan- tares If a man in Iowa, for instance, wishes to take up his stakes and move to one of the small, fertile farms of the east, ,fhe may look through the catalogue until he finds a place to his liking as to location, house, type of farming, etc. "Buyers look for most unexpected features when they are contemplating buying farm," said MT. Strout. ''PeO- ple who have lived on farms before ex- anime carefully the quality of the soil, the roads which will bring his produce to the city, the barns and the outbuild- ings. The house seems least important to the experienced farmer, In the spring, he usually wants a ready-equipped place all ready for him to move into. He wants the crops planted and live stock on hand. In the winter, he wants wood all cut and in the cellar, crops harvested and feed in the barn.
 "But the city man begins at the other end. He has been used to comfortable, steam-heated apartment houses, and wants a pretty outlook from the win iows of his house. One woman recent ly wanted to buy some sort of place fin the country. She wasn't exactly sure what she wanted. The agent had shown her a number of places, but none suited her. She was becoming rather difficult and the agent was somewhat discouraged. Finally he showed her a place which had a waterfall on the property. Scarcely looking at the house, the woman exclaimed, This is exactly what I want. I'll take it. So you see, sometimes it is seemingly the most trivial things that sell property"
 Farms that seem to have extras thrown iD always attract the buyer. For this reason we always try to have as much personal property as possible of fered to the buyer. Horses, cattle, dogs, poultry, machinery, tools and sometimes even a Ford truck are offer ed to the buyers. They like to have things as ready as possible for them when they move in, so any extra equip 5 0
 People grow so used to having things thrown in, that they often expect more than we can supply. We have had ! more than one request for a farm with machinery and cattle-and wife. They seem to associate wives with farm life, and think we should provide them. Gold Turns Trade
 'gThere was a case of one old miser szho lived in some small town who made [ his living by foreclosing mortgages, money lending and similar, manipula- tions. He had farm which he wanted to sell. He was asking a certain price ] for it and insisted that it all be paid in cash. One day a man from the city came out, saw the farm and wanted to buy 1t. But all he had was $500 : to pay down on it. The agent demurred, and then said, Wait, and I'll see what I can, do.' He knew the character of the old Shylock, so he went to the bank and changed the mans money for $500 in gold. He went to the owner of the farm, took out the gold and dumped t on the mans desk. 1t gleamed and sparkled in the sunlight. The old miser ., looked at it fascinated. The agent said, Its yours, all of it, if you will sell the farm The money lender ran his fingers through 1t, letting the coins slip through his fingers. Gold he said, it will buy anything. Let the man. have the farm
 MT. Strout was asked whether gener- hl financial depression affected the buy ing of farms unfavorably.
 ''It helps farm business" he replied.