Evening star., 1935-06-15
MORE FOR MONEY
SEEN IN BUILDING
Homes Have Best Ideas in
Years at Low Cost, Ed
itor Asserts.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK. June 15.-Some
prominent Eastern home builders and
residential contractors are setting a.
fast pace for the rest of the country
to follow, according to j. B. Mason,
Eastern editor OF the American
Builder.
Especially in the low price class"
said Mr.. Mason. they are giving more
Inability per dollar today than ever
in history. Some of the new model
small homes selling for $4,490. $3.50
and $500 are constructed and
equipped amazingly we'll. Large, we'll
planned rooms, the latest in heating
and plumbing, tile bath and insulated
basement recreation rooms are being
offered.
MANY of these small homes COM
pare more than favorably with the
$4,000 residences of 1929. OF course,
q lot of speculative profit and high
costs have been squeezed out of the
building business since 1929.
Land Costs Down.
Land costs are, in many cases,
down so per cent. Labor costs, re-
gardless of union rates. are at least
25 per cent less, and materials Is per
cent less.
"In addition, builders have been
willing to take a smaller profit. They
are on their toes, and in this competi-
tive market are giving more than ever
before for the building dollar.
while the home building industry
was in the doldrums, the architects,
builders and producers of materials
had plenty of time to create new
plans and invent new conveniences.
THE current pickup in home sales
has brought out a surprising number
of new improvements that make liv-
ing easier, more comfortable and more
economical.
Certain metropolitan areas around
New York, Washington, Philadelphia
and Baltimore are, in effect, lahora-
tories where really fine innovations
in home planning originate.
Best Ideas Developed.
more residential building is con-
centrated in one or two small suburban
areas in the East than any similar
section of the country. With huge
market to draw on, builders and
manufacturers have developed some
of their best ideas.
THE model homes now being
opened in these Eastern communities
are a revelation. They are SO COM
pactly arranged that the five and six
room houses have the Inability of
former seven and eight room homes.
Operative builders have developed
o new technique of building one home
in a tract and opening it to the pub
lie as a model or sample home. At
the same time they start three or four
or half dozen other houses nearby.
BY the time these other houses have
been finished they have been sold to
people who came out to see the model
house. Thus surprisingly high per-
centage of the so-called speculatively
built houses are actually sold before
completion.
Practices of builders vary, but
here are a few of the popular features
of current model homes in the East:
Compact plans that save steps,
make the housework easier and re-
duce upkeep costs.
Heating Units Efficient.
Thorough insulation coupled with
modern automatic heating equipment
that is remarkably efficient. Fuel
costs are cut in two. Many builders
now guarantee that heating costs will
be under a certain low figure. One
Westminster New York builder, for
example, guarantees his seven-room
homes to heat for less than $l00 a
year.
Many of the model homes have
lively new color combinations, stream
line designed kitchens, indirect light
filtered installations.
Basement areas are reduced to
cut costs and what space there is is
fully used. Some of the new base
ment recreation rooms with built-in
bars are the most attractive spot in
the house.
Home buyers have more fine fea-
lures to pick and choose from than
ever before. The choice of styles and
equipment is wide, and for the first
time in five years long-term financing
Is available. thanks to the Federal
Housing Administration. which per-
nits purchase of a home with a med
crate down payment and the balance
paid like rent.
Building students feel that the
current pickup in residential con-
struction is just drop in the bucket
compared with what is ahead. They
see large and sustained home build
ing program ahead"