Evening star., 1936-10-17
SITES PROTECTED
BY RESTRICTIONS
Private Agreements Held
Safeguard to Future
Value of Property.

Something to look for in the lot
YOU may be planning to buy for home
building Is deed restrictions" when,
If Of the right kind, give protection
to the future value Of the property
that can be obtained in no other way,
according OF Herbert U. Nelson, sec
retary of the National Association OF
Real Estate Boards, who explains that
institutions which lend mortgage
money are as interested as owners IN
the future value Of property.
Deed restrictions are private agree
fnents made a part of the deed itself,
laying down specific prohibitions or
requirements about the use Of the
property or the improvements that
can be built on 1t. these same require
ments being simultaneously written
into the deeds for every neighboring
piece of property within given area"
he saws. THE restrictions are placed
In the deed to insure each owner that
properties neighboring his will not be
put to unsuitable or undesirable use.
For example, in residential area
they may prohibit the building OF
other than one-family houses, or the
building Of more than one house to
q lot, or shut out business use or what
we call nuisance use. They may
specify how far back from the lot line
one must put his house, or they may
arrange for the maintenance Of pri-
vate parks and Fairgrounds owned in
common OF late years more and
more frequently these voluntary agree
ments require lot owners to submit
their building plans to central re-
viewing agency before construction
begins, to insure each Of them against
some architectural montrosity that
might mar the character of the neigh
horhood."
Add to Value for Buyer.
Written wisely, these protective re-
strictions add to the value for the
buyer. Nelson says. The best modern
subdivisions have led the way in
their use, to insure that good home
neighborhood will stay good.
Restrictions which specify that
houses to be built on an area must
cost a given minimum amount are not
necessarily either wise or desirable, 4"
he continues. Land may be spoiled
for its normal economic use by too
high a building cost requirement. The
most important type Of restriction
from the point of view of preserving
value in homes are the agreements
covering character of use, and those
int
In reviewing subdivision areas to
determine those in which property
Is eligible for mortgage insurance,
r. H. A. has had before it some
l2,50O such areas. Of those which
failed to qualify it is said that so per
cent either we're without deed re-
strictions or had poorly drawn restric-
tions. Insurance companies and
building and loan associations, two
of the largest groups of home mort
gage lenders, are both attempting to
map neighborhoods that are white
spots for home loan safety, and in
doing this they are rightly giving
emphasis to the value Of well-drawn
deed restrictions.
AOHS OF Sltcu.
"These two current developments
alone indicate the way these protec-
tive covenants are coming into the
limelight. Long-term mortgages on
homes-mortgages written for 20 or IS
years-are the reason.
"Long-term lending, with its de-
pendence on stable values, calls for
protection which can be given either
by private restrictions already i'm
posed or by new neighborhood agree
ments to shut out adverse use"
A striking example of the holding
power or deed restrictions is Chica-
COS downtown open space, many
blocks long, from Michigan avenue to
the lake, across the street from an area
developed in skyscrapers. Restrictions
drawn for the benefit of abutting
property in 1886 and 1889 marked this
space open ground. No Building
and Public ground forever to remain
vacant Of buildings" And the courts
have held that any private building
on it would violate right of the prop
erty owners on abutting lands.
Deed restrictions often have time
limit" Nelson concluded "They may
of course, be extinguished at any time
by the parties to the agreement
agreeing to release each other. Or
they may be extinguished by order OF
q court of equity if, for example, con-
ditions have so changed as to make
the requirements agreed to no longer
equitable"