Evening Star Newspaper, January 27, 1923, Page 14

GVESTIVELY L TPONBUYING Br. J. M. Gries of Department Df Commerce Stresses Im- |£ portance of Financing. early every American family uld plan to own a home, but it should I@ow first how to flnance & home, #Bcording to Dr. John M. Grimes, dElef of the bullding and housing di- vision of the Department of Com- rEerce. ZFour fundamental ‘ideas should be 1@pt in mind in preparing to buy azhome, Dr. Gries believes. They are: ZKnow exactly what you buy and nBw to buy it. FKnow exactly how you are going to pay for your home. Beware of how and where you oftain loans on your home. e sure to ask ‘yourself how much cfn you afford. egarding the first fundamental, Dr. Gries sald: ¥'Get the best advice possible and whtch every step. Be sure the title isiclear or have it insured or guaran- tetd. Make sure there are no ease- nts, such as the right of a tele- pHone’ company to place its poles ugon your lot. H Prepare for Taxes. $'You must be prepared to pay taxes or§ your property, and speclal assess- ments for water, sewerage, electric ht, gas, street paving, and side- While this advice seems obvious, névertheless many purchasers of lidhited means have suffered through lagk of knowledge of this funda- méntal. It always should be remem- bered that in purchasing a home a misstep may be most unfortunate. 'The second fundamental, that of pdying for the home, often is misun- derstood, and the axiom, the more ridks the borrower assumes, the fewer t Mbst homes are bough THere are more than 4,000,000 mori gdged homes in the United States, !\Tce, the building and loan assocla- tign. Where to Get Loan. }The third fundamental, that of Tfw and where to obtain’ loans, is tafen care of by the building and logn assoclation. But there, too, a warning should be sounded. Above alf when you start to save for a hogne do not throw your money into Ifttering schemes that promise big &igidends and the chance to borrow er cent or less. The con- money at 3 such sochemes cannot be catns behin, tiusted. 1" ‘How much can you afford? is the fdurth fundamental question. A man 1y oWn & home worth one and one- L4lf to two and one-half times his asnual income. But the payments he miakes during the first few years after purchasing require the most at- tdntion. ' Paying for Home. #To rent a home a man must pay from 10 to 25 per cent (or even more) of his income. To buy a home a man can devote lLis customary savings in afdition to what he ordinarily would D4y for rent to paying off the princi- Pl of loans on his home. 1“In some cases, on a $4,000 house agd lot, a man earning 32,000 a year might be able to pay off the loan in about twelve years. This calculation iq based on the assumption that he hks $1.000 cash to pay down and ob- tains a loan of $3,000 from a build- His total and loan association. [ n- efpenditures, including interest, Surance and upkeep, would aver: about $650 per year, or about 27% Pt cent of his income—18% per cent £qr rent and 9 per cent for savings.” {EIGHT HOMES PLANNED. !Construction of four dwellings on licott and 43d streets, just below ssenden street, by the Brodt 1ty Company will be started shortly. *These houses will contain six rdoms and bath each. They will be of blue granite foundation, with stone plers up to the first floor/ They will bp_completed by April, it was stated. (Josephi High also will begin the erection of four houses in the same vicinity, locating them on the west e of 43 street below Fessenden THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 1923. .. Cost of fmmm *a.gd.\ldym of Building Pcmntoéc Dacs'?s":p:mla:nioo“‘rwm---. ' 1914 C N .2 [rres a2 e it WS \ee ' et was Py Bailding Rush to Continue It Intelligently Directed National Realt)" Bulletin Sounds Warn- ing Against Profiteer Methods by Those Engaged Sounding a warning that’ “unintel- ligent and shortsighted action” on the part of construction labor, bullding material interests, or contractors would result in increased building costs and a consequent . building slump during 1923, the National As- soclation of Real Estate Boards made public a speclal bulletin at the re- cently-concluded executive conven- tion in Florida, from which local realtors have just returned. The bulletin, which was prepared for the national association by Edwin U. Brunner, editor of tfe American Contractor, was accompanied by charts, showing the building trend over a recent perlod of years and also price changes of four principal bufld- ing materials from 1913 to 1922. The prospectus follows: “It is not putting it too strong to say that with intelllgent direction of activity on the part of those engaged in conatruction, there will be a con- tinuance of bullding during 1823 on the grand scale of xf‘zz. “If, however, there is such unintel- | ligent and short-sighted action on the DPart of corstruction labor, or bullding materfal interests, or contractors that the result is appreciable increase in bullding costs, there will come a slump. | “All statistics point to the fact that there will be a very propitious spri start in building, and there will n urally be some temptation to ralse costs. Should this occur, it might re ° o on @ rising market. But the sluffip will be waiting around the corner, and the more feverish the activity, the harder will be the fall. Fear Boom Symptoms. “For these reasons, it seems logical that we can look with satisfaction on activity which s not too speeded up, and we may look with apprehension if too many boom symptoms manifest , building and construction labor costs |are annual and do not, therefore, show in Construction. that a large volume of building can be maintained at the present level of bullding costs, which is, in round numbers, about 80 per cent above the 1913 level and about an equal per cent below the disastroua peak level | of 1920. “The fluctuation of building costs is platted on a curve in relation to the volume of bullding on the accom- panying chart. In 1919 the averdgs cost of building was 178 per cent of what it was in-1913; in 1920 it was 269 per cent; in 1921 it was 193 per cent, and by quarters in 1922 it was 192 per cent for the first quarter, 176 per cent for the second, 176 per cent for the third and 181 per cent for the fourth quarter. “This curve s a combination of according to official wage scales and of building material prices weighed 60 per cent for material costs and 40 per cent for labor costs. It do not_give weight for varying levels of labor efficiency nor for bonuses paid above kcales. “It 1s well to call attention to the chart, is produced from total for bullding permits in twenty important cities of the United States reduced to percentage basis, using the volume in (913 at 100 per cent. The averages the seasonal fluctuations. 1922 Record Breaking. “It is evident that the neéarer the coincidence between the volume line and the cost line, the nearer is the actual volume of construction to that of 1913. The graph shows that there was less actual bullding during 1917 to 1920 than in 1913. The lines crors in 1921. In 1922 we have bullt high | above the 1913 level. “The importance of labor costs upon biilding for this year canot be over- estimated. Undeniably, la is In a position to retain the pr standard or even to Tal tendency of living cogts the scarcity of unskilled labor and such trained craftsmen as bricklayirs and plasterers are big factors to look to. There is a natlon-wide effort to | themselves. Last year stands as proof Out-of-town owner offers On Prettiest Street t. Plt 1836 Lamont St. NW Kennedy-Davis-built houses, 3-story brick dwelling. train craftsmen and in practically one of these very attractive 10 rooms, ..I’.IIC' CHANGES IN FOUR QUILDING MATERIALES fors During /1973 and 1y yomJonuary N First Yo Decombar3/st: /1922 ALL PRICES ARS EXPR THE BASE PRICE OR THE 193 919 €O IN PERCENTAGRS. FOR EACH 00% MATERIAL 13 ITS AVERAGE PRICE DURING FIRST 10 MOS. OF 1931 L1920 1921 1922 At e e e e e e e e, St i, 3 A v 8 s 2 $ & 5 2 3 &3 3 & 1] 2 T WA Y | every important city there is now somre sort of school for apprentices in one or moré trades. Evecy effort| will count fn the measure of its in-| tensity, but we cannot hope to build up the deficlency of skilled ¢onstruc- | tio® labor for quite a perlod of time because our apprentice tralning mi- chinery is too new and untried. “What we should have been dolng during years of time we cannot ex- pect to ‘accomplish now in one short | sexson. “Efficiency of labor is an important matter for copsideration. Quite un- | fortunately, there are no authentic statistics avaflable which show ratio of efficlency, but there is widely cir- culated opinion, backed by men who know actual facts, that there is a chance for labor to improve wonder- | fully in this respect. How much con- struction costs have been increased | through cutting down on production is & story not told on any charts. It is a story which labor will ultimately | have to answer for. In this day it is distinctly unwise management upon the part of those who guide labor to do anything to limit production. { Handwriting on Wall. } “From a purely selfish standpoint labor should see the handwriting on | the wall. If labor does not produce the result will be importation of labor | which does produce and the tralning | of craftsmen to take the place of the | old ones and the breaking down of false barriers erected by unions at| great expense. - Just North of “We must give labor credit where credit 1s due, and it is safe to say that standards of production are higher than they were immediatel following the war. The most foolis thing labor can do during 1923 will be to raise building cost by greedy demands for higher wages or by loafing on the job. The event lies with labor. “The course of building material prices during the past four years has loaned some reasonable doubt as to the stability of price levels, There are those who predict a long period of readjustment for all business. This ®roup looks upon any heartening aoc- tivity as being temporary. There is a group which thinks we shall have a real boom in all business during this year which will be accompanied with runaway markets. Such development would be extremely unfortunate. There are others who are of the| serlous.opinion that stability s being ! effected at a level about 70 per cent above the 1913 level. The course of material prices indicated in the sec- ond chart seems to indicate that at least & tempporary degree of stabil- ity has been brought about in the | building material fleld, aithough in| comparison with general commodity prices, imaterlal prices. are rather high. Price Level During War. “All during the war as might have been expected, general commodity | prices stood at a level considerably | above that of material prices. This| NEW HOMES $500 CASH $75 MONTHLY INCLUDING ALL INTEREST 17th and E Sts. S.E. Pa. Ave. Cars ‘|at \Tth’ and D streets, was because of used for food and general supplies. uring the third quarter of 191 oonstruction materials were in such demand that the price level arose very rapidly and an ascendency was effected over general commodity price levels. This sscendency has sinne Been maintained. Farm prod- uce has been the low member of the general commodity group last year. “Chart No. 2 gives a detailed ac- ?flunt of material pos base price in the 1al being the aver; first ten months of 1921. thing to note in this graph is that | in the caseof each materlal thers has been an upward price action, but that in no case has there been manifest the runaway market conditions which prevailed especially in the lupber market in the latter part of 1919 and the first part of 1920. “Any market upward rise in mate- rial prices this year will cause 4 re- actfon in the volume of building and will be unfortunate. JENIFER BUILDJNG SOLD T0 C. A. AND J. C\CARRY Structure at 7th and D Streets | Leased for Long Term to | . Présent Occupants. Charles A. Carry and Joseph C. Carey ;bave purchased, through Jo- seph I. Wellen, the Jenifer building, which they will' ' hold for Investment purposes. | The entire’ building has been leased | by @the néw owners for a long term of 'years to R. Harris & Co., now oc- cupying the property. ‘The lot has a frontage of 56 feet on 7th street and 98 feet on D street | and .contains 5488 square feet. It is improved by & six-story store and | office building. ‘The stamps on the deed show a consideration pald for the property of about $430,000. | _— | The X-rays are now used by manu- | facturing jewelers to detect flaws in diamonds and other preclous stones. | 913 15th St. Chevy REAL ESTATE. New Homes Near 14th Street Cars Price, $7,950 $1,000 Cash. Monthly Payments Lik; Rent Seample House 515 Longfellow St. N.W. The Homes contain six large rooms, tile bath, flardwood floors, - double ack porches, colonial con- crete front porch, laundry tubs and built-in garage— and are on a high elevation and paved street. An early inspection is important, as these are extra values and will sell without delay. To See These Homes Take 14th Street car marked “Takoma” and get off at Kennedy and sfh; walk one block north to homes; or Georgia Avenue car, and get off at Kennedy and Georgia Avenue and walk three blocks east. d Builders Phone M. 617 Chase—West Bradley Lane Overlooking the Chevy Chase Golf Course; an unobstructed view of the Club House, Links and currounding country ; comparatively new. Spacious Grounds; 100x200; Jar Brick Garage Price Less Than Cost to Reprodyce Thomas J. Fisher & Co.. . Inec. Main 6830 3 baths; h.w.h,, elec. lights; maid’s room, double rear porches; instantaneous hot-water heater; laundry; double garage, fire- places. All Houses Open for Inspection 738 15th St. N.W. All Houses Sold on Monthly Payments Force Your House to Pay for Itself—You Can | — . 1 Easily Rent Second Floor for Enough i to Make Monthly Payments Apartments for Rent : WOBURN Knowlton Shawmut 19th and Columbia Road One to 4 rooms, kitchen and bath, some with porches. Ex- cellent service. Day and night switchboard, cafe. manager. Phone Open for Inspection Sunday 3 to 6 P.M. A. C. HOUGHTON & CO. 1516 H St. N.-W. “We Have the BEST in Every Section” i i ~elevator, Resident :"North 7060. [ B.F. Saul Co. | 1412 Eye Street N.W. - $100,000 Available to Buy Good i Second floor has four bedrooms and i Zd TruSts I two complete baths. The house is screened throughout with bronze screen wire, has in- stantaneous hot-water heater, oak floors on both floors and a two-car garage. Open for Inspection Sundgy- See This New Chevy Chase Home 3712 Ingomar Street Located in the bést section of Chevy Chase just off Connecticut Avenue. Fully detached. First floor contains large living room with side porch, dining room, library, breakfast room, kitchen and pantry. 814 Longfellow Street N.W. Attractive. tapestry brick; concrete front porch; double rear, porch;six nice size rooms; h.w.h;, -electric lights;. tile bath with built-in-fixtures; oak flpors; generous closet space; convenient kitchen with built-in refrigerator. These homes should be seen to be appreciated. We ex- pect them to be sold immediately. £ $l ,000 CaSh $75.00 Per Month ; of 1, 2 & 3 year maturity; i monthly or annual pay- Private funds. ¥ i ments. 729 15th Street Main 2611 IHHIRIHIR 'FOR SALE 1128 16th Street N.W. 4 Stories—Englsh Basement—Stone and Brick Prominent Corner Spacious Rooms, Well Lighted ON 14th St. N.W. All Modern Improvements and Conveniences Contains About 20 Rooms and 7 Baths ‘'Suitable for Garage Accessories ‘Including All Interest - In One Square of Two Car Lines Take 14th Street car marked “Takoma” to condition. * L 9th Street, one square north, or take 9th.Street 'Suitable for an embassy, diplomat’s residence, pro- Op Sunday from 1 to 6 The heating, lighting and 'plumbing in first-class Price fessional office, club or. fraternity. - An opportunity to secure this high-class pfoperty, certain of*advance in value, bn a reasonable cash pay-- ment. Priced at Less Than Cost of Reproduction Thomas J. Fisher & .Co., Inc. 738 15th Street N.W. This beautiful all-brick, slate roof, colonial, center entrance home contains 12 large, delightful - rooms, 3 tiled baths, lavatogy and 10 real open fireplaces. All latest and modern improvements. Spacious inclosed sleeping porches. f We will not attempt to further describe what a perfect home this is—come out Sunday afternoon and see for yourself. Extremely Low Price—Terms WALTER A. BROWN EXCLUSIVE AGENT 1400 H St. N.W. : 2| car to Longfellow St., one square east. = Open for Inspection Daily and Sunday‘_ WM. S, PHILLIPS - REALTOR " 1409 N. Y. Ave. NW. - Main