wanted will give the prospective buyer some definite impressions. Of
course he won't know what any of the places actually look like, though
reading between the lines may give him some idea; but he will at least
have gleaned a little information as to prices in a given locality and
have the names of brokers with offerings that might be of interest. A
decade ago, if one really wanted a country place one began looking at
actual pieces of property at this point, either with or without a
broker. During the past two or three years, however, a novel source of
information regarding such property has come into being.
It is somewhat of a cross between a news reel moving picture theatre
and a real estate broker's office. There is a projection room, a small
moving picture machine, and an extensive file of films of various
properties that are on the market. Here the prospective buyer is shown
shorts of all those listed with that particular clearing house. After
the showing, if one or more places appeal sufficiently so that the
prospect wants to visit them, he is given the broker's name and
address. This saves much time and hours of travel for all concerned.
In an hour or two spent so shopping, you can get first impressions of
more places than you could possibly visit in a month of week-ends.
Thus you can limit your selection of places to be visited. The cost of
this novel method of showing property is met by an arrangement whereby
seller and broker reward the picture house if the sale is consummated.
When you actually begin to look at property, a few don'ts are in order
if you would steer a fair course to the country home you have in mind.
Don't expect any place to have all the requirements included in your
mental picture.
Don't buy a place that does not appeal to you. Each year you will like
it less.
Don't buy a bargain without finding out why it is below the prevailing
price. Only too often it proves extremely expensive.
Don't disparage a piece of property with the naive idea that by so
doing the price will be lowered. You only arouse resentment on the
part of the owner.
Don't make a pest of yourself by too frequent visits to a place that
attracts you.
Don't try to eliminate the real estate broker. If he really knows his
territory, his services are worth far more than his fee which is paid
by the seller anyway.
Don't lose your temper during the negotiations that must precede the
terms of sale. You may lose the place that just suits you.
Don't expect to buy property with wooden money. That custom went out
shortly after 1929.
If you can subscribe to these points, you are one of those who really
want a country home and will eventually find one. Those who only think
they do will stumble over some detail and then settle back with a
plaintive, "We would love to move to the country if we could only find
a place like yours." Castles in the air have everything, for
imagination builds them; but those planted four square upon the earth
always have certain "outs," even though you buy a perfect building
site and put the house you have dreamed of thereon.
Personally, we have always wanted a little gray house mellowed by the
summers and winters of at least a century. What we bought was a small
story-and-a-half farm cottage with outer walls of weathered shingles,
painted red. It is old. During the Revolution, a British soldier was
slain in the very doorway as he came out with loot from the upper
rooms. It would undoubtedly be a haunted house in England but here our
eyes are holden and we have never seen him, nor have any of our
guests.
We still admire gray stone houses of which there are plenty down in
the Pennsylvania Dutch country but we are honestly suited with what we
have. Its general outline is akin to the house we envisioned and the
mellow tone of its red-shingled exterior has a charm of its own. True,
the grounds are lacking in those little irregularities that enable one
to develop secluded spots and charming rock gardens. No brook runs
through them and there is no high point of land where one looks off to
a brilliant summer sunset or hills blue with haze. It is just a
pleasing peaceful spot and we like it.
In short, have all the preconceived notions you want but keep an open
mind as well as an open eye. We know of two or three families that are
absolutely satisfied with their country homes, yet are perfectly frank
in admitting that they are in no way the type of house or setting
indicated by their preliminary specifications. They saw them in the
course of their search and, despite the divergence, recognized that
they met their demands.
One of our friends had steadfastly insisted that his country house
must sit on a hilltop where he could have a view, see the sun rise and
set, and be cooled by a fine breeze on the most torrid day. He bought
an entire farm just to get an upland pasture with the required
hilltop. Luckily he called in an architect and was mercifully
prevented from getting what he wanted. His house was finally built on
a sightly but sheltered spot about halfway below the high point of his
land. He has since learned that during the winter months the
prevailing westerly winds so sweep that hilltop that heating a house
placed there would be expensive and difficult. Also, these same winds
would be apt to work havoc with his shrubbery and flower garden.
On the contrary, don't let yourself be stampeded into buying something
that definitely does not appeal, just because you are a little tired
of looking but are bound to live in the country anyway. Real estate
dealers and would-be helpful friends may have rallied around and,
after showing you a score or more parcels of land, begin hinting that
you are hard to please. Possibly, but just remember that your money
purchases the place and that you, not they, will have to live there.
Two people once spent years looking for a place within easy commuting
distance of Philadelphia. Friends and brokers became exhausted and
fell by the way. Word was passed around among the latter that these
people were "just lookers and there was no use bothering with them."
One day a broker, hoping to be rid of them, showed a piece of property
so unsightly and generally run down that he thought no one could
possibly want it. To his amazement, they liked it, saw its
possibilities and, after proper investigation, bought for cash with
never a quibble over the price. They showed rare intelligence in
restoring both house and grounds and are living contentedly there
today.
Most of us, though, who really want a country home are of no mind to
spend years looking for one. It may be that the lease on the city
apartment is due to expire in a few months and one must decide whether
it is to be renewed or not. There may be children in the family who
are in urgent need of the fresh air and outdoor life of the country.
Under such circumstances, it is often a real advantage to rent a place
for a year with option to buy. One learns both the good and bad
qualities of a house in that time at probably no greater cost than
continued rental for a city establishment. Further, if you decide to
buy it at the end of the year, the rental paid may apply on the
purchase price.
You can thus have plenty of time to look over other property in the
vicinity. Perhaps it may be impossible to find a house that really
pleases, but you do discover an ideal site. It may be a fine old
orchard. It may be a tree-shaded spot with an old cellar marking the
place where a house once stood. It may be an undeveloped hillside. In
such an event, you have the advantage of either building a house to
your liking, or finding an old one and moving it there.
Be very sceptical about "bargains" in your search. Relatively few
people underestimate the value of their possessions. Perhaps they are
really willing to sell at a sacrifice "because father can't stand the
cold winters any more" or "because we like to feel the place is in
good hands." But it would seem more reasonable that father's declining
years in Florida or California would be sweetened in direct ratio to
the amount realized on his property. So look well for the real reason.
The house may be unduly expensive to maintain. It may be so badly
built that bigger and better repairs become a constant drain on the
family purse. There may be something so wrong with the adjoining
property that one must either buy that, too, or give up any idea of
living on the spot with any comfort or pleasure.
Back in 1928, a man bought a comparatively new house and eight acres
of land for a sum far below the prevailing prices in the vicinity. The
grounds were attractive and the lawn well shaded with fine old maples.
He acquired this "bargain" in the late fall without benefit of real
estate dealer. In fact, he boasted of his acumen to a broker who had
originally shown him several other pieces of property in the section.
"I told you there were cheaper places," he chortled, "and the owner
gave me the advantage of the broker's commission, too. Come out next
spring and see what a bargain I found." In late May there came a wail
for help from the cocksure buyer. A few days of unseasonably warm
weather and a strong east wind had revealed the reason for the
bargain. Back of a wooded area to the rear of his holding, was a
combination hog farm and refuse dump. The owner of it got little or no
rental from the tenant farmer who carried on his noisome business but
he was well aware of its nuisance value to his new neighbor. Here
indeed was a situation requiring the services of that middle man, the
real estate broker. The latter was a good business man and by using
all his guile, he eventually acquired the hog farm for his client at a
fair price. But even at that, the man now had ten additional acres
that he didn't want and couldn't use. When the cost of the added land
and clearing it of refuse had been met, his place was not the bargain
it had seemed originally.
This does not mean that there are never any country places to be had
at real bargains. It is a case of being keen enough or lucky enough to
locate one. There can be a number of legitimate reasons why a piece of
property is on the market at a price below its general worth. There
may be urgent financial reasons why the owner must sell. In this
unhappy situation he cannot be too firm as to price and will usually
accept a sum actually below the market value in order to salvage a
fair proportion of what he may have invested.
Another type of bargain is that of property that has only recently
become available for country homes through the construction of a new
motor highway or some other major development. For example, the
electrification of the Pennsylvania Railroad and a concrete automobile
road from Trenton, New Jersey, into Bucks County, Pennsylvania, have
brought old farms in and around Doylestown, Pennsylvania, within an
hour and a half of New York City. This condition has not existed long
and Bucks County farms on an acreage basis may still be bought
distinctly cheaper than in practically any other section equi-distant
in travel time from New York.
Again, some particular place may be owned by an estate with a number
of heirs who want their money. None of them feels inclined to take
over the property and pay off the others. All are in a hurry to get
their share of what Uncle Henry left. Eventually the property goes at
a partition sale which is the bargain basement of real estate.
Partition sales and heirs hungry for ready money are keenly watched by
those who buy purely for investment and with the expectation of resale
to some one wanting a country home. Hence the ultimate consumer rarely
benefits. But occasionally the regular investor finds the matter of
resale neither as simple nor as rapid as he had expected.
For some years we watched a charming little place that a real estate
investor had acquired at such a partition sale. It was first offered
"in the rough." Then the abandoned household gear and accumulated
trash were removed. With growing nervousness the investor applied a
coat of paint to the house and hung neat painted shutters at the
windows. He tore down dilapidated outbuildings and converted the barn
into a garage. The place still hung unplucked on his commercial tree.
After three dismal years he parted with it at a price but little above
that paid at the partition sale.
It was a desirable property but the investor had been over greedy and
had put his original asking price far too high. By the time he was
chastened enough to listen to reasonable offers, most of the
prospective buyers had crossed that place off their list. The ultimate
purchaser acquired a real bargain by happening along at the
psychological moment when the investor was sick of his deal and ready
to part with it at little or no profit.
This was, of course, very much a matter of luck. It is also a matter
of luck when buyer and seller deal directly with each other to mutual
advantage. For that reason it is poor economy to try dispensing with
the services of a real estate broker. A reliable one is an invaluable
guide, mentor, and friend to the lamb fresh from the city. Let him
know what you want and what you are willing to pay and he will do his
best to find it. If a place interests you, look it over well but don't
insist on so many showings that you wear out the patience of its
occupants. Never, never belittle any property in the hearing of its
owner. There are all too many people, cocksure but ignorant of human
nature, who believe this helps to get a bargain. It works just the
opposite. One would not expect to please a man by telling him that his
son was wall-eyed and therefore no asset. The same man is no better
pleased at hearing that his house is ugly or that the interior is
something to shudder at. The prospective buyer who admits he covets
the house but cannot quite meet the purchase price is much more apt
to get the benefit of easier terms.
Real estate buying is still a dicker business. Get your own idea of
values and then make an offer--to the broker. It is part of his job to
negotiate this difference between asking and actual purchasing price.
Theoretically buyer and seller should be able to meet and discuss the
little matter of price in sensible and friendly fashion. Actually,
there is usually as much need of a diplomat here as between two
nations. One very successful broker recently admitted that he tries to
keep buyer and seller apart as much as possible when negotiating the
details of price, terms, concessions and the like. He stated that it
is amazing how ordinarily sensible people, in the heat of a dicker
over a piece of property, can get at a practical deadlock over the
disposal of a cord of wood or whether a cupboard, worth possibly five
dollars, is to be left with the house or removed.
So keep your temper, especially when it is a question of property you
really want. We have known people who were turned aside from an ideal
place for which they had hunted months, because the seller failed to
fall in with some totally unimportant detail or because they didn't
like something his lawyer said or the way he said it. Sellers may be
cantankerous and their lawyers exasperating, but remember, you do not
inherit them along with the property. Once the latter has been
acquired, which is your real objective, they pass out of the picture
along with your irritation at them.
In buying any property, however, make sure that the title is clear.
The author of the old hymn, "When I can read my title clear to
mansions in the skies," must have been familiar with the complications
attendant on acquiring earthly domiciles. In other words, if the place
on which you have set your heart is suffering from that obscure
complaint known as a "cloudy title," it is something to be let alone
unless the seller can clear it. By this term is meant that somewhere
in the chain of ownership from the original land grant, some seller
could not give a clear, warranted title.
There are many contributing causes for such a condition, particularly
with country property in the older sections where wills and deeds were
not always drawn with clarity and skill. Old second or third
mortgages, presumably paid, for which satisfactions were never
recorded; tax liens that have not been cleared; or possible interests
of minority heirs under a will dating back a generation or more; are
some of the most common causes for imperfect titles. But if one is
patient and the seller is willing to cooperate, such clouds can
usually be removed.
Sometimes one discovers a desirable piece of property with a cloudy
title due to a family feud or the stubbornness of the present owner.
Here it may be to the buyer's advantage to obtain an option on it and
engage a local lawyer experienced in real estate matters to perfect
the title. For example, two spinster sisters lived in their father's
old farmhouse. They were not at all averse to selling, but under the
terms of their father's will, a niece in a state institution for the
feeble minded held a life interest in the place. Her aunts grimly
refused to sell and hand over the sum representing her interest to
her guardian. "Alice has cost us plenty and never been anything but a
source of worry. Not a dollar more of our money goes to her as long as
we live. She is in an institution where she belongs. Besides, her
father was a rascal."
They were willing to sell at a price several thousand dollars less
than like places in the neighborhood were bringing. So a prospective
buyer negotiated an arrangement whereby he acquired an option to buy
the property at this low price, provided he could make a settlement
for the niece's contingent interest at his own expense. It took about
six months but at last a settlement was reached through the courts.
For about five hundred dollars paid to the guardian of the incompetent
woman and an equal amount in court and lawyer's fees, he obtained a
quit claim deed of her interest that satisfied the requirements of the
corporation that was to insure the validity of the title. The day
after the purchase was consummated, the new owner was offered a price
for the property that would have given him a substantial profit above
his investment and expenses, had he cared to sell.
Under such circumstances, however, the buyer should be sure the
property is a good enough investment to be worth so much time and
trouble and he should never embark on such an undertaking without the
best possible legal advice. Most important of all, his contract to buy
should be so drawn that ample time is allowed for the work of
perfecting the title. There should also be a provision allowing him to
withdraw from the contract and to regain his option money, if clearing
the title proves impossible or there is too great expense.
Another detail that should be taken into account, especially with land
once used for farming, is the possibility of old, half forgotten
rights of way. In the legal argot, a right of way is a permission to
cross property that has road frontage to reach fields, pasturage, wood
lots, or the like which are otherwise without means of access. To be
binding, of course, such agreements must have been recorded. Where
they date back half a century and have been forgotten and unused for
many years, lawyers are sometimes careless in their title search and
overlook them. This is a serious omission since they can suddenly be
revived to the discomfort of a totally innocent buyer.
Some years ago a man bought a simple farmhouse as a summer home. One
spring he discovered that a neighbor had acquired a cow and, night and
morning, was driving it across his lawn and flower garden. At his
indignant protests, the neighbor sarcastically pointed out an old
gateway in the stone wall dividing their property and cited an
agreement almost a century old that provided for a right of way for
cattle across what was now lawn and flower garden. Of course reviving
this right was a case of pure spite and eventually there was a law
suit. The man with the cow came to terms, his own of course, and for a
cash consideration relinquished his cow driving rights. Meanwhile the
owner of the property had been put to some expense and plenty of
annoyance.
With the final decision to buy a piece of property financial details
come to the fore. An "all cash basis" is not uncommon these days and
often brings a sizable reduction in the asking price. Where a mortgage
is desired, fifty per cent of the purchase price must be cash for
house and land, or the entire amount on unimproved land. With the
latter, the mortgage lender will expect you to provide at least half
of the total cost of the land and the proposed house. Gone are the
days when country homes could be bought with first and second
mortgages and very little cash. This type of financing was tried and
found wanting during the late depression, since it led many people to
commit themselves to payments they could not continue if reverses were
experienced.
There are various kinds of first mortgages now being used to assist in
financing the purchase of a country home. One of the oldest is the
purchase money type. This is given the seller as part of the total
price paid by the buyer. Formerly such mortgages were for a short
term, three or five years, and payable in full at the end of that
period. Now some of them are for longer periods and provide for
monthly amortization charges by which the mortgage is paid in full by
the end of the time specified.
The Federal Housing Administration mortgages, which are a recent New
Deal endeavor to make funds for home buying or building safe and
stable, are issued by local banks with the payment of interest and
principle guaranteed to the bank through the operation of this
government controlled agency. These mortgages are amortized over
periods of ten, fifteen, and twenty years and the borrower must make
specified monthly payments that include taxes, interest charges, and
amortization. They are not available in all sections because some
local banks hold that they conflict in details with other banking
regulations. So far as the borrower is concerned, these mortgages are
no different from any other similar method of financing. If payments
are not made regularly and promptly, foreclosure proceedings will be
started.
Large insurance companies or savings and loan associations also issue
fifteen to twenty year first mortgages, amortized over the period by
monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual payments. The interest rate varies
from five to five and a half per cent. If such a mortgage is arranged
for a new house, architect's plans and specifications must be
submitted with the application for loan. The site must be free and
clear of all mortgages or other obligations. Your own financial rating
is looked up by the lender and, if satisfactory, the company issues a
commitment that you can take to your local bank where definite amounts
are paid as the work progresses; so much when exterior walls are
complete; such a proportion when rough piping for plumbing has been
installed; another amount when all lath and plaster has been finished;
and so on until the final payment when the house is finished. Then the
formal mortgage is executed and recorded. There are brokers who
specialize in negotiating such mortgages. Their fee is about two per
cent.
So much for the usual channels of financing. In addition, the buyer
can still make his own mortgage arrangements with some investor who
has money to loan if he knows such a person. Further, although second
mortgages should be avoided if possible, they are sometimes issued
where a buyer is considered a good risk but lacks sufficient capital
to meet the fifty per cent cash requirement that prevails today. Such
loans are not usually made for over twenty per cent of the appraised
value and generally call for a higher rate of interest, six per cent.
They are also apt to be for a short term, two or three years, when
they must be paid in full.
With both first and second mortgages, the lenders will inquire
carefully into the financial responsibility of the would-be borrower.
They will want to know exactly how much of his own ready money he
plans to use in the transaction. This is to be sure that he has a
substantial equity in the property and will not be struggling under
too great a financial burden.