Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 261, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1917 — COST SHOULD BE IN HARMONY [ARTICLE]

COST SHOULD BE IN HARMONY

Amount Put in House Should Not Be Out of Proportion to the Value of the Site. One of /tuKmost grievous mistake? the ownel can make is to build a house which Is out of proportion to the value of the land on which it is erected. The higher the cost of the land the better, as a rule, the character of future building operations in the neighborhood. For Instance, it is generally unwise to build a house costing $5,000 or $6,000 on a site costing less than $25 to S4O a front foot. Nor should the reverse mistake be made of building a cheap house on an expensive site — though that is governed by the restrictions which most developers of high-grade subdivisions impose. Cost of house and cost of site should be In fairly strict proportion. Buy as much ground as you can reasonably afford. Twenty-flve-foot lots In a suburban section are an abomination. Fifty-foot frontage should be the minimum for any modem residence built for a home, and 100 feet with the added possibilities of attractlve lawn and garden is better. As a bit of advice here is an excerpt from a booklet recently issued by a realty broker: “Forced growth in anything is haeardous; natural grpwth is a guaranty of stability and permanent values. Demand governs supply, not supply demand. A piece of real estate has no fixed value until someone takes it to keep and improve.”