Real  Estate   Record





AND BUILDERS' GUIDE.





Vol. xxn.





NEW YORK, SATÜRDAY, NOVEMBER 23,1878.





No. 558.





Published Weekly by

C^c %ml (BsMt Secortr ^ssodation.

TERMS.

ONE YEAR, in advance___SlO.OO.

Communications should be addressed to

C.  W.  SWEET,

Nos. 345 ASD 347 Broadway





NATIONALITIES IN REAL ESTATE.

There isa common misuiiderstandiug prevalent
in respect to the distribution of real er^tate titles
in this city. We will venture to .say, that it is
ordinarily supposed by persons who cousider
themselves well iuformed thata large majority of
titles are concentrated in a few very wealthy por-
Bons, and that these persons are principally Amer¬
icaus. Both of these assumptions are contrary to
fact.

There are enrolled on the tax books about one
hundred and fifty thousand separate pieces of
property, which are owned by about twenty-five
thoasand individuals or estates. Of this number
probably less than one hundred ownerships may
be classified as extremely wealthy, or as miUion¬
aire ownerships. Probably to the extent of four
or five thousand tho ownerehips may be fouud
among persons ot alHuent means. Bufc by a very
large majority the titles, say to the extent of over
twentj^ thousand are distributed among those
whose fortunes coiisist principally, if not entirely,
of the property thus owned, whose dependenee for
income and livelihood is upou the resuits derived
from this property. Nearly the whole of this
number may be set down a-s owners of single
pieces of properfcy, which represent the saviugs
of thrifty, laborious aud self-denying lives, the
po.s.session of which is cherished as the sole means
of providing for the infirmity of old age, and of
besfcowing an inheritance upon surviving children.
To what extent these individual ownere of Single
parcels have suffered by the sbrinkage of the
times, and the severe conditions>f, real estate in¬
vestment, none know better than themselves, and,
undoubtedly, a great many have .been unavoid-
ably and relentlessly shaken out of their little
possessions.

To suppose that any great number of these own¬
erships are fco be found among Americans, would
be to wander wide of the truth, inasmueh as nat-
uralized owners greatly outnumber native born.

Our present purpose is to call attention to the
principal nationalities represented in our real es¬
tate titles, and to their distinctive characteristics.

American.—The mercurial and restless dispo¬
sition of the American Citizen instructively nian-
ifests itself in his treatment of real estate. Prone
to speculafcion as the mofch is to fly infco the flame,
he is apfc to regard real estafce as a mere foot-ball
to be tossed aboufc, wheu its bandying will result
in profit, but to be left severely alone wheii it is
incapable of profitable manipulation. Many sen¬
sible and prosperous Americans shun realestate
upon principle, believing ifc fco be an unprofifcable,
dangerous and vexatious Investment, denying
themselves the small indulgence of owning their
residences and business establishments, preferring
to play the role of tenant rafcber than thatof
p wner or landlord. Another class, more venfcqre-





some and, we may say, more sagacious, make
ifc a prime ambition to acquire their residences
aud business establishments, to hold them free
from debt and, when it can be legally doue, to
place them out of the reach of business niis-
fortuue.s. The latter is the type of a fair major¬
ity of thrifty Americaus. There is another cla.ss,
nearest akin to the American .siieculator, those
who are contented with the name of owning
property which in reality is so heavily mortgaged
as to leave such owuership but a pretence and
shadow. This class are apfc to be found among
the butterflies of fashion, a flashy, reckless seiis,a-
tional type of American, who seeks a happy life,
even though a short one, aud is satisfied to make
a conspicuous display upon borrowed means.

The highly developed individuality of Ameri¬
caus as well as their natural instinct of property
rights eminently fit them to become the owners
of property. The avoidance of mere speculative
ventures aud fche cultivation of souud real estate
invesfcmenfc ou the part of intelligent Americans,
would greatly teud to promote the establishment
of a just uud equitable system of taxation,
whereby the seandal and reproacb of most op¬
pressive burdens might be takeu away from real
estate ownership.

iRiSH.—The largest di.sfcribution of real estate
titles is aiuoug thrifty aud industrious Irish Citi¬
zens. Iu a greater degree thau may be said of
auy other foreign born Citizens the Irish come to
US pos.sessed with au instinctive love of property
aud an untiriugambition to acquire it. The fort-
itude, courage aud euergy of his nature ineline
the Citizen of this type to .seek employment iu the
heroic laboi-s of contracting aud engiueering and
generally to embark in buildiug Operations, in
which he evinces special aptitude and in which he
sometimes acijuires marked excellence. ^lany a
worthy owuer of comfortable properties in this
city commenced life as a cellar-digger, a hod-
carrier or street confcracfcor and by sheer force of
characfcer has raised him<5elf to fche position of a
land owner and a tax-pa^'er.

The traditions of Irish hüstory foster an extrav¬
agant estimate of the iiotency and supei-iorifcy of
land invesfcmenfc, while the natural traits of the
Irish character endow ifc wifch peculiar fifcness for
real estate ownership. The labor incident to the
improvement and maintenance of property is that
with which the Irishman is generally the most
familiär.

There are other conspicuous tmitsof Irish char¬
acfcer which militate against the successful culti¬
vation of real estate ownership. They are apt to
be too sanguine, credulous, impulsive and obsti¬
nate in gratifying their inordinate ambition to
become owners of property. They are not always
careful enough to gauge their undertakings ac¬
cording to their abilities ; to cut their garments
according to the existing cloth. For the sake
of enjoying a precarious distinction of land
ownei-ship, they are sometimes induced to in¬
cur unwarrantable and exhaustive burdens of
debt. This failing is too common a character¬
istic of -the Investors of this race. Though
there are exceptions, and many notable ones,
of Irish owners who eschew indebtedness en¬
tirely, holding their investments in real estate
absolutely free and clear of any lien or encum¬
brance, ifc is tobe regrefcfced that there are so many





othei-s who have deliberately and rather reck-
lessly assumeil the bürden of propertj- in which
the etiuity of redemption was inappreciably
small. The dauntless and heroic courage which
enables the Irishman to triumph over physical
obstacles cannot successfuUy avaii him in battling
with the tremeudous odds of excessive and over-
due mortgages. It is far better to own one piece
of property free and clear than to have the name
of owning a score of pieces that are heavily
mortgaged, aud liable with little warning to slip
from the grasp.

This predoiuinaat and insatiable greed for the
acquisition of properfcy maj- lie regarded as one
of the excellences of the Irish character. When
properly directed and controlled by education in
correct principles of real estate investment, it
will qualify the race to fill the measure of an en¬
ligbtened and exalted citizenship commensurate
with their iiuuierical importance in our popula¬
tion, and with their conspicuous representation
oii_ the tax books of the city. '

Gekman.—Our German fellow-citizens maüifest
less of the property instinct than do the Irish, be¬
ing more fitful, nomadic and visiouarj'. But when¬
ever the Teutouic race do indulge their slender
proclivity in that direction, it is apt to be in ac¬
cordance with the most widely recognized maxims
of sound investment. As a rule, Germans decline
to believe in ownership qualified by debt, and,
therefore, when they set out to purchase real es¬
tate, it is generally with ready money, and with
enough of it to pay the entire purchase price. In
New Germany, as a eertaiu section of the eastem
partof the city is called, there are rows and blocks
of properties owned by frugal and prosperous
Germau Citizens, which are now and always have
beeu innocent of any mortgage indebtedness.

Exceptions however in all cases are necessary
to prove the rule, aud are not wanting to the
pr^eut remarks. The potency of the recent infla
tion craze was fully demonstrated when it per¬
vaded the minds and influenced the action of so
manystolid, steady-going German Citizens. No
small number of those who had cultivated char
acters for sagacifcj-, prudence and thrift were en
ticed and deluded into wild speculations in vacanfc
lots based upon heavy mortgages, and into invest¬
ments iu heavily encumbered improved property,
the final resuits of which, w^ith rare exceptions,
have been financial ruin. To the deep mortificatiou
and bumiliation of conservative German Citizens,
the financial management of savings banks, which
were considered specially representative of the
Gerraan-American race, has proved flagrantly -
dishonest and discreditable.

These unfortunate catastrophes may fairly be
attributed to the unhealthy disorder of the times
With «-he re-establishment of sounder conditions
in finance and commerce, we may expect a rein-
f orcemenfc of the sturdy and vigorous integrity
which universaily characterizes tho German race.
Though not numerous enough to be entitled to
special distinction as owners of real estate, the
Germans nevertheless illustrate the best praetical
principles under wbich this investment may be
enjoyed, and, as a rule, are types of orderly, in¬
dustrious and exemplary Citizens.

Hebbews.—Last, though nofc leasfc, we come to
mention the ownership of property held by Jews.
The cultivation of real estate fnvestment is a