18 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



and expensive to carry. An acre which costs one or two 

 hundred dollars, or ten dollars per lot, will cost but six to 

 twelve dollars per year to carry and half a dollar for taxes, 

 and if a stable does come next you, why, you can sell your 

 land for a blacksmith shop. 



Besides this, a ten-dollar lot, if restricted for residence or 

 available for business, often advances to $100 in a year; 

 one good house which some one else built near it may raise 

 its value that much. 



If the land is high priced, see that there is some kind of a 

 building on it ; even a shanty will usually bring in enough 

 or save you enough by its use to pay the taxes ; so you will 

 have that working for you whilst you are away. 



If possible, buy at auction and of reputable people who 

 are not boomers, or at least buy at forced sale ; that is how 

 real estate is sold when it must be sold. Choose lots level 

 with the curb and on high ground, lest the expense of grad- 

 ing and sewering eat up your profit. 



Keep in mind that in buying land for speculation one really 

 buys the opportunity to tax other people, by taking part of 

 their earnings in the shape of rent or price. Do not then be 

 deluded by boom schemes in inaccessible or desolate places ; 

 choose rather that land which in the natural course of events 

 others must have in order to work or to live. 



Home buying in small communities is safer than in the out- 

 skirts of a large city, because public improvements are much 

 less costly. If you put $500 in a $5000 home and carry the 

 balance on mortgage, an assessment of $1000 for streets or 

 sewers, which helps the vacant lots, will probably put you 

 out of business. Whether for use or speculation, buy in an 

 established neighborhood .or where the circumstances and 

 neighbors are such that restrictions or expenditures will make 



