S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

Many things have been written and said about real estate counseling. Here are some random questions which should be answered prior to exposing the property and the client to the marketplace…

A smile costs nothing, but gives much. It enriches those who receive, without making poorer those who give.

Theodore Roosevelt said: “Every person who invests in well-selected real estate in a growing section of a prosperous community adopts the surest and safest method of becoming independent…

When a real estate practitioner “sees the light” and decides he wants to be a specialist in the exchanging and counseling field, he has many changes to make.

The national Society of Exchange Counselors is to be credited with experimenting with and perfecting real estate problem solving. Problem solving actually is a result of brainstorming a problem wherein pros and cons are all brought out. In properly done problem solving, all minds in the room are centered on the same problem at the same time, with nothing else in front of them except the package that describes the property and the problem at hand [...]

Question: Many people have called you the father of modern real estate exchanging. When did you really see a need for this field to become a specialty? Answer: It was in the latter part of the 1940s that I could see the need to become a specialist in the “people business” to succeed in property, and professionally conduct an exchange and counseling business.

At this time, everyone seems to be concerned with the future of everything. We have been receiving calls from clients and other interested people from all over the country with the question, “What to do?” Should we keep our money in banks? Do we buy gold, silver and so forth? What kind of real estate should we retain?

Many educators are saying things like, “Twenty to twenty-five years from now, over 90 percent of the jobs will be ones that have not yet been created.” It has also been said, “They are not making any more land.” There seems to be an exception to this last comment, however.

There are, of course, many uses for land, and of land, and all competent exchange counselors know that there are several formulas to be applied in handling land unencumbered or “free and clear.” [...]

In my opinion, the problem is that there is no logic in our economy - nothing to hang any facts on. I feel this to be the main problem. [...]