S.E.C. Real Estate Observer

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. [...]

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the June 1973 issue of the R.E. News Observer.
Commissions and fees collected by real estate practitioners represent the return for efforts expended in their business.
Since in this jet-age no one can successfully hide in one part of the country and do a large volume of business differently from [...]

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the April 1972 Issue of the Real Estate Observer.
WHAT ABOUT TAXES? The famous case of Judge Learned Hand on the subject of Federal Taxes set forth in the decision that “Taxes are a forced extraction, not a voluntary contribution.” The judge further went on to say that in [...]

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the February 1972 issue of The Real Estate News Observer.
As the years go by more and more states are attempting through legislation to “professionalize” the real estate industry. As many practitioners now realize the real estate industry has grown like a weed in the economic garden. It is [...]

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the September, 1972 issue of the Real Estate News Observer.
If a real estate counselor knows what silence can do to people, there is a very good technique that he should use. Silence causes people to become frustrated, nervous, irritable, self conscious, and almost forces one to talk. The [...]