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to know in advance whether this protection has been already provided, or is something which must be attended to in the future with a certain resultant increase in municipal expense and

taxes.

Until a comparatively few years ago, adequate fire protection in country or suburban communities was practically, if not wholly, unknown. As the modern system of expert fire prevention and protection has been developed, this condition has been changed. To-day, in town after town, one will find a small but adequate fire department of paid men, properly trained and properly equipped. If you are locating in a very small town or village, you will doubtless be forced to depend on the old-time volunteer brigade. If you contemplate living in any one of the thousands of charming suburban towns of somewhat larger size, however, you need have no difficulty in finding one where a fire will not necessarily mean a total loss. Many of the local fire departments have been organized and trained by retired city firemen and are quite prepared and able to cope with any ordinary fire in the community. It is a real comfort, as you build and occupy your home, to know that, in case of fire, you have better than an even chance of saving your house and its con

tents.

Even when the insurance company does not try to convince you that the fire and water have improved rather than injured your property, and pays you an amount sufficient to cover your loss, the payment of the insurance money is a poor substitute for the home which you had built and loved. Choose, if you can, a community where you will have at least a reasonable chance of preventing the destruction of a home which it has taken years of planning and effort to acquire.

When the community has been investigated and decided upon, the next consideration is the selection of the building site and of the property to be acquired. Many elements are here involved and must be carefully weighed and considered. Just as it is important that lighting, water, and sewerage facilities be generally available in the community, so it is important that these improvements be available in that special section of the town where the property is to be purchased and the home built. It is small consolation to know that Mr. Jones at the south end of the village has all improvements at his door if you, at the north end, are a goodly distance away from any of them.

This is essentially the day of real estate developments. Some are soundly conceived and car

ried out. Others are full of pitfalls for the unwary or unprepared purchaser. In any one of the score of suburban developments which surround each of our large cities you will find property being sold and houses erected, while the streets on which the houses face are nothing more than superficially cleared spaces, and no gas, water mains, or electricity are yet at hand.

If the surroundings are beautiful and the house under consideration appeals to him, the thoughtless purchaser may, and in repeated instances does, enter into a contract of sale with all too little regard for the availability of practical necessities; with a sort of blind trust that somehow, some day, these will be provided, in time to serve him and to make the occupancy of his home practical and comfortable.

If your home is located some distance from the water and sewer mains, you will find it a costly proposition to bring these conveniences to your door. Unless, indeed, you have a sufficient number of neighbours who will share the service with you, the expense may be prohibitive or the managers of the utility companies may refuse to extend their service for you alone on any terms.

If some special spot has such an appeal that you decide to locate there, regardless of the nearness of these necessities, you will of course

do so. You should do it, however, with a clear understanding that you may be compelled to get along for years without them, and not hypnotize yourself into the belief that they will be in some way providentially provided. There are so many attractive sites available, where proper facilities are at hand, that the ordinary purchaser should have no need to purchase land which is inaccessible to them.

Both in respect to public utilities and in respect to other public improvements, such as sidewalks, curbing, and grading of streets, the home builder may profitably give thought to the subject of special assessments. It is surprising how many capable business men, not accustomed to dealing with real property, are wholly or largely ignorant of this subject. To them, the words "special assessments" have merely a vaguely familiar sound, but no special connotation. Certainly they do not realize how much dynamite they may contain, or how expensive they may prove to be.

When an improvement, such as a sidewalk or a gutter or the laying out and curbing of a street, is put through, the property adjoining the improvement and likewise the property, generally, in the immediate vicinity is naturally benefited. The cost of this benefit is not necessarily borne

by the town as a whole. In the majority of cases the cost is apportioned among the near-by property owners and assessed in theoretically— not always actually-correct shares against their respective properties. This charge so made is called a special assessment.

It will readily be seen that these assessments may run into real money. Suppose, for instance, that you have purchased property fronting on an unimproved road. The other property owners may decide to have the road improved and taken over by the town. The work will involve surveys, grading, macadamizing, curbing, and gutter work and very likely the laying of water, sewer, and lighting mains and conduits. An operation of this kind is expensive. The share of the cost assessed against your land may so add to the cost as to make it out of all proportion to your original budget and estimates. When possible, it is much preferable to settle where improvements are already reasonably complete and local assessments not likely to be trouble

some.

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