Vacant lot

“ If the land of superior quality as to location were always fully used before land of inferior quality were resorted to, no vacant lots would be left as a city extended, nor would we find miserable shanties in the midst of costly buildings. These lots, some of them extremely valuable, are withheld from use, or from the full use to which they might be put, because their owners, not being able or not wishing to improve them, prefer, in expectation of the advance of land values, to hold them for a higher rate than could now be obtained from those willing to improve them. ”

“ Or, if more than one Person shall give notice of their desire to purchase the same Lot, then such Lot shall be divided in portions to be ascertained, with reference to the extent and value of the Property to which it is proposed to be laid, and be offered to the Owners of such Property, in the portions so to be ascertained as aforesaid. ”

“ Remember that the lot owners had a right to have the share of the lots coming to them in ' a like or as good situation' as before, and, if not satisfied with the share given to them, had the power to cause the sale of the whole. To satisfy them, and induce them to accept the allotment, here is the final declaration that, in considering the question of wharfage, the lot holders were assured that their rights would extend across the proposed street by parallel east and west lines to the channel. ”

“ Strangers or men at a distance purchase lots in towns they have never seen, under the impression they are, or soon will be, like the eastern cities. To townmakers or land speculators the subject is very pleasant. To hear them describe the advantages of a barren spot perhaps ten miles from any navigable stream, and it is more than probable not even near a spring branch that would float a cornstalk boat. Could you believe their assertions, a single lot which they have for sale would produce a fortune that would make a man comfortable all his old days. ”

“ At the sale the lots are put up, beginning with the lowest number, at two dollars per acre; and if there be no bidder, another lot is put up, and so continued till the sale is ended. If a bidding be made the lot is sold; if more than one bidder, then the highest is the purchaser. ”

“ After a short pause a stranger arose. "As no one seems inclined to say anything," said he, "I'll just fill in the time by telling you of a new addition." Or a sort of lottery idea was used: as for example that all buyers should pay the same price, and then should draw for their land. There were few sales that called for complete payment, though all demanded cash down. Contracts were given with a third paid. Unless a purchaser were known he had to pay in hard dollars. There was no time to cash checks, when the lot might be resold at an advance before the ink dried. ”

“ Since the proportion of land occupied by streets averages about 35%, the conversion of acreage into lots means a loss in building area of that percentage, so that with the expenses of platting, opening streets, taxes, loss of interest, etc, it is generally estimated that property bought by the acre must sell by the lot for double the acre price in order to avoid loss in handling. ”

“ Jarrod sat down on the steps.
"I'll give you a thousand dollars for it," he said.
"My dear boy, the lot alone's worth fifteen hundred."
"Is the cottage on the lot?"
"Why do you ask?"
"It don't look it."
"Never mind that. I'll sell you the lot and the cottage. If the house isn't on the lot it's somewhere in the neighborhood, and no one's going to ask any questions." ”

“ Hardburg’s, on all matters of book-dress and criticism; yet within six or seven minutes, the formula would break through for the attention of the caller, thus:
“Lot & Company is a conservative House—that’s why it stands—a House, sir (one felt the Capital) , that has stood for seventy-five years on a basis of honour and fair dealing, if on a conservative basis. Lot & Company stands by its agents and employés first and last. Lot & Company does not plunge, but over any given period of time, its progress is apparent and its policy significantly successful.” ”

“ They would point to the vacant lots in and about the city, held on speculation, commonly in American cities covering a greater area than the land improved, and denounce so unjust a system of land tenure. They could demonstrate that the price of the land represented for the most part but the power of the owners to wring from the producers of the city, merely for space on which to live and work, a considerable portion of their product. They could with reason declare that the withholding from use of the vacant land of the locality was the main cause of local poverty. ”

“ When the day arrives, the lot is put up at the minimum price, five shillings per acre: five shillings and sixpence is immediately bid, which offer is speedily advanced upon, frequently as far as fifteen shillings—and, on some occasions, it reaches one pound, to the great advantage of the Government—to the surprise and chagrin of the disappointed emigrant,—and to the rage of the purchaser, who, it may be readily imagined, is the owner of the adjoining land, and who thinks that the emigrant has committed a flagrant breach of hospitality, in putting the said land up for sale ”

“ 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. ”

“ The lot the subject of the auction shall be sold subject to a reserve price—
(a) which takes into account the redevelopment potential of the lot on its own (or, where 2 or more lots are the subject of the auction, on their own) ; and (b) approved by the Tribunal. ”

“ They would not call to him. They would not be healed. They would take a dollar, but say he was cracked. He could move about passing forth a dollar here and there—that was all. They would welcome him at Lot & Company’s if he passed it out quietly enough. The dollar would go into the Sproxley system and emerge unbroken to the firm itself, there to be had and held and marked down in the house of Lot—Jabez, Nathan, Eben, Seth, each a part, the jovial Mr. Rawter a small but visible part—one hundred Sproxley-measured cents.... Davy Acton wouldn’t get one, nor Broadwell, nor the girls upstairs. ”

“ The lot or lots only become the property of the buyer after full payment.
Every buyer is personally liable for purchases made. The Auctioneer reserves the right of grouping, separating or omitting lots. ”

“ For instance, at the Sunderland sale some lots sold for enormous sums, while a large number fell for a few shillings; but at the Hamilton Palace sales (William Beckford and the Duke of Hamilton) nearly every lot was of value, and although individual lots did not reach the sums realised at the Sunderland sale, the total was much larger. As an instance of what is meant, we may quote from the notice of the Ashburnham sale in the Times—
“The 1683 lots realised a grand total of £30,151, 10s., which works out at an average of as nearly as possible £18 per lot. ”

“ If he puts his house on a good lot, there is opportunity of selling it because of its favorable location, and thus the danger of embarrassment is averted. One can afford to borrow money to build on a good lot, for the reason that there is little danger of losing either the lot or the money. The house and the lot, if it rates well in the public mind, can be easily sold. The lot should not be selected or the house built, if its sale is not entirely possible. There are towns as well as localities in which no one of moderate means can afford to buy or build. ”

“ Lot to be sold by auction or other means and default on payment by the purchaser of the lot
(1) Where an order for sale is granted and the trustees under the order have complied with section 7 (1) in respect of the lot the subject of the order—
(a) subject to paragraph (b) , the lot shall be sold by public auction in accordance with the conditions specified in Schedule 2; or (b) if the whereabouts of each minority owner of the lot is known, the lot may be sold by any other means— (i) agreed in writing by each minority owner and majority owner of the lot ”

“ A person may have as many gift, or private donation out-lots, as he has such in-lots; the out-lots not required to be improved. The gift lots are to be disposed of on the following terms: the persons receiving them pay the prices above stated, and receive for the money thus paid, stock in the aforesaid bank. They are to improve the in-lots thus given to them, by building one dwelling-house for every such in-lot; one-half of the houses to be built within five years, and the other half within ten years, from the sale of said lots. ”

“ Are there any houses from which you get portions of your goods which might be characterized as second-class houses?-No.
16,032. Is it the case that you ever get job lots or over-seasons goods?-Never, unless in the ordinary way of trade. Perhaps an article may be shown to me by a traveller occasionally, but only one pattern out of fifty which may be described as a job lot.
16,033. You do not get in a larger proportion of these goods than other dealers in other country towns?-No; I never bought a job lot altogether in my life. We never pay by consignments of hosiery. ”

“ In a letter dated March 22, 1802, Mint of the United States, Philadelphia, Elias Boudinot wrote the Secretary of Treasury, giving an inventory of the real and personal property of the mint, as follows:
“Two lots on Seventh Street between Market and Arch, 20 feet each on Seventh Street and extending back 100 feet, with a dwelling house on the north lot and a shell of a house on the south lot, which last lot widens on the rear to about 60 feet on which the stable stands. These lots pay a ground rent of $27.50 per annum. ”

“ Thus, Mercer’s original titles to 17 lots were made secure by substituting new lots for the disputed ones he had occupied. This device enabled the feoffees to sell back the original lots—at £182 per lot—with new deeds drawn on the basis of the Savage survey. The final provision that lots be contiguous when a house larger than the minimum 400 square feet was built on them, and that the house and lots should not be separated by streets from each other, guaranteed the integrity of the mansion and its surrounding [Pg 46] land. ”

“ The first bid was a farthing, which seemed to be far beyond the expectation of the salesman, who at once knocked the lot down. The sale was such a success that it is proposed to knock down several more lots in a like manner. ”

“ Sproxley to show a deficit in the books having to do with my departure——”
“Bellair,” said Mr. Nathan, “a poor man can never win a suit against a strongly backed firm——”
“That is unfortunately true,” said Bellair, “but I am not poor. I came into an inheritance during [Pg 280] the past six months. The fact is, I think I could spend as much money to buy justice as Lot & Company would be willing to spend to prevent it.” ”

“ The plan—a loan and lottery combined—appears to have originated with Neale, who was appointed master of the transfer office established in that year (in Lombard Street) for conducting the business of the lottery. He acted in this way till about January 1699. The loan was divided into a hundred thousand shares of 10l. each. The interest on each share was 20s. annually, i.e. ten per cent. during sixteen years. As an additional inducement to the public to lend, some of the shares were to be prizes, and the holders of the prizes (determined by lot) were to receive not only the ten per cent. ”

“ In the business portions of the town, these large lots have been, of course, subdivided; but nearly all the citizens own a full lot for a residence, which enables them to produce an am ple supply of fruit and vegetables for family use, from their own gardehs. Rented property is extremely rare; in no city of the world do so large a proportion of the people own the houses in which they live. The size of the lots causes the city to cover an area probably ten times as great as an ordinary city of the same population. ”

“ The lot-sellers also resort largely to the country, and frequently try other callings, such as the sale of fruit, medals, &c. Some also sell lots only on Saturday and Monday nights. Taking these deductions into consideration, it may be estimated that only fifty men (there is but one female lot-seller on her own account) carry on the trade, presuming it to be spread over the six days of the week. Each of them may take 13s. weekly (with a profit of 7s. 6d.) , so showing the street outlay to be 1,690l. The “lots” are bought at the German and English swag-shops ”

“ One of the most experienced native business men assured me that in land speculation, which is even a more popular form of gambling than the public lottery—servants and street porters actually owning “lots” they have never seen, and never will see, and for which they are paying every month,—the venders never hesitate to make the number of instalments run into several years, in order to make the individual instalment as low as possible, because the purchaser, incapable of a “long view,” in no case realises the burden he is accepting, and merely looks at the amount he has to pay monthly. ”

“ In the present Lottery,
You may reap a golden harvest in Cornhill, and pick up the bullion in Silver-street; have an interest in Bank-buildings; possess a Mansion-house in Golden-square, and an estate like a Little Britain; pour red wine down Gutter-lane; never be in Hungerford-market; but all your life continue a May-fair.
By purchasing a HALF,
You need never be confined within London-wall, but become the proprietor of many a Long-acre; represent a Borough, or an Aldermanbury ”