22 WINNETKA WEEKLY TALK, SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1925 NEWS OF INTEREST IN REAL ESTATE AND BUILDING FIELDS FEBRUARY PEAK MONTH IN REALTY ACTIVITY Real estate market activity contin- ued on an upward curve during Feb- ruary, according to the monthly index of real estate transfers and "convey- ances in 41 typical cities compiled by the National Association of Real Estate boards. The index for Feb- ruary, just computed, is 173. This means that the actual number of trans- fers and conveyances in the cities re- porting was 73 percent higher during February 1925 than the average num- ber of transfers and conveyances rec- orded in the same cities during Feb- ruary in the period 1916-1923, the pe- riod taken as the base of the Associ- ation's index reckonings. 'The index for January of the cur- rent year was 171, for December pro- ceeding it was 158. The present up- ward swing has been in operation since November 1924, when the index 'was 144 The index for the month just past is the highest figure reached in the cities reporting in the nine years 1916- 1925, except for the months of Jan- uary and February of last year. For January of 1924 the index read 182, and for February, when the phenomon- al activity of the year reached its climax, the index was 183. 300 Municipalities Now Have Zoning Ordinances City zoning, designed to protect homg¢ owners and other land owners in the reasonable use of their prop- erty, has gained much headway in the past year, according to a statement just issued by the United States De- partment of Commerce. Sixty-two municipalities zoned dur- ing 1924, the department's records show. The number of cities and towns now protected by zoning ordinances has reached a total of 320, and more than 24,000,000 people are now living under such ordinances. Real estate boards under the leader- ship of the National Association of Real Estate boards have had a lead- ing part in the drafting of zoning ordi- nances so as to conserve the rights both of the general public and of the individual property owners affected. Of the total number of zoning ordi- . nances now in operation 199 are com- prehensive ordinances, regulating the use, height, and area of buildings, the department announcement states. Par- tial regulation, applying only to use of building, or in a few cases, to use and area, or use and height, is given by 121 ordinances." Divorces Fewer Among Home Owners, He Says The couple who own their own home are in little danger of grounding on the divorce rocks, according to Judge Joseph .Sabath, of the Superior Court of Cook county, known nationally for his work as a divorce judge. "Very few people who own their homes come into the divorce courts," Judge Sabath said in a recent address before the board of governors of the Chicago "Own Your Home" exposition, one of the circuit of such expositions licensed as part of the "Own Your Home" campaign of the National As- sociation of Real Estate boards. "Men are eager to stay in their own homes, to drive a nail or two and cut the grass. Having a home of her own gives the wife the opportunity to serve her husband that she does not have in rented quarters and this will make him love her more. If the home is hers she too will improve it and create a home life that will be attractive to and hold her husband." Home Town Boosters Vie in Oratorical Contest To pack all his pride and enthusiasm for his own city into a short five min- utes' worth of oratory is the feat to be asked of each entrant in the National Home Town Speech contest which is to be part of the program of the Na- tional Association of Real Estate boards for its annual convention, to be held at Detroit, June 23-26. Twenty cities of the United States and Canada will pit their charms and advantages against each other in the contest. The representative of each will be chosen by its local real estate board from among the board's membership. Number of cities entering the annual contest has grown so large that this year a preliminary elimination con- test has been arranged for. The pre- liminary contest will be held at the Statler hotel in Detroit, June 22, when three judges chosen by the national association will determine the 20 to compete for the Chicago Real Estate Board Silver Trophy cup in the final event, to be held June 23. The final decision will be made by three judges that the officers of the Detroit Real Estate board will choose. Miss Barbara Mettler has returned to Smith college after a short vacation at her home in Hubbard Woods, Your Insurance Edited By F. J. Budinger (What the 80 Per Cent Clause in Fire Insurance Means) The 80 per cent Clause is also known as the Co-Insurance clause, the Aver- age Clause dnd the Contribution Clause. All mean the same although the latter term is the technically cor- rect one. There is very much mis- understanding about this clause. It has been the cause of much argument and resultant ill-feeling on the part of poorly informed assured persons to- ward their insuring companies. The clause provides for absolute fair- ness to both assureds and insuring companies and is tempered as well as enforced by law in Cook county. In- asmuch as the actual value of the fire insurance carried to protect business properties, buildings and their con- tents, is governed by this Contribution Clause, it is extremely important that every business man, particularily, understand thoroughly the details of the*clause. We will attempt to ex- plain: Explains Contribution Clause "In consideration of the rate at which this policy is written, it is ex- pressly stipulated and made a condi- tion of this contract that this company shall be liable for no greater propor- tion of any loss than the amount here- by insured bears to eighty (80%) per cent of the actual cash value of the property described herein at the time when such loss shall happen, nor for more than the proportion which this policy bears to the total contributing insurance thereon. In case the claim for loss does not exceed five per cent of the total amount of insurance upon the property described 'herein and in force at the time such loss occurs, no special inventory or appraisement of the undamaged property shall be re- quired. If this policy be divided into two or more items, the foregoing con- ditions shall apply to each item separ- ately." Tells What It's All About This simply means that the fire in- surance rates applying to commercial risks in Cook County contemplate that the owners of property to be insured will carry a minimum of 80% per cent of the actual cash value of the prop- erty to be insured and that if such owners do not carry insurance equal or in excess of 80 per cent of the cash value of the property to be insured, then such owner in the event of a loss shall recover from the insurance com- pany no greater proportion of the loss then the amount of insurance carried bears to 80 percent of the actual cash value of the loss. Gives Same Examples Assume that you have commercial property worth $10,000 and you only carry $5000 fire insurance. You have a loss of $2000. Most folks would ex- pect to collect the full $2,000. The policy does not however provide for that because it stipulates that to be fully covered you must carry at least 80 per cent of the actual cash value of the property to be insured. In this case $5,000 was carried as against the required minimum of $8,000. There- fore 5-8ths of the loss is the maximum mount that the company is liable for. You can readily see that if $8,000 had been carried, 8-8ths or the whole of the loss would be recoverable. In another instance we'll say that a commercial property owner has property valued at $10,000 and carries $9,000 fire insurance. This assured is carrying better than 80 per cent of his value and therefore could recover the full amount of any loss not to ex- ceed $9,000 the total amount of his insurance. Shows When Clause Has no Effect If a loss equals or exceeds 80 per cent of the value of the property in- sured, then regardless of the amount of insurance carried ,the full amount of insurance can be collected. The clause does not affect insurance on dwellings, household furniture and flat buildings of the smaller type. Throughout this article we have re- ferred to an 80 per cent clause which is the percentage to be applied on com- We Will Build For You! "THE HOME YOU WANT" 10% Down Balance on monthly payments A complete service--plans etc. all included in our price. See the homes we have built on the North Shore from Wilmette to Waukegan. Lake County Construction Company 212 Washington St. Waukegan, Ill. Phone Waukegan 3031 10 N. Clark St., Chicago, Ill. Phone State 8825 # 4 mercial buildings in Cook County. This percentage can be adjusted in proportion to a special rate. Of course to reduce the percentage the rate is proportionately increased. Cites Reason For Clause The clause really regulates the cost of fire insurance in this County to make it absolutely equitable to all concerned. Note the following: Jones owns property valued at $10,000 and carries $8,000 insurance costing him $80.00. Smith owns property valued at the same amount and carries only $5,000 insurance for which he is pay- ing $50.00. In both instances the risks are similar, the rate the same. If there was no Co-Insurance Clause attached to either policy and fires oc- curred damaging each building to the extent of $5,000 both Jones and Smith would collect $5,000 under their poli- cies, whereas for the same amount of loss Jones would have paid $80.00 and Smith $50.00. This manifestly is un- fair. It is to take care of such in- justice that insurance companies re- quire that the Co-Insurance Clause be attached to the policy. (Note, Jones will collect $8,000 if the loss is that much.) Offers Information We solicit further inquiries in re- gard to the Contribution Clause. No doubt some of our readers will still have some doubts as to the meaning of the Clause. We hope that they will call on us through this column. It should be very apparent that every busi- ness man should know definitely wheth- er or not he is fully insured and we strongly urge our reader friends who own business property to get in touch with their insurance agent and have their insurance placed in order so that in the event of a loss there will be no misunderstanding about the insurance to be collected. Next week we will in our article publish a table showing the increase in building costs over the last 12 years. A reference to this will en- able home owners particularily to ar- rive at the correct amount of insur- ance that they should carry. Safety and Service EHIND the service of Smart and Golee, Inc. are reputation, large finan- cial resources, sound busi- ness principles, and an exec- utive personnel that has earned the confidence of its Encourage Interest in Landscaping, Gardening A class in flower culture and land- scaping open to the public is being conducted by the Tulsa, Oklahoma, Real Estate board. The course, aimed to give home owners and flower-lovers of the city the information needed for landscaping improvement, is an exten- sion of the regular technical real estate educational work carried on by the board. The class is conducted as part of the work of the night high school. It was opened following public re- quests for such a course. Aware of the value of attractive lawns to a community member boards of the National Association of Real Estate boards in a number of cities have been preparing the way for spring crocuses and tulips and for the summer's blossoming to follow them They are encouraging in every way the planting of trees, the cultivation of gardens and general civic beautifica- tion. The Denver Real Estate board plans to award prizes for the most beauti- ful premises and also for the best kept yards cared for by tenant rent- ers, as part of its campaign to "Keep Denver Beautiful." A floricultural committee has been appointed to pro- vide for the planting of trees, shrubs and flowers. Real estate boards of Omaha, Ne- braska, San Antonio, Texas, Minne- apolis, Minnesota, and Fort Smith, Arkansas, have taken a lead in devel- oping back-yard beauty through sim- ilar contests. Linden Cres Linden Avenue and Fifth Street WILMETTE | Aparlments One of the,Courts in the Why Not You? Many representative families are making the Linden Crest Apartments their home. Linden Crest North Shore You are in- vited to inspect the few choice apart- ments still remaining unoccupied. You will be attracted by the apartments themselves, the delightful hood, and the moderate rents. For Information call R. T. Davis, owner, Main 3012 or Wilmette 589 or see Janitor at Building Linden Avenue and Fifth Street WILMETTE neighbor- customers. Bonds and mortgages sold by this firm are secured by the best Evanston apartment buildings. The return of 6 to 61% per cent is certain. Ask for Our Securities List. ~coLE JOLEE: 1580 Sherman Avenue, EVANSTON University 285Rogers Park 0272 882 Pine Street EVERGREENS, PERENNIALS, SHRUBS AND TREES WINNETKA LANDSCAPE CO. Not Inc. M. J. SULLIVAN, Prop. GRADING--SEEDING LAWNS--TRIMMING--FERTILIZER BLACK DIRT--MANURE Men for private grounds by the day. WINNETKA, ILL. Phone Winn. 1549 una HT Pr fully insured. We do not Phone Wil. 1750 Wilmette, Illinois CLORE, BUDINGER & SMITH L ; " "Let us solve your insurance problems PEE EE Er Er EE EE EE LL hid ob of oe ole oe fe of of of of oe ole ob Be oko ole ole ole ob db oR lk BoB oR ob ob bb kdb dk kk blob bd ddd RRR de PLACE YOUR INSURANCE WITH A LOCAL AGENCY We will give you an appraisal of your property and advise you of the correct amount of insurance that you should carry to be represent reciprocal companies. 1177 Wilmette Ave. Opposite Village Hall LEI TEX S LE LI EL LEI LY Fly your own kite! Own your own home! IX is the pride of possession that encourages individual growth. We want you to own a home of your own. We have some special offers that'll interest you. GLENCOE REALTY COMPANY 665 Vernon Avenue Glencoe, Ill. Phone Glencoe 1158 FERTILIZER LIME CRUSHED STONE FOR DRIVEWAYS Edinger & Sons Evanston-Wilmette-Kenilworth-Winnetka-Glencoe Phone, Univ. 5035, Wil. 642, Winn. 643 TTY Br ep -------- remeron