FAMILY HOTELS ARE
HIVES FOR GOSSIP.
THAT'S WHY THEY ARE SO POPU-
LAR, SAY THE BUILDERS.
Flats Beat Residence Property, Too,
Because They Save Housewife's
Health, With Many Con-
veniences Thrown In.
Cheapness of building materials during the last two months has prompted a large number of persons to erect houses, for rent and for homes. According to the figures of one real estate firm the building for September and August is about double what it was for the same months in 1907. Lumber, glass, mortar and brick have all been unusually cheap, lumber especially. Labor has been easy to get and the price of good workmanship has been uniform and not too high. As a result there are many houses being built in the southern and eastern portion of the city.
The regular fall hunt for houses and suitable flats began a week ago, and while most of the desirable flats have been filled by this time there remain many tenable houses. The flat is growing in popularity in Kansas City, according to real estate dealers. In the summer time people who rent houses wish to go away for vacations, and many of them stay as long as one or two months. To be the tenant of a house while on an extended vacation is a hardship upon many and so they prefer to rent flats which can be vacated without any expense.
Many persons have found the flat to be the most convenient kind of residence in the winter. Heat is usually furnished, as is janitor service and light. For this reason those who have to rent or prefer to do so choose the flat or the family hotel.
The family hotel is gaining in popularity with the well-to-do class. There is no heavy work for the housewife and then there are many in the hotel, which gives ample opportunity for gossip. Many of these buildings are being erected in the south part of the city and in most cases every room in them has been leased before the work on the building was fairly begun.
The real estate market is just holding its own. The fall months are not considered the best months in the year for sale of residence property, though many farms and acre tracts change hands after the season's crops have been gathered. Business property does not fluctuate to a great extent in the fall or winter months. No important sales of that class of property have been made of late.
