The real estate business is one which engages the attention of a large number of people. Real estate, that is, land and buildings and all the varied interests in them, is of importance to nearly every one. It is logical then that a course on real estate should be included in the curriculum of a University School of Commerce.

The present work is designed primarily as a college textbook. It is written for the benefit of the student, and aims to make the principles and practices of the business of real estate comprehensible to the lay mind. The book is not a law book but necessarily includes discussions of some of the legal principles governing real estate transactions.

The need for a book on real estate for use by business men has been felt. It is hoped that those actually engaged in the real estate business, or whose interests bring them in contact with real estate affairs, will find that this book fills such a need.

Grateful acknowledgment is made of the debt of the authors to the late Walter Lindner, Esq., whose earlier work on the subject published by the Alexander Hamilton Institute and used as a text-book at New York University School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, has been a guide in the preparation of this volume.

Philip A. Benson Nelson L. North, Jr.