The opinions of experienced persons in close touch with the situation were divided as to whether, in making such purchases, Negroes had assumed too heavy obligations. One said his long experience showed that Negroes carry out what they undertake to do; that very few default on their payments, and when Negroes buy on the instalment plan "they pay out better than the whites do, as a rule."
Another said, though Negroes buy only old properties—and generally pay more than white people—they are careful in assuming their obligations and make their payments promptly. They pay down to the mortgage, in from three to five years, and sometimes within two years.
Another, who has been dealing with Negroes since 1907, gave his opinion that they undertake their obligations seriously, and as instalment buyers of property they are entirely satisfactory.
Still another South Side man who sells real estate to Negroes declared that he had been getting better payments recently than he did three or four years ago; in 1914, 1915, and 1916 he suffered considerable loss because of defaults in payments on purchases or in rents.
A former president of the Chicago Real Estate Board remarked that Negroes buy but do not build their houses, and are not yet sufficiently numerous to create a market for real estate; that white people will not buy back property once occupied by Negroes; that, as the numbers of Negroes increase, this situation might be changed, but that the Negro who tries to sell old property, on which he has put no improvements, will rarely find a buyer, because there is so much old property available.
Certain banks and loan firms thought there would be a general foreclosure of mortgages on recently purchased property as they fell due, that the Negroes are carrying such heavy payments on their contracts that they cannot reduce their mortgages and consequently renewals will be denied; that the Negro has not yet acquired sufficient stability to carry on payments over a long term of years, and if wage reductions become general they will fall most heavily on unskilled workers and render difficult the meeting of payments by such Negroes, who constitute the great majority.
Most of the firms that had dealings with Negroes, whether as buyers, borrowers, or renters, expressed satisfaction with their transactions with them. Typical of their comments was that of John A. Schmidt, who found Negroes to be prompter than Jews in making payments, and of Milton Yondorf, who said that Negroes, like the Italians, finish paying for one house before undertaking to buy another, and are eager to make the final payment.
While the preponderance of opinion was that the Negroes do meet their payments, it may be that experience is still too limited in Chicago and conditions have thus far been too abnormal to afford the basis for final judgment and future policy.
The first wave of buying by Negroes was stimulated by both Negro and white real estate agents because many dwellings had been unremunerative for several years. With the tightening up of the real estate market that ensued, Negroes became home hunters, and they are continuing to search.
There has been a wide variation in the prices paid by Negroes for dwellings. For some houses Negroes have undoubtedly paid more than could have been obtained from a white purchaser. One dealer's opinion was that the Negroes have paid full value. Another said that the Negro never pays higher for property unless the price is measured by what has been paid for it by white persons of the "fourth class"—referring to property that has descended from the original owner through three classes of whites before coming into Negro hands. Many purchases during the last two or three years have been made direct from the owners. An attempt made by white real estate men to come to an agreement regarding sales in new districts—whereby they would turn over to Negro agents all inquiries as to blocks where Negroes already lived, and Negro agents would not place Negroes in exclusively white districts—was unsuccessful.