The ordinary real estate broker does a general business. His office is open to every transaction pertaining to real estate. He brings about purchases and sales, exchanges, rentals, mortgage loans; he also collects rents and places fire insurance. Some brokers make a specialty of certain branches of the business. They may work on real estate sales alone, or on placing loans, or on leases, sometimes leases of a particular class of property. Whether he does a general business, or specializes in a particular line, the legal rules applicable are the same and the essentials for success no different.

The broker should possess accurate information regarding the property he attempts to sell, rent, or mortgage. Some of the property is listed with him voluntarily, and some he goes out and obtains. In either case he should keep a record in which full details of the property are stated. The information should include a. Definite location. This may be by street number, but the dimensions of the plot should also be stated. This is true also of property designated by lot numbers; the prospective purchaser may want to know the size of the property. If possible a diagram of the plot should be obtained.

b. Description of improvements. Size of the house, number of stories in height, number of rooms and baths, construction material, kind of heat and light, floors, trim and decorations, age of building and whether in good or poor repair, if for one or more families, and if apartment house the number of apartments and rooms in each.

c. Price and terms of sale. The amount of existing mortgages and the terms of them. The amount of cash required and whether owner will take part of price in a purchase money mortgage and if so its terms. The particulars of any tenancy, the length of the term and the rent.

The foregoing, and any additional information, may for the sake of convenience and accessibility be recorded on a sheet or card ruled and printed for the purpose.3

Of course a broker should know whether the price asked by the owner is reasonable or not. His knowledge of other sales will help him to determine this. In renting property, he should be familiar with the rents being asked by other owners and brokers for similar space.

He should at all times be familiar with changing conditions, increasing or decreasing values, existing and proposed transit and all other things which affect or tend to affect values and rentals.

The broker, it may be repeated, is a salesman. Thorough familiarity with his stock of goods is a necessity. He will see to it that his office records are kept in such a manner as to be of the most value to him. The prospective purchaser with whom he deals may be a home-seeker, or an investor, or a builder. He must get him what he wants - he should present to him everything available. If he doesn't interest the purchaser some one else will. This may require the broker with a prospective buyer to seek the suitable property. He may have to look for a long time before finding the right parcel. When he locates it, he must obtain the price and terms and get the owner's agreement to pay him a commission for selling it.