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Article: A brief history of real estate by Doug Crocker
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- December 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2006 Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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Doug Crocker has made buckets of money riding real estate
investments through ups and through downs, and he's seen four
recessions. But what really sticks in his memory is the pegboard.
"We used to keep rent records on what was called the 'old
pegboard system,' " Crocker says in his exuberant and forceful way.
"You're a resident in 1-A, you got a piece of paper. If a piece of
paper is on the pegboard, you didn't pay your rent. If a piece of
paper is off the pegboard, you paid your rent. I'm serious. That's
the way it was done.
"Real estate in those days was really controlled by thousands of
people," Crocker says. "A family might own a four-flat, and they