Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • 71

MORTGAGE RATES K2 INTERNET K3 FANNIE FREDDIE K4 fticfcmori) Simw-jDispafeb Section Classified KaSide K5 Editor Dorn Rom (804) 6494809 When it was nalongetneecled for the Fair the Belgian FriendshipMlding Was given Home equity can provide holiday cheer WASHINGTON Could your biggest holiday gift be hidden away not under your tree but somewhere you thought to look your house itself? Could you use an extra $20000 to $30000 tax free? Then gather the fire to learn of this extraordinary end-of-the-year cheer Thanks to tumbling mortgage rates high real tate appreciation rates and generous new loan financing limits from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae you may be able to pull aubstan- the housing BOB OWMMfflMES-OBNHCH The ftelglan BuPdbtg tptoe two baa rebefs bi eehunlc sandstone Plana call for transforming the buldbig Into i center for the tine and performing arts tial cash out of your home equity during the coming few weeks You can use the tax-free money for whatever you like: a vacation in Europe where favorable exchange rates stretch your dollars further than ever right now A new car College tuition bills A down payment on a place at die beach "'-Mortgage interest rates have droppeasgnificantly in December and are new at a point verging on £25 percent for SOyear money where refinancing could make sense foryou Foflowtag bond Rutst lead Robert van Order chief economist at Freddie Mac the giant home loan investor says that mortgage rates have been following the bond mar-kefs lead downward in recent weeks Part of the reasoa: widespread expectations of lower rates early next year because of the slowing economy and possible moves by the Federal Reserve topush down rates even fur- tljer Doug Duncan chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America believes economy is slowing a lot faster than almost anybody He cites softness in auto sales computer sales corporate profits and the early signs of higher unemployment Average home mortgage rates which topped out at 86 percent for 30-year loans last May dropped nationwide to 717 percent last week But in many markets 7 percent to 725 percent is readily available to borrowers with good credit histories fL rr a a R-HJa fl I in imnh mm wwi immoral uis HWpHi hmmp iwiin dt 9 ymj University plans effort to renovate structure BY LINDSAY KASTNER Tmeb-Dispatch Star Winn he 1939 Fair saluted Ingenuity and innovation Now more than 60 years later contribution to the fair prepares tor a face lift in Richmond When it was no longer needed for the fair the Belgian Building was given to Virginia Union University after it could not be returned to Belgium World War II had begun in Europe It was reconstructed on campus The comer- -stone was laid in 1941 '-r Once home to the university's library the Belgian Friendship Building began housing the musk and -art programs about 18 months ago after the new Douglas Wider Library and Learning Resource Center opened The building held the school's physical plant as welL A gymnasium remains in one wing -of the facility' University President Bernard Franklin said simply moving the arts programs into the existing Belgian Building space do Justice to the vision he has for the school He (dans to 'embark on a $15 million to $2 million renovation that would transform the building into a center for the fine and performing arts The university recently received $500000 matching grant tor the project from the Mary Morton Puaona Foundation in Richmond Gerald Bloodsaw VUU vice president for institutional advancement said that grant pro- vided the backing necessary to make the Belgian Building renovations a priority The Mary Parsons Foundation is a catalyst to help us move he said The building which represented a modernistic design at the Fair has art deco murals on the side Two bas-reliefs in ceramic sandstone represent the Belgian colonization of the Congo The materials used in the building promoted a theme of Belgian national unity and are Belgian in origin The Robert Vann Memorial Tower named by VUU for an alumnus who became an outstanding b)ack publisher is more thim 100 feet talL The tower originally was a 35-bell carillon At the foot of the belfry a haut-rellef in ceramic sandstone is the work of sculptor A Vriens and depicts King Albert with the Belgian heraldic lion Each semester about 600 of the All of which opens the door to a financial move you may not have contemplated Why not take advantage of the sweet combination of economic forceA dhder way to refinance your mortgage and to pull out some tax- free loot to boot? Moi you ask? Yes you even if you think your current interest rate inf all that bad Consider this scenario Say got an 8 percent $175000 fixed-rate mortgage You bought your house for $200000 Thanks to appreciation now SEE HARNEY PAGE K3 roughly 1600 students take a claae in music speech and drama or fine art programs Bloodsaw and Franklin said enhanced facilities could help those numbers grow even more Franklin also spoke about someday adding a museum studies program and an art therapy program to the offerings Ultimately Franklin said he would like to see the building contain not only classrooms but studio spaces and an art gallery A highlight of the planned renovation includes transforming the former library space into a 400fr500eat theater ao that we could move all of our main stage productions back to Franklin said The old library area is used for speech and drama classes but most performances are held off campus hi nearby theaters "We would hope to create some sort of community theater inviting the public to school performances on campus Franklin said Valerie West assistant professor at speech and drama is on a task force to discuss the Belgian Building renovations West is able to give insight to what changes would best suit the needs of students and faculty One need is putting ima permanent wall to dose off the set design area she said classroom shares one large space with the shop area Backdrops from previous plays divide the room into two portions but don't provide an adequate sound barrier This means that West teach a class or lead a rehearsal at the same time others work on building a set Bloodsaw said the Belgian Budding will be renovated in phases with the first phase cleanup effort to begin at the end of this semester He said that by early spring he would Klee to see the building enhanced with changes like fresh paint and new carpet The plans for improvements are far from final but Bloodsaw said additions to the existing structure out of the question Any additions he said would take into account the building's historic nature Franklin said the renovations bypass the exterior of the building a rather ddMdkfing that has suffered over time he noted Though grant money helped to make the Belgian Building renovations a priority Franklin said he has no intention of leaving the rest of the campus untouched The eager president hss plans for campuswide improvements snd additions Franklin and others are mulling over a number of campus modifications though plans for future changes have yet to be presented to the board of trustees which must approve the changes vision includes increasing the on campus and creating a more cohesive campus that vrould provide a safer environment for students on foot Much of this plan hinges on a pro- SEE VUUL PAGE K2 Real estate pips lace on CORNER LOTS mwjyour- jyj home and plan to move: WIBtheV floor plansuit your heeds? If clients visit considers room on the first fioorV with easy accesafrom the yJ: 1 entryMf you wontbave clients '1 visits you will want a quiet 1 room away from family tctM- ties -y Plan for more phone lines and electrical outlets for com- puter fax machine copier etc incase you add equipment later Laminate or tile flooring will stand up to heavy wear -l4 and tear and make it easier to roll a desk chair back and forth If you prefer carpeting select a durable low-pile weave vl For a dean tailored look think about built-in shelving andor furniture Flooring paint andor wallpaper in soft tints will give your home office a more ener- a getic ambiance This information is from JCaufman and Broad Home I Corp a Francbased home builder with divisions in Arixo- oa California Colorado Neva- da New Mexico and Texas his own Web site wwwreutlawcom Dorfman a New Jersey landlord and former tenant Started his site when he got tired of going down to hia town hall every year to fill out forms to rent his properties It was really for my own convenience says Dorfman 1 was also curious shout the different laws that were out there Dorfman also happens to be a document management consultant for DMR Consulting Group a computer consulting firm in New York City So it was easy enough for him to put all the information on a Web site Soon other landlords and tenants started asking him to post more information on his site Before long the focus of the site began to grow to a national ral Last month Dorfman announced a newly revamped Rentlawxom Web site Rentlawxom Is not the first Web site that has attempted to gather information on landlordtenant laws in the 50 states Until now the New Hampshire Prop- SEE HERMAN PAGE K2 Internet site onlaw proves to be helpful Anyone who has cruised the Web knows hard to find anything of real substance When you realty need to get answera to questions the Web can be infuriating The search engines come up with a lot of junk and it can take an hour to get what you need wone is when you finally find what looks like the answer to your tenant question but then you realize it doesn't even HERMAN apply to your state David Dorfman yOUr knows how hard it is to anartmont" find information on the apartment been Web surfing for landlordtenant information for the past 2 years and now has built sellers in touch with agents The point? Technological change has become one of the constants of the real estate business and the Internet is just the latest technological change The widespread availability of information to consumers over the Internet is not a threat to real estate professionals but merely the latest way BY REX BOWMAN Tmes-Dbtatch Star Warns roanone Think the Internet is the only technological advance ever to radically change the way real estate is bought and sold? Then think back just 15 years when new-fangled contraption called the fax machine started popping up in offices nationwide No more driving 30 minutes across town to get piece of paper into a hands In the past two decades fax machines have made some lengthy trips obsolete computers with delete keys have replaced the typewriter and White Out and cell phones and pagers have proved better than hastily scrawled Post-It notes at keeping real estate buyers and to make transactions more efficient according to Doug Sawyer presidhit of the Virginia Association of Realtors Technology is nothing more than a tool to help ns better sendee the clients SEE TECHNOLOGY PAGE K4 'Camr lots hsfcstwe tor mi estate consumes A.