Press of Atlantic City from Atlantic City, New Jersey • 64

E2 The Press Atlantic City NJ Sunday December 9 1990 MARKETPLACE Buying Power News consumers can use from our wire services: Portable mortgage lets you transfer loan The next home loan wrinkle may be something called the portable mortgage The portable mortgage which lets you transfer the old mortgage to the next house is a glimmer in says Sylvia Reynolds executive vice president of marketing and development for Citicorp Mortgage But Citicorp is working on a new variation that gives repeat customers some type of pricing advantage An example: If you go back to the same bank for a mortgage on a new home your origination fee could be waived Will the new portable mortgages happen? Says Dana Martin a financial analyst with the ederal Home Loan Mortgage Corp the key is whether consumers decide they need such a loan and whether the skittish secondary market is willing to buy them brokers may get a break brokers real estate agents who rep resent the buyer instead of the seller have been trying to break into the field for years without much success Their time may be com rx ing or one thing buyers are more successful in combining their fee with the cost of the house And they get negotiating help from an agent who is contractually obligated to look out for their interest The most serious obstacle has been opposition from local real estate boards that sometimes denied brokers access to listed houses changing thanks to a slow market says Bernadette McTighe who heads the Single Agency Realty Association in Rockville Md In fact real estate agents who have adopted the Multiple Listing Service Plus system agree in advance to split commissions with brokers Where no such arrangement exists up to the buyer to insist the broker get a percentage of the listing commissions In a soft market the seller is likely to agree Some points to consider before hiring a broker: brokers can represent buyers (exclusive agency) sellers and buyers at different times (single agency) or both parties at the same time (disclosed dual agency) Exclusive agencies are best They remove any conflict of interest You may be asked to sign an exclusive contract This is the least attractive feature of the broker arrangement It means you simultaneously work with many brokers and you may have to pay a commission even if you find a (for sale by owner) Before you sign the contract ask about a reduced fee if you locate a property yourself particularly one marketed by an owner Avoid retainers or hourly fees best to pay a flat amount instead of a percentage of the purchase price you want the broker to negotiate for the lowest possible price Make sure you know what if anything you will be charged if you terminate the contract WWW a Vf Jit Wps Label lover alert A new palm size electronic labeling system called Touch III is being introduced by Brother International Corp The system features a 62 character keyboard a 52 character memory a correction system 69 internal symbols an LCD display for editing a 12 character per second print speed in English or Spanish five type sizes and four type styles The suggested retail price is $24995 RECALLS rom our wire services The following is a list of product recalls repair programs and safety warnings: Nissan confronts steering problem Nissan Motor Corp has recalled about 33000 1987 1990 model Nissan Vans because of a potential power steering problem which could result in an engine fire The company said it was aware of one slight injury stemming from the problem The company said a power steering hose may deteriorate because of engine heat luid then could leak onto the exhaust manifold causing a fire Nissan said it would notify owners and perform repairs for free Seat buckle needs replacement WASHINGTON The manufacturer of Evenflo child safety seats is recalling the buckle assembly on some models because it does not meet government safety standards Consumers can telephone or write for a free repair kit the company said in a statement problem with these seats is that at times the buckle can look buckled and feel buckled even when it is not completely said Jerry Curry administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can give users a false sense of security that the child is Curry said if the buckle is not complete ly latched it can release during a crash and substantially reduce the protection provided to the The recall involves more than 3 million child safety seats manufactured between April 15 1985 and April 22 1990 Each seat has a black buckle housing and a red push button release People who own the seats should not return them to the retailer Evenflo said They should request a repair kit which includes a replacement buckle assembly that is easily installed Consumers should continue using the seat until the replace ment arrives but should make certain the buckle is engaged by pulling down firmly on the crotch strap the company said The recall involves infant only car seats with the model numbers 441 442 443 444 445 446 448 456 458 201 and 202 convertible infant toddler seats with model numbers 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 411 412 414 415 416 417 453 454 221 223 and 228 and booster seats with model numbers 470 471 and 242 To obtain a repair kit consumers should call 1 800 837 8926 or write to Evenflo at 1801 Commerce Drive Piqua Ohio 45356 Now is good time to buy a house Have you been thinking about buying a home? There are some very good buys on the market right now and if you can swing a decent deal owning a home might be the right move for you The major question you have to ask yourself before you go home shopping is much can I A general rule of thumb is that you usually can qualify for a mortgage loan of two to two and one half times your income or example if your family has an income of $30000 a year you can usually get a mort gage of $60000 to $75000 Lenders use many other fac tors to determine how large a mortgage they will give you or example lenders generally pre fer that your housing expenses including mortgage payments in MR ACTION surance taxes and special as sessments not exceed 25 to 28 percent of your gross monthly income Other long term debt added to your housing expenses should not exceed 33 to 36 percent of your gross monthly income A second question you will want answered is much money do I need for a downpay ment and closing Lenders like to see you make a downpayment of 10 to 20 percent of the price As for the closing costs generally they range between three and six per cent of the loan amount Other costs may enter into the deal too such as private mortgage insur ance A third question to get answer ed is do I get the best mortgage Since mortgage packages vary widely it is wise to investigate all the types available This newspaper for example lists comparative mortgage rates each Sunday in the section or your information The Consumer Information Center has several new publica tions available that might be of interest to you Calories and Weight: Item 178W at a cost of $175 Good Sources of Nutrients: Item 171W at a cost of $5 New Car Buying Guide: Item 468W at a cost of 50 cents Buying a Used Car: Item 467W at a cost of 50 cents Cosmetic Surgery: Item 470W at a cost of 50 cents To order any of these publica tions send your name and ad dress along with the item num ber and the appropriate fee to: Woods Consumer Information Center Pueblo Colo 81009 Mr column appears every day except Monday and Sat urday If you have a question or problem you think he can solve write to Mr Action The Press Devins Lane Pleasantville NJ 08232 Be sure to include your name address and telephone number Please do not send origi nal documents you want returned Mr Action reads each letter he receives He prints only those that are the most interesting or helpful He regrets that he cannot re spond individually to those letters not used Act now to prevent yule debt disaster MONEY MANAGEMENT Los Angeles Times Service The Christmas shopping sea son is officially under way or many consumers that means trouble Already overextended with credit card borrowing and other debt too many consumers spend way beyond their means during the holidays When January rolls around left with a hang over of unpaid bills and unhappy creditors Christmas spending sprees often be the final straw that hits already in the debt doghouse says Gary Stroth exec utive director of the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Los Angeles a nonprofit agency that helps people with debt problems The busiest season for overextended consumers is Janu ary ebruary and March all the Christmas bills Stroth says Avoiding a debt disaster is es pecially important now as the economy flirts with a recession that could threaten your job pay raise or investments Here are some common sense tips on avoiding post holiday financial blues: Make a budget and stick to it igure out how much you can reasonably afford to spend One way is by listing your income from wages and investments and then subtracting your regular minimum monthly expenses such as rent or mortgage pay ments food auto loan payments insurance and utility bills left is discretionary in come that you could use for Christmas spending Once you figure out how much you can afford make a list of those you wi IL give to and the amounts per person Take the list with you when you go shopping If you spend less on one person you can spend more on another Shop for bargains but resist the temptation to spend more than your total Recognize the warning signs of too much debt You have no business increas ing your borrowing at all if you fit any of the following conditions: your payments are always late and you are constantly receiving collection notices from creditors you are constantly taking cash advances on your credit card you are opening up more credit cards just to pay off debts on other cards you are using sav ings to pay basic monthly bills such as rent or utilities your savings total less than three months of after tax earnings or you use more than 20 percent of your take home pay to pay monthly non mortgage install ment debts such as car payments and credit card bills Reduce your credit card costs If you tend to carry an account balance use bank issued credit cards such as Visa or Mastercard instead of retailer issued cards The average interest rate on bank cards is about 187 percent compared to 20 percent and high er for many retailer cards says Elgie Holstein director of Bankcard Holders of America a consumer credit protection group And by shopping around you can find bank cards with rates that are lower than aver age On the other hand if you pay off your accounts in full use a retail card Holstein says They generally charge annual fees Understand the costs of credit card promotions and gim micks Many issuers for example of fer options where you have to pay eve ry other month Sounds great But finance charges will gener ally continue to accrue during the months you pay Consider alternatives to bor rowing and spending Use cash At least you can only spend what you have Or go on a Christmas savings program ig ure out what you spend on Christmas and make it a point to save a twelfth of that amount each month during the year (Bill Sing authors this column for the Los Angeles Times He wel comes comments and suggestions but regrets that he cannot respond individually to let ters and phone calls Write to Bill Sing Los Angeles Times Times Mirror Square Los Angeles Calif 90053) Marina makes way for MGM Grand By ELLIOT KRANE or The Press LAS VEGAS The Marina Ho telCasino closed its doors Nov 30 to make room for the proposed 5000 room MGM Grand Hotel which will incorporate the Mari hotel tower into the overall plan The new hotel will cover 115 acres including the Marina prop erty and the Tropicana Golf Course which was closed in Oc tober inancier Kirk Kerkorian is the major shareholder in the MGM project which will carry a $750 million price tag About 300 employees were let go at the Marina and about half of them have already found new jobs Record casino win Nevada gamers continue to set records for casino wins as the Gaming Control Board reported a September total of $4823 mil lion $30 million more than July the previous record high total VEGAS WIRE Each month Nevada casinos have taken in at least $400 mil lion in gaming revenue with a predicted $5 billion for 1990 In September Clark County casi nos which includes Las Vegas won $3503 million a $684 mil lion increase over the same month last year Much of the Clark County reve nue was produced by the large Strip casinos but the actual casi nos can not be named by the control board according to law However it is judged that Cae sars Palace Circus Circus the Las Vegas Hilton and lamingo Hilton The Mirage and Excali bur provided the largest win fig ures Mirage shark tank Steve Wynn is considering a move to include a 500000 gallon shark tank to be added to his recently opened dolphin exhibit He feels that his erupting vol cano in front of The Mirage plus the white tiger habitat the tropi cal atrium and his fish tank be hind the front desk have helped him to realize a $50 million in come monthly since the resort opened in November 1989 His shark tank project is esti mated at $8 million to $9 million which he says is already in the bank His dolphin tank costs $9000 a day and the hotel owner plans to charge a single admis sion of $5 per person for the sharks and the dolphins Newest casino hotel The newest hotelcasino in Las Vegas the $56 million Santa in the northwest section of the city has been approved by the state Gaming Commission follow ing a 45 minute hearing Sahara Casino Partners will operate the hotel Currently the group operates the Hacienda and Sahara in Las Vegas and Pioneer in Laughlin The new casino will have 1500 slot machines and 30 table games Included in the Santa will be an ice rink and a state of the art bowling alley The hotelcasi no will open in early 1991 New hotel to open A hotel that may or may not have a casino is being completed by National Heritage Industries Inc and will open in ebruary Originally United Gaming a company that operates slot ma chine routes had agreed to in stall the casino but recently pulled out of the project Heritage Vice President red Keiserman said that the 310 room Chaparral Hotel will open with or without a casino Both National Heritage and United Gaming are looking for a replace ment operator to oversee the gaming part of the hotel on Desert Inn Road near the Las Vegas Convention Center (Elliot Krane is a free lance writer living in Las Vegas Nev) Video: Camcorders come in all sizes formats (Continued from Page El) has better picture resolution and loses little quality when copied But some like the feeling of sta bility actual or perceived they get in the larger VHS camcor ders But you should do some home work before you purchase your camcorder said Mike Lahman a camcorder specialist at Lee Mac videophiles want the ulti mate in high tech but I recommend high tech to the nor mal When you go shopping for a camcorder investigate the fol lowing: Camera format There are three kinds: standard VHS which uses the same big video cassette as your VCR so you can take it out of the camcorder and put it right into your video recor der VHS the same size tape as a VHS but in a smaller cartridge that you put into an adapter and play directly in the VCR and 8 mm a cassette tape that you must play through the camcorder into your television and make VHS copies on the VCR Standard VHS and 8 mm have a two hour recording time the VHS can record for only 20 minutes at standard speed speaking the 8 mm will yield the best picture quali Lahman said camcor ders of any format produce rea sonably clear Sound quality The VHS and VHS camcorders use a linear audio track usually mono and low fi (a few of the higher priced models are stereo) The 8 mm have a single audio frequen cy modulation that produces an 8 mm hi fi sound which is con sidered far better than the VHS and VHSC audio Some more ex pensive 8 mms also are stereo But whatever kind of camcor der you select be careful of what you say when using it Lahman advised: omni direc tional so they pick up sound in all Reproduction quality Ex perts say all camcorder record ings will lose some image quality when copied However most agree that the 8 mm has superior quality to begin with and loses about only 10 percent of image quality per copy The VHS can lose up to 30 percent and the VHS loses about 15 percent when it is put into the adapter even before copying Shutter speed Many camcor ders automatically set the shutter speed 1 60 or 1 100 of a second are used for normal shooting Some more expensive models offer 1 4000 or 1 10000 of a second need 1 10 000th of a second to capture a bullet going through a target or an ar row through a Lahman said Lens aperture or stops The lower the stop the better the lowlight power Most camcor ders have a capability of 16 more expensive models 12 Lux ratings These describe how sensitive the camcorder is in low light conditions lux is equal to one candle at 10 feet burning in a Wayman ex plained The lower the lux rat ing the better the camcorder can tape in low light conditions your lower light areas you lose color sharpness and have some graining so the image is not as well said Lahman Most camcorders have a 5 lux rating but some of the high end models can have a lux rating as low as 5 Zoom lenses Most camcor ders have auto focus zooms so you have to worry about focusing The average camcorder has a 6 1 or 8 1 zoom ratio mean ing it can magnify the image six times or eight times to one More expensive models have a 10 1 or 12 1 ratio Expect to pay about $250 or more for the better zoom ratio Automatic white balance A standard feature on most cam corders the automatic white bal ance adjusts the unit so that it maintains accurate color in vary ing light conditions Editing capabilities Most camcorders (all 8 mm and many of the VHS models) have a flying erase head which allows the user smooth transition from shot to shot Many have edit search and review capabilities allowing you to play back what just shot Higherpriced models in clude more elaborate editing possibilities such as adding an insert into an existing shot or offering split screen techniques Batteries Most are not inter changeable among the different brands so you have to buy the battery the camera manufacturer makes The average battery lasts 45 minutes per charge Lahman said and takes about an hour to recharge A one hour battery costs about $45 2 hour $75 Tapes They range in price from about $4 to $10 for 2 hour VHS (there are many different grades and qualities) about $695 for a 20 minute VHS and $6 to 10 for a two hour 8 mm can buy cheap said Wayman not a good idea for good.