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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1980)
ge 6 THE BATTALION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1980 DIETING? AHEM!!! Even though we do not prescribe diets, we make\ it possible for many to enjoy a nutritious meal\ while they follow their doctor’s orders. You will\ be delighted with the wide selection of low\ calorie, sugar free and fat free foods in the\ Souper Salad Area, Sbisa Dining Center Base-\ ment. Pre-Med/Pre-Dent Tuesday, February 26, 7:30 p.m., 301 Rudder Dr. Cunningham, Head of Ophtha- mology at Scott and White Clinic, will speak on his specialty. Accepting New Members dues: $5 per year ^^efreshment^Serve^^ Buying or renting: housing alternatives FOR FINDING By BRIAN BLALOCK City Reporter For many students, noisy upstairs neighbors and cramped dorm rooms are facts of life. But there are alterna tives. Buying or renting a house or purchasing a mobile home may be the answer for those who want more OPEN ZACHARIAS Monday through Friday 10:45 AM-1:45 PM QUALITY FIRST GREEN HOUSE CLUB & GAME PARLOR GOOD MUSIC, FINE DRINKS AND LOTS OF FUN — ULTIMATE -MUSICAL. -COMEDY -CELEBRITY IMPRESSIONS MARK McCOLL-UM . M8C ALL-NIGHT FAIR ADMISSION : SO.50 MARCH 1 SHOW TIMES: 3 PM 'I'l RM MSC MAIN LOUNGE SPONSORED BY: MSC AL.L.-NIC3MT FAIR & MSC RECREATION COMMITTEE HAPPY HOUR TIL 7 1201 Hwy 30 (in the Briarwood Apts.) BACKGAMMON TOURNAMENT — TONIGHT at 8 privacy. The availability of new housing in Bryan and College Station is good, with plenty of new homes being built. But with the present interest rates around 13 percent on new loans, it’s hard for a student to purch ase a new home. “There’s plenty of available hous ing — the difficulty is in the financ ing,’’ Kay Playter of Brazosland Real ty Service in Bryan said. “You can’t find that little house for $20,000 anymore that you used to be able to buy. New houses are sell ing for around $40 a square foot. Of the new homes that are being built in Bryan and College Station, probably the best price you can find is in the low 40s for a new home,” she said. Playter, who is a past president of the Bryan-College Station Board of Realtors, said few students can afford new houses, but sometimes the stu dent’s parents will buy a new or old house for them. She said there are a number of resale houses available in the area starting at around $30,000, depend ing on size and location. However, she added that financing is expen sive. “One of the problems with resale housing is that mortgage money is so expensive, and the payments are very high,” Playter said. She said young married couples who qualify might want to consider a loan from the Federal Housing Administration or the Veterans Administration. Playter said FHA loans are good because they require small down payments. The FHA loans also have small monthly payments during the first few years, which gradually in crease over the years as the couples’ income increases. VA loans require no down pay ment, are financed at 12 percent in terest and only require the buyer to pay a closing cost, Playter said. Since buying a new or old house is beyond the budget of most students, another option is to rent a house, if they are lucky enough to find one vacant. Frances Calliham, property mana ger at Homefinder Reality in College Station, said there are quite a few rental houses located north and south of the campus, but it is difficult to find a vacant one. “They seem to keep rented all the time,” she said. Calliham said she seldom has to advertise a vacant home because often the tenant who is moving out already knows a person who wants to move in. She said that most rental houses in the area are large three- or four- bedroom homes which the owners usually prefer to rent to families. She added that those houses which are available to students are two or three bedroom homes, usually unfur nished, costing from $145-$250 a month. Mobile homes are one way that students may he able to own their own home. When the time comes to sell the owner can make a profit on his investment. MSC Feb. 25, 1980 8 p.m. 601 Rudder FREE LI •M II | ^lf.1 IM 1%J MSC MSC Political Forum MSC Town Hall presents: Neil Simon’s ! i and I.S.A. chapter two Present March 6 8:15 p.m. Rudder Auditorium TICKETS: “Puerto Rican Independence” Students: Gen. Pub. Zone 5.50 6.75 ROBERTO APONTE TORO VICE PRESIDENT FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS for the PUERTO RICAN INDEPENDENCE PARTY down the home and sealing the roof seams to prevent leaks. In College Station, a person is re- quired to have a licensed electrician and plumber hookup the utilities un less the mobile home is designed for self-hookup. Mobile home owners from Bryan can do all the hook-ups with a homeowners permit. Blankenship said few students buy a mobile home because most don’t have the money or credit. Those buying mobile homes pay 10percent of the purchase price down, with the balance financed over a 12-year period. He said quite a tew parents do buy mobile homes for their sons or daughters to live in while at college, because they are able to take someof the money off their taxes. "A lot of the time, the student himself is making the paymentsand his dad is still setting it up on his tax roll,” Blankenship said. “It serves both their purposes — the students are supporting themselves more or less and at the same time their pa rents are getting a tax deduction,” He added that when parents do buy the home, it is considered secon dary housing and they must then pay 15 percent down with 12-year financing. Danny Blankenship, manager of Mobile Home Brokers in Bryan, said that saving money is one advantage to owning a mobile home. “Compared to renting a home, there’s no comparison. The mobile home is going to be cheaper to buy than a house is to rent, Blankenship said. “Resale on them right now is going up 10 to 12 percent a year. Blankenship said that mobile homes start in the $11,000 range for a small two-bedroom, one-bath, to around $50,000 for the large two- bedroom, two-bath, double-wide homes. He said the price of the homes includes delivery, materials and labor to block, level and anchor Blankenship said in the past, mobile homes have received U publicity about being unsafe, but with new government regulafa. mobile homes are becoming safer He said all new mobile homesari equipped with smoke detectors am! flame retardant materials inthesii ing and the roof. He added thatsons new mobile homes are equippe: with sliding storm windows forea? escape, and electrical outlets nes the sinks that will trip a breakerifa electrical appliance comes intocou tact with water. Blankenship had this pieced advise to give to the prospeefa mobile home buyer. “Look for a reputable dealer,"kr said. Dollar rises, gold teeters United Press International LONDON — The dollar in creased slightly in most European trading Monday. The price of gold rose marginally in London and drop ped in Zurich. Gold opened in London at $631 an ounce, up $1.50 from Friday’s close of $629.50. In Zurich gold dropped $7 from $637.50 to $630.50. The dollar opened in Frankfurt! 1.7615 marks, up from 1.7585;! Paris at 4.1302 francs, up b 4. 1287; in Amsterdam at 1.93 Dutch guilders, up from 1.9365;is in Milan at 813.85 Italian lira,' from 812.25. The dollar also rose in Lent where the pound sterling dropf from $2.2760 to $2.2730. TTTTTT^TTTTTTT TRAINING AVAILABLE SUPPLY AND FISCAL MANAGEMENT The Navy is seeking to train Supply Officers for management duties related to the material needs of Navy men and women. Subjects taught include disbursing, personnel management, computer science, merchandising, food service and retail operations and quantitative management. Competitive salaries. 30 days’ paid vacation earned each year. Insurance, medicsd, dental package. Non-taxable quarters and subsistence allowances. Applicants must have bachelor’s degree and be at least 19 and under 27 1 /2 years of age. For more information, see the Navy Officer Programs representatives in the MSC when they visit the campus on 26-28 February or contact your Placement Center officer for an appoint ment. Memorial Student Center GREAT ISSUES COMMITTEE DR. HAL C. BECKED SPEAKING ON MIND INFLUENCE AND SUBLIMINAL SUGGESTO spe s c fo By The av ence fan b ly of refe year’s offi reinforce Severa helped d close gam the Texas game earl Now th St w< Un MILW boys coacl nearing th will contii because hi retiremei Staubach. Landr Staubach, ment, will whether t “If Rogi be differe challenge, fourth bes Landry ting hard< today’s at! agents anc sure thrm media. “We pk day, mostl money,” have to b< the end ol T’ve be don’t knov It won’t be manageme Landry award nan poraries Lombar< Green B; Redskins Lombard annual < t Chapter i Writers c Landr quarterb have the' if it beco He saj < DID YOU KNOil THIS AD MIGHT EE INFLUENCING YOU? FEBRUARY 28 8 PM RUDDER THEATRE (Students 50 Non-dtudd $1.00