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Page I THE H ALTON HILLS HOMESTYLE Saturday July Aspiring realtors tested on countless courses Contract Law Mortgage Law Law of Agency Mortgage Financing and Standards of Business Practice these are but a small sampling of the courses an aspiring real estate must complete before being licensed by a provincial governing body to trade in real estate These and countless other courses represent the minimum re for licensing which are updated regularly to reflect an sophisticated marketplace and to meet legitimate consumer expectations Real estate practitioners must continually up date their skills and training to pro tect the interests of consumers and by the same token ensure the ultimate in service For instance Realtors can explain the benefits of buyers for mortgage financing This lets the purchaser know precisely the type of home that can be afforded and assures the seller that an offer to purchase is made by someone who can assume the re quired financial responsibility Budget is a must for financial stability By FRED DUCK CA Today many people face large not because they haven t enough income but because they aren organized Why not resolve to put yourself on a sound financial footing and start with a budget The budget is a calculation of your total monthly income interest and dividends the famiK allowance and part time emplm ment compared to expenses including rent or mortgage utility bills repairs phone cable TV in transportation groceries clothes and child care With luck you 11 come up with a surplus and you should use it to pay down any credit card balances because here you are paving the highest interest in the per cent range Next pay off bank debt cur about 15 percent If you are a homeowner consider making bonus mortgage which save future interest If not a homeowner con sider becoming one You would pro vide yourself not only with a home but a sound investment on there will be no capital gams tax Payments taxes and utilities should not exceed 30 per tent of gross income you need a cart bt a good to buy one Since the appears to be in a downturn the interest rates bung offered through the financing arms of the tar art likely to be increasingly attractive Once your debtrs are paid you can map out a short term and a long term savings and investment plan Short term savings through a bank account 30day term deposits ind other liquid savings provide for such emergencies as car repairs and the sudden need for a new refrigerator long term savings will con of Registered Retirement Plans which allow your money to grow on a taxdeferred basis as you save for retirement and perhaps a Registered Educational Savings Plan the money is earned tax fret then becomes taxable to vour child when attending college or university Investing might include common and mutual funds As you grow older concentrate on securities with less risk Always look for sound investments first tax sa second Get organized now Not only will you avoid future debt crises but you will be laying the groundwork for long term financial security For advice TV set Your Wealth available on broadcast channels in Ontario and on satellite across Canada or see Money in the Bank on your table ntl is financial ad net Canada Units Duck is with Grossman andr Summei a great time for outdoor barbecues Summer is a time to entertain the outdoors is the perfect setting for barbecues get But before kick off your shoes and head for the sunshine Greetings and Gifts has a few tips will make doorentertainmg a breec Always an alternative plate to hold your gathering in ease of sum showers Keep food covered from unwanted insects and flies large food umbrella that sits on a picnic table or on the ground will protect your food from wanted visitors Or try hanging a wasp trap a two piece plastic dish filled with sugar and water in a tree or fence to and trap insects Clip plastic weights to your tablecloth and keep the corners from flying up when it gets windy A mesh on top of the barbecue allows you to cook mouthwatering shrimps scallops fingerfoods and fresh vegetables without fear of losing them to the coals Shish kebabs with plenty of fresh vegetables chicken seafood or beef make great summer meals Buy extra long shish kebab skewers when on a large party to allow for more room on the gnll Bamboo plate holders are an attractive solution to the problem of unstable and leaky paper plates Place candles around your patio to create a special atmosphere tone tins the there tor Most lending institutions for ex ample now add the energy costs to the I T formula Principal plus Interers plus Taxes in establishing a potential buyer s debt service ability This invariably brings into focus a need for the skills to properly assess the energy efficiency of a home and its potential effect on the transaction this is an area of financing where realtors can help Energy efficiency Good seller great buy Since the energy crisis of the early 70s all sources of energy whether for transportation manufacture or personal comfort have gained par significance as witnessed by the ever growing environmental concerns in our society The of energy factors as a condition of mortgage financing makes it ob vious why housing consumers should pay close attention to the structure and over all condition of any house Through their real estate boards Realtors have access to consumer information on energy efficiency in a program developed jointlv by the Canadian Electrical Association Mines and Resources Canada and the Canadian Real Estate The purpose of this program is to help such con identify these energy factors and their impact on the purchase or salt of a home Simply put energy expenditures might very well make a marketing standpoint the energy factor is very important to a residential property transaction It therefore wise to follow a simple energy checklist with the help of Realtor whether you re buying a house or trying to sell one The simplest wav to determine the energy efficiency of a home is the feather test glue a downy feather to i toothpick and run it along window door fnmes wall outlets and vents if any Drafts art the major cause of either heat loss in the winter or heat intake in summer which are good in dicators of home energy A look at healing system its type the degree of in by lot king behind a will oull for example ventilation the types of doors and windows the lifestyle the of the lis will ill help in determining the sumption factor In the home and home seller sctnar this simple checklist w ill serve important for potential buyer the overall to cam mortgage costs and for seller it could mean doing a few inexpensive and repairs to increase first the chances of a trouble free sale by extension the buyer market base which is so important when putting a house up for sale This article is supplied by he Canadian Real Estate Association to benefit consumers in the housing market For more information about the purchase or sale of a home con tact your local real estate board or nn Survey completed Wednesday July 11 MORTGAGE RATES ANNUAL INTEREST SIX mourn ONE YEAR ma YEAR THREE TEAR FOUR YEAR FIVE TEAR TRUST COMPANIES Canada Trust 14 14 14 14 14 25 14 Municipal Trust NA 14 14 14 14 14 50 CHARTERED BANKS Bank of Commerce A 14 25 14 14 25 14 Bank of Montreal 14 25 14 14 14 14 14 Bank of Nova Scotia A 14 14 14 14 14 Royal Bank 14 14 14 14 14 Toronto Dominion NA 14 14 14 14 14 This survey was prepared to help the Herald Homestyle readers track weekly Bank and Trust Company rates Scientists working to control pests Scientists at Agriculture Canada in Winnipeg and the National Research Centre in Cairo Egypt are helping each other develop environmentally friendly insecticides from a common soil bacterium The collaboration sponsored since by Canada s International Development Research Centre seeks to provide soybean and growers in both countries with safer alternatives to con entional chemical pesticides In addition the international partnership may help Egypt recover some of the 2 to million it loses every year when exchanging foreign currency reserves for chemicals to protect soybean and groundnut crops bacterium which may replace chemicals is call Bacillus or Bt degrades quickly in the environment and is harmless to humans livestock fish and foul says Dr Oswald Morris of Agriculture Cinada Research St ition Compared with agnchemicals Bt is i slow icting poison he adds Its toxicity stems from i protein crystal and dormant spore found winn each cell Inside a susceptible insect gut the crystals split into toxic fragments that tear the gut lining The spore then germinates bacterial population explosion which eventually kills the insect Although tiny amounts of Bt prove lethal to some insects not all species hive the proper gut environment to break the protein crystal diwn says Morns For them you have to use huge Bt Another variable affecting efficacy is the actual strain being us says Morris Some strains of including commercial products for forestry are effective against and quiloes explains Others art more suited to controlling spruce bud worm infest itions beetles Morns and his colleague Or are coordinating a search for work well against butterflies ind moths the foes of soybeans and So far their respective teams have isolated a number of promising strains which we consider to be significantly more toxic to crop pests the pro ducts Morris says In addition to testing their own discoveries the collaborators arc swapping Bt samples Egyptian strains may very well be effective against Canadian insects and vice versa says Morris Both research teams are also investigating- the prospects of enhanc Bt toxicity We re trying a lot of different approaches he says One way is to grow Bt on different media Another method is to see if toxic additives in our bacterial formulations will make insect guts more sensitive to Bt Once perfected Bt based products should have long lived tiveness and usefulness says Morris Because Bt products degrade naturally insects won develop resistance to them as quickly as to