M»it 14 • rtAii«uc//ti.r.n - n burbot/.». here & £ there in Business -- Century 21 branch office serves Johnsburg Alternative financing methods "acceptable" again Now that mortgage interest rates have reversed their downward trend, alternative financing methods once again are becoming more acceptable. A recent survey of more than 1,400 savings and loans across the country, conducted by the United States League of Savings Institutions, shows that justable-rate mortgages were ing offered by 58 percent of the Savings and Loans, while 30- year, fixed-rate loans were being offered by 59 percent. Balloon mortgages - loans at lower rates with the outstanding balance due in full at the end of three or five years - were being offered by 31 percent of the thrifts. One in nve institutions offered one-year balloons. Eleven percent offered growing- equity loans in which payments typically increase 7.5 percent a year and the increases are applied to the principal owed, allowing repayment in 15 years instead of 30. Six percent of the thrifts offered graduated- payment loans. Data collected by the National Association of Realtors show that during the high interest rate period one year ago, alternative financing methods, including seller-financing, were used in 48 percent of all home resales. When interest rates dropped earlier this year, alternative financing was used in only 24 percent of resale transactions. A return to alternative methods can be expected unless interest rates for fixed-rate, long-term mortgages decline again. One of the newest methods, now being used in 38 states, is a convertible adjustable-rate mortgage. This program permits the borrower to convert an adjustable-rate mortgage to a fixed-rate loan after a three- or five-year period at no cost. The Federal Home Loan Mortgage ^Corporation (Freddie Mac) has agreed to purchase such loans from 181 lenders, with most of the funds being used to finance new homes. Seller-financing and experimentation with other financing methods . are continuing, but low-interest, fixed-rate loans will not return until tKe federal government stops spending more money than it's taking in. t Century 21 CARE Real Estate, Inc., of McHenry has opened a new branch office at 2313 Johnsburg Road/ Johnsburg. An open house to celebrate the grand opening will beheld from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15. Free pumpkins and treats will be given away to children, as well as apple cider, coffee and cake for adults. C e n t u r y 2 1 representatives are shown in front of the new office. From left are: Ed S c h u l i e n , b r o k e r - manager; and real estate a s s o c i a t e s R o y e Roadman, Lee Besserud, Bob Danczyk, Diann Arroyo and Jan Wilcox. Phone directory in debut Saving Money 17 cents of electricity dollar for environment Nearly 17 cents of every dollar that a Commonwealth Edison residential customer pays for electricity goes for environmental costs, a new study by the company discloses. The average residential customer, who used about 6,310 kilowatt' hours in 1982, incurred an environmental cost of $85.12 for the year the study shows. For commercial and industrial customers, the environmental cost represented more than 20 gercent of their total electricity In 1982, Edison spent an estimated $799 million to estimated $799 million to im prove environmental quality, an 1981 expenditures. The largest expenditures were to pay the difference between higher cost low sulfur coal and oil and the lesser amount the company would have paid if it were able to burn high sulfur Illinois coal without exceeding air quality standards. Another large expense is the carrying charges on $1.14 billion in environmental plant investment, according to the study. The dawn of a new telecommunications age inspired the cover of the new Illinois Bell Telephone directory that made its local debut in McHenry Oct. 11. "We wanted to suggest what the marriage of com munications technologies and computers means to consumers," said Community Relations Manager David Dunlap. There is the potential for an exciting array of new customer services, as the back of the directory points out. There will be more choices and more decisions to make about phone service, more competition and less regulation. Illinois Bell will continue to be the place where the flow of words and information begins and ends - "the Gateway to the Information Age. Inside the new directory, the Customer Guide pages give information on how to do business with Illinois Bell, instructions on local, long distance and international calling and money saving tips. Green community pages - a directory within a directory - incluife postal zip codes, points of interest in tne community, tips on how to save energy, consumer buying information, emergency first aid instructions and other problem solving information. "The back of the directory should also be of interest to consumers," said Dunlap. "Back by popular demand is space to write down your special numbers." A credit rating follows y° lal Jewel cooking class announced The latest Jewel cooking class has been announced as follows: Wednesday, Oct. 19, Mexican - Ole! Quesdadillas, Nachos, Peppers and more surprises. Lots of tasting! Classes are conducted at the Jewel Food Store, 4222 Elm , OCT. 12TNM TIIIS., OCT. 18 SALE DATES Sale 8#99 Less mail- ^ ,eM 3.00 California Black Velvet Canadian Whisky Refund details in store CkaMis-Ughts-ZMNM 1.75 LITRES 15 LITRES Street, McHenry, from 7 to 9 p.m. Advanced registration is necessary. For more information contact Marian Minicone, Jewel home economist and instructor at 312 696-1462 or Bill Milzer, store manager, at 8l5 344-1408. DCCA GRANT The Department amerce and Community Affairs will allocate $ 2 4 6 , 0 0 0 t o International Harvester to help train more than 900 employees o on new techniques and equipment at its Melrose Park olant. by Charlie Watters What's in a credit rating? I didn't know until a friend with the International Consumer Credit Association sent me a booklet about consumer credit. - In the next few paragraphs,.I'll ( cover the high points and what a good or bad rating can mean for you. Credit can be thought of as our promise to pay for, at a iter date, something you want or need now. A credit rating, then, is how faithful you are in making good on that promise. As you or yOur family apply for credit, past credit records are reviewed to see if you're "credit worthy". You may be asked to provide names of people who would consider you a good financial risk if you've never had credit before. A check will be made into the information you provide on the application. Questions will be asked about your current circumstances such as income, charge accounts, bank accounts and other financial obligations. A good credit rating, or for that matter, a bad rating, will follow you around no matter where you live. Information is exchanged between credit bureaus and credit managers of businesses regularly so a person wtfly^an't outrun artwd rating- by moving to another part of the country. You can take a good rating with you, though. A copy of your file can be sent to the new credit bureau in the city you're moving to and included in their file. \For a fee, a credit bureau provides business subscribers a detailed financial picture abou* you. It helps the business dccidt if you're "worth the risk". For a person looking to establish a good rating, bank accounts are an important first step. Those accounts show to a large extent how well a person m a n a g e s t h e i r finances..whether the accounts are consistently overdrawn or not. Buying on layaway is another approach to establishing a good credit rating. It merely means buying a large ticket item Horn a store and taking possession after the last installment is paid. ' Approaching credit this way will show the store how prompt and reliable you are in making payments, which means a - lot when a person seeks credit from them. Remember it's how Vou use the credit card tfiat determines your rating, not just the fact you have one. That brings up another point...applying for charge accounts at local stores (tuid being approved) is usually simpler that going after a major credit card. i < J , What can a person do; to correct a bad rating? The Only way is to begin making the regular monthly payments* in the amounts that are stated? on the monthly bill. By taking <ttns action the rating-win fwtflly correct itself. You may wan$ to pay the balance off as soortas possible to avoid the interest charges that accumulate. % The credit bureau i% made put to be the villain by too many people who have a bad ratijig The individual and ^usiii^fees that a nas credit with iciuaily determine a person's rating...not the credit bur*»5»^. 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GERMAN OKTOBERFEST WINE SALE-SAVE UP TO 30% THIS WEEK OUR IVIRYiAY IOW fRICI »'1US DIP OUR I WPRICt Seven-up Diet 7-up like Cola Sugar Free Like Cola PiUS'QEP 8 16 OZ BUS ad/210/2 aSfiofifi 1007 N..FRONT ST. (S. RTE. 31) McHENRY 385-7747 HOURS: Mon-Fri, 10-5=00 Sot 9-5