Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 January 1998 — Page 26

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24,1998

Financing your dream home BUSINESS

You’ve decided to venture into the world of new construction and you're understandably excited about watching this dream become a house. Building a home is an exciting but complex process. How do you get the money? How much can you REALLY afford? Are you getting in over your head? Hopefully today’s column will help answer those questions. Financing your dream home doesn’t have to be a problem; but it does mean you need to investigate your options and decide what meets your needs. It probably wont be possible to decide exactly what financing package you will use until AFTER you select a builder, but initially it will be helpful to call a reputable banker andget pre-quali-fied. As I have mentioned before, - getting lull mortgage approval will remove any uncertainty and give you leverage with negotiating. Mortgage approval it THE best option, pre-qualification is the least you must do. What is pre-qualified? Pre-quali-fication requires only a phone call. The loan officer takes only very - basic infbnnation such as income, - debt, credit history and can quickly say approximately what amount of mortgage you might qualify for. He will also explain different loan - types: FHA, VA or conventional and recommend one he feels is ' best. Further, they can suggest spe- * cific loan programs: for example, \. ARM’s, Balloon, Buy-downs, etc. If you’re confused by all this it’s not too complicated once it’s explained to you. Keep asking questions until you understand. Once you: have a base figure, you have

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YOUR RIM ESTATE ADVISOR By WLMiK WILKINS

something to use for comparison when you actually select a builder. I indicated earlier in this series that you owe it to yourself to use a Realtor if you’re building a home. The builder’s sales agent is representing THE B UILDER. You need an agent representing you for lots of reasons but specifically to help you through the financing maze. Your agent is much more familiar with what is a normal cost and whether it should be a cost you pay. Your agent can also re-ex-plain the finance options so they make sense to you. I do not whole heartedly support getting financing offered by the builder. But it can be helpful for many people and I encourage you to investigate that option. Their rates are usually competitive and they offer most of the same financial options a bank does. Take your time, do your homework and be sure you understand all the costs; up-front costs and monthly costs. Would it surprise you to know that financing is usually easier with new construction when the builder provides the financing. They will frequently allow you to save money for your downpayment while your new home is being built They are less strict on the credit guidelines which can work in your favor but

it’s also something you should be cautious about. If a bank has prequalified you for $85,000 and the builder is saying you can purchase a home at $105,000,1 would be leery. Many builders tend to push people toward a variable rate in order to get you into a more expensive home. If you can’t comfortably afford the new payment now, can you really afford it next year? Be realistic with yourself. They have a house to sell; you have to make the mortgage payments. Some builders offer the option of “sweat equity.’’ Sweat equity allows you to do part of the work yourself for a specific amount of money to be applied to your down payment. Thesejobs might include painting the interior of the home or seeding your yard...generally handy man stuff. The amount of credit you can get will not be very much but I mention it so you can be

aware.

Several months ago I wrote a column called “Contracts are legally binding.” You really need to read that before you sign any paper work related to building your new home. Reprints of that column or any column are available simply by calling 574-7400. Builder or banker? Take the time to be prepared, let your real estate professional help you. Enjoy the building process once you ’ veeliminated as many problems as you possibly can, grow through the problems and get the deck on by the fourth of July. Questions, comments, reprints, call Mildred Wilkins do Caldwell Banker Searight Haag & Partners at 574-7400.

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Amalgamated Publishers celebrates Mow than 160 guasts assembled for the annual holiday celebration of Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, : the advertising sales representative for African-American newspapers nationwide. This season’s : ^festivities were co-sponsored by Plneau des Charentes, producers of the wine that has been : Fiance’s best kept secret for 400 years. Guests Included regional API newspapers, national African- : American magazines, trl-state radio and television broadcasters and represematlves of Food and i 1Mnes from France, the group that represents Plneau des Charentes In America. Many celebrities, Including heavyweight boxing champ Shannon Briggs enjoyed the festivities. The American Dream: a business of your own

By Joel Johnson

Entrepreneur David D’Arcangelo in a recent article, The Dream is Alive, said “Every 22 seconds someone starts one, 8,000 people a day, 240,000 people per month, and almost 3 million people per sear are starting their own businesses... just in the . Uniled States alone. In Canada, the numbers are even greater. By the year 2000, it is projected that 40% of e^jh^entire Canadian population will make the deci-

sign to be their own bosses,”

The massive phenomena is moving across North <; America at an astounding speed unmatched by any t; movement of people since the Industrial Revolution \ over 200 years ago. 1995 trends predicted homel baaed businesses alone, by the year 2000, will have l increased from 30 million to 90 million—an unbe-

lievable shift from worker to entrepreneurs. This represents a shift of 60 million people in just 5 years. Unfortunately, many of these people have no clue of what to do; how to start, where to get help, how to get financing or how to manage their new business. Quite often they do not realize the difficulty of operating a business in today’s business environment. Many new entrepreneurs who have taken the big step and are now having difficulty in surviving because of poor start-up planning. What can be done to save a business when the challenges of survival seem so bleak? Joel Johnson is a management and marketing consultant with over 40 years of management and marketing experience in wholesale, retail and related

businesses.

State Anthem to begin eliminating Jobs this spring Health insurer Anthem Inc. will begin eliminating up to 600 jobs this spring in its three-state Midwest division, including approximately 250 jobs here. Anthem is a mutual Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan owned by its policy holders. The company has 4 million customers in its Midwest division, which consists of Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Of those, about 1.1 million live in Indiana. The company merged with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut last August, but opponents there are trying to block the deal with a lawsuit “Anthem has gone through so many different mergers, and we’ve really not taken a step back and evaluated where we may have overlap in operations and services,” said Kendra Overbeck, a spokeswoman for Anthem. The positions eliminated will be in billing, customer service and enrollment. Some of the targeted positions would be eliminated through attrition, Overbeck said. “Plus, if they are quality employees, we are really going to try to find them a home within the family of Anthem companies,” she

said.

After the job cuts, there will still be more than 3,500 Anthem employees in the Indianapolis area. C1ASTD members to get hands on lesson in business etiquette at luncheon Even in the era of casual Fridays and participatory management, lifting the wrong fork at a business dinner can still cost you a job or sink a dead—especially if you use unpolished American table manners in front of international guests, according to Jan Green, a consultant who specializes in business etiquette and protocol. Green, of JG Facilitation Group, will show mem - bers and guests of the Central Indiana Chapter of the American Society of Training and Development how to avoid those career-threat-ening faux pas at GASTD’s next monthly meeting on Friday, January 23. The luncheon meeting will take place at the Primo Conference Center in Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park, beginning at 11:30 a.m. In the best ClASTD tradition of “learning by doing,’ the luncheon itself will be part of the lesson. Green will guide the members and guests through a four course meal to demonstrate the ten most common table manner breaches of etiquette the six commandments for using napkins • “super” soup eating tips • dining American style vs. dining European style. Following lunch, Green will also discuss the developing etiquette of electronic communication, or how to maintain civility when using fax, e-mail, voice mail, speaker phone—even cell phones. The CIASTD luncheon meeting is open to members of the organization, business persons interested in improving workplace skills and students. Cost of the luncheon is $30 for members, $45 for nonmembers and $20 for students. For reservations call the CIASTD of-

fice at 317-297-0464. Coke pulls batch of drinks after ammonia found The Indiana Department of Health today said a batch of caf-feine-free Coca-Cola Gassic that was found tocontain ammonianow poses little danger to the public. “It’s a very limited number of cans affected here (about 200 cases),” said Shirley Vargas, a consumer specialist in food protection for the Indiana Department of Health. The health department became involved late last week after several people said they became sick after drinking the cokes, which they said smelled of ammonia. Officials tested four cans and did find ammonia in the drinks. The cans were filled at the company’s Indianapolis plant and distributed to several central Indiana stores. Company officials said the bad batch has been pulled from store shelves. Vargas said the company recovered about 125 cases by Tuesday. The company also has fixed the problem _ a leak in the machinery that puts the carbonation in the drink, she said. The cans are marked on the bottom with the date Sept. 21,1998, followed by one of two codes _ HOE 1336 or HOE 1337. The department also has a similar complaint about code HOE 1341, but hasn ’t yet verified the presence of ammonia in a sample and will test other lots for ammonia as well, Vargas said. The spokeswoman said that the chemical was immediately noticeable in the cans that were contaminated. “The Coke tastes so bad and smells so bad that people aren’t going to drink it,” Vargas said. Nation California’s minority, female owned business rank high SAN FRANCISCO- Five small businesses in California are on a list of the top 10 minority- and female-owned firms in the United States financial information company Dun & Bradstreet and Entrepreneur Magazine compiled the list, believed to be the first of its kind, for the magazine’s January issue. Third on the ranking of minorityowned businesses is Gordon H. Chong & Partners, a San Francisco architectural and design firm owned by Asian Americans and boasting $10.3 million in sales in 1996. The 21-year-old company employs 80 people and recently opened an office in Sacramento. Sixth on the list is Sierra Proto Express, an Asian-owned computer circuit board maker in Sunnyvale, with $7.2 million in sales. The 12-year-old company employs 90 people. Photo Max Film Supplies Co. of Glendale in Southern California ranked ninth, with sales of $6.1 million. La Tortilla Factory Inc., a Latino-owned specialty baker in the North San Francisco Bay area city of Santa Rosa, placed tenth with sales of $5.6 million. The 20-year-old firm employs 55 people. The only California company to make the women’s list was Rail Delivery Services bic. ofLa Mirada in Southern California. It ranked eighth with 1996 sales of $7.2 mil-

lion.

Women and minorities comprise the fastest-growing segments of the small business market, and generated about $3 trillion in 1996 sales, according to Dun & Bradstreet. Dun & Bradstreet estimates that there are about eight million

women-owned firms and about three millionminority-owned firms in the United States. Small businesses are defined by Dun & Bradstreet and Entrepreneur as having 100 employees or less. The top minority-owned business, Diaz Tirado Travel Bureau Inc. of the Bronx, N.Y., had sales of $28.8 million. The top womanowned firm was The Mortgage Store Inc. in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., with 1996 sales of $25 million. Durm & Bradstreet, based in Murray Hill, N.J., provides credit, marketing and purchasing information and collection services. Frito Lay to turn over information on

workforce

JACKSON, Miss.- Frito Lay Inc. is under National Labor Relations Board orders to turn over information on its Jackson workforce that could be used to support claims of racial discrimination, a union local attorney says Chokwe Lumumba, attorney for the Bakers, Confection and Tobacco Workers Union Local 149, said the union had sought the NLRB orderafterthe food products maker declined to supply the information to bolster claims die company paid its Jackson employees unfair wages. Workers at the Jackson plant are lost on the wage scale of Frito Lay’s42 plants nationwide because of its 85 percent female and 90 percent black workforce, the union contends. Wage talks that began in January 1997 ended in August, with the union saying it needed a recess to file the federal complaint. Lumumba said the union based its argument on information on a 1992 Frito Lay pay scale chart that showed Jackson’s average hourly wage of $8.49 as last among the company’s plants. Frito Lay spokeswoman Lynn Markley said the information the union is requesting is irrelevant. She said that even if Jackson is last, pay scales are based on local mar-

ket conditions.

Judge denies change of venue request in beef defamation lawsuit AMARILLO, Texas- A judge has refused to move the beef defamation trial that Texas catdemen brought against Oprah Winfrey. The trial will begin Jan. 20 in Amarillo, U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson said in anordermade public Monday. Ms. Winfrey had asked the judge to move the trial to Dallas. Texas cattle feeders sued Ms. Winfrey and anti-meat activist HowardLyman shortly aftera 1996 “Oprah Winfrey Show” in which Lyman said that beef industry practices could promote mad cow disease. The year-old lawsuit seeks more than $12 million in damages from a sharp drop in beef prices after the show was broadcast. Defense attorneys dispute the reasons for the slide in an already struggling cattle market. Also Monday, Amarillo Chamber of Commerce President Gary Molberg retracted statements he made in a memo to employees barring them from attending tapings of Ms. Winfrey’s show. “I was wrong to tell the employees not to attend the show," he said. “Many of the employees are very visible in the community and I felt that their attendance at the show would be misinterpreted in the community as taking a side in the lawsuit. “I don’t believe that is the case and they have every right to attend Oprah’s show.”

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NEWSPAPER

Contlnuod from Pagt D1

“We are confident that every effort will be made to secure fair value for the shareholders while at the same time finding a buyer who win be cognizant of the legacy of John Sengstacke and the special rote of the publications in the com-

the bank said in a State-

Bank spokeswoman Sue A.

: • she said the estate has rot received

nity input into how it is run and are trying to form a group of investors to buy the paper. Sampson also said his group would work to increase the Defender’s circulation if it is bought by the right people. The daily has a paid circulation of 16,000 and weekend circulation of 19,000. In the 1950s, when it first became a daily, circulation topped 50,000. Because it is privately owned, revenues aren’t available. But the Defender and the other Sengstacke newspapers are profitable. LeaveU, who publishes two tis couraerptn m uary, ina , ana others note the Defender's decline can be attributed to dwindling ad-

of a weekly in a daily newspaper,” she said. It was further hurt by its continued support of the Democratic machine in the 1970s, when Oricago’s black electorate was becoming increasingly independent. “It still serves the community,” Leavell said. “But not to the extent most of us would like. But I would shudder to think what would happen if that voice wasn’t there.” Although the Defender is the best known of Sengstacke Enterprises’holdings, the weekly Michigan Chronicle in Detroit is die company's most prized possession. With a circulation of about43,000, the Chronicle is usually thick with local and national advertising. The Pittsburgh Courier and theTri-State Defender in Memphis are acngsiiCKc s Diner pupera.

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