European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday january 15, 1989bunaay, 15, the stars and stripes Page 3 Host of Pitfalls faces Home buyers in Europe from Page 1 thrill out of Home ownership in Europe for military and government civilian employees alike. In West Ger Many outrageously High prices coupled with a Short age of housing in and around the larger Urban areas have made it particularly difficult for americans to afford or even find Homes. One family Homes easily can Cost 300,000 Marks $165,000 and often much More. In Spain the Dollar s relative weakness against the peseta has made Home buying in that Sun drenched land less attractive than renting. I be been Here about 11 months and in that time we be had Only one Case of a person buying said Orlando Lemon chief of centralized housing at Zara Goza a Spain. At this stage of the game it s a lot cheaper to rent than to buy. It s True that if you were Able to hold onto a piece of property for a few years you might make a profit. But you also might have to wait a Long time to sell and that s a  in England High interest rates and skyrocketing inflation Are pricing All but the most affluent out of the Market. Ask air Force sgt. Jeff Lancour who is As signed to a finance and accounting office at Raf Chicksands. Lancour has seen his House note increase by 120 British pounds More than $200, per month since he and his British wife first bought a two bedroom home35 Miles North of London in March 1985. The Price increase which has pushed his monthly mortgage to More than $800 per month is largely be cause Lancour like most Home buyers in great Britain has a variable rate mortgage. In the past two years that mortgage has jumped from a Low interest rate of 9.75 percent to almost 14 percent today. His problems Are compounded by the fact that Lancour is paying his House note with less valuable dollars. The Pound was Worth $1.05 when he and his wife Bough their Home now it hovers at $ 1.80. It s a Burden. We re surviving but we won t really be enjoying ourselves Lancour said. The people really suffering Are first time buyers said . Myers chief of International Law at Raf Mildenhall England and a Homeowner himself. They re priced out of it even for modest  air Force sgt. Herman Hicks of Raf Fairford agrees times Are Tough. Hicks has seen his monthly House note Rise so much so fast since he bought a Home 12 Miles from the air base two years ago that hand his wife Are thinking of Selling. Hicks monthly mortgage has risen from 350 pounds to 425 pounds roughly $750, in the past two years and the interest rate on his loan has gone from 10 percent to nearly 13 percent in the same period. When Hicks and his British wife bought their Home it was on the Market for 38,000 pounds then about $55,000. Today Hicks said Home prices have Dou bled but he s not sure he can find a buyer for his property. Hicks said he plans to have his 1,100-Square-foothome appraised  hell Likely put it up for Sale at a lower Price than it s Worth to make it stand out Ina glutted Market. The Good news is that Hicks figures he could make a $65,000 profit if he sold his Home. The bad news is that he s not sure a buyer will surface. Until the House Sells Hicks said he and his wife will have to pay about $200 extra per month in mortgage payments and re lated costs above what his military housing benefits provide. Legal advisers in West Germany and England said buying property on foreign soil is a ticklish situation Lor americans. The experts pointed to such problem Sas the following Down payments required by Banks particularly incest Germany Are generally 20 percent or More and the Dollar s reduced value makes coming up with that kind of Cash a problem. There Are usually hidden costs associated with buying Homes overseas from a 1 percent property Transfer tax in England to a 2 percent property Acquini we re surviving but we won t really be enjoying ourselves sgt. Jeff Lancour Tion tax in West Germany. Both Are assessed on the value of the property being bought. In West Germany the experts said various fees and closing costs generally add 10 percent to the Home buyer s Bill. Home prices in both England and West Germany Are Steep. Service members can expect to pay anywhere from 30 percent to 70 percent More per month on a Home Purchase than they would renting a comparable piece of property. And in West Germany a rather mod est rate of inflation generally keeps Homes from appreciating As rapidly in value As some homeowners might be used to in the United states. Finding the Best Deal on a mortgage can be a problem. There is no consistency among Banks and you really have to shop around said Legal adviser Shiles. I be seen interest rates vary by As much As 2 percent at different branches of the same  pinpointing exactly How Many americans through out eur be Duy Homes during their overseas Tours i difficult since figures Are not kept on a country by country basis. But judging by the experience of hous ing officials in Frankfurt West Germany Home buying attracts Only a handful of americans. Klaus Hein Deputy chief of the housing division there said no More than a handful of military person Nel and Only 5 percent of civilian employees in the Frankfurt area Are using government housing benefits to buy instead of to rent. The average Soldier does t think purchasing a Home is an option Hein said. The decline of the Dollar the last few years has definitely  Shiles and John l. Simmons chief of the Legal assistance division at . Army Europe Headquarters in Heidelberg advised americans to look before the leap into Home buying. Right now you d be buying with very expensive Marks Simmons said and German real estate does t appreciate in value like it does in the United states. If you Are Only going to be Here three to five years buying is a questionable  service members and civilians can use government housing benefits to finance the Purchase of a Home but Simmons warned that some extras associated with Home buying in West Germany Aren t covered by a service member s overseas housing allowance or a civil Ian s living quarters allowance. Such expenses As Down payment real estate taxes sewer and Utility connection fees and other closing costs All come directly out of the buyer s pocket and they can be very expensive. In addition civilians have to keep in mind that their living quarters allowance will be Cut off after 10 years if it s used toward buying a Horne not renting. Shiles said the 10-year Rule apparently exists because the . Government really does t want civilians Homestead ing  another problem according to Shiles is that real estate often proves to be difficult to turn into Cash. And not being Able to unload a piece of property is a precarious situation especially when the time approaches for a service member s change of station or civilian to return to the United states. I m not aware of anyone Here who has been Able to sell a House just like that Shiles said. Normally Homes remain on the Market in Germany a consider Able period of time. I usually rec9mmend that people have the resources to pay for their unsold House for two years or so after they re Back in the  the Freaney won t have to do that assuming their Deal goes through. Jennifer Freaney and their two Chil Dren were to leave for the states on sunday. And Rob Ert Freaney who is scheduled to leave West Germany and the air Force in the Spring said he would rent their House via Long distance from Southern Californi if their prospective Sale fell through. But if All goes As planned they will receive their asking Price of 245,000 Marks 20,000 Marks less than they paid for the Home. The prospective buyer is a Middle aged american civilian moving overseas Totake a Job with the . Government. Jennifer Freaney said her family would just about break even on the Sale when the difference Between what a Mark was Worth in 1985 and what it s Worth today is taken into consideration. Also figured into that break even equation Are moving in expenses real estate agent s charges and property acquisition taxes the Freaney had to pay when they bought their Home. Robert Freaney a c-12 super King air Pilot said his German Home buying experience did t work out exactly As he expected but even with the eight month ordeal to sell their Home he still is pleased. I m not sorry we bought he said adding that if they had been renters for three years they would t have had a Chance to make any gains on the property. But we thought our Home would sell in a  Jet loses wheel but makes Landing Romulus Mich. A Cynthia Duncan knew two weeks ago that her return flight from Washington was scheduled for Friday the 13thand seeing fire trucks along the runway did t make her feel any better. But superstition lost out to savvy Friday afternoon when a Northwest airlines Jet landed safely at Detroit metropolitan Airport after losing one of its wheels on Takeoff from Washington National Airport. Flight 345 landed without Inci Dent 15 minutes behind schedule. The wheel was one of four on the right main Landing gear. The cause of the mishap is under investigation. Everybody pretty much knew there was something wrong said Duncan 32, of Detroit. Surprisingly the Landing was very smooth. Everyone was very  the Boeing 757 was carrying 143passengers and six Crew members. There were no injuries although the fallen wheel severely damaged a Pri vate plane parked at National air port. Vets on mine Mission land in Vietnam Hanoi Vietnam a six former . Marines landed in Vietnam on sat urday in peace 24 years after the first american combat troops hit the beaches of Danang in War. Man it brought so Many memories looking out at them Rice paddies said Frank Noe a 40-year-old firefighter fro Stoughton mass. Just seeing the children. To me when i was real Young Here 18, 19 years old i always Felt for the children and i think that s what brought me Back Here too. I had a real warm feeling for All those people. It s an honest to god  gazing at the mountains in the Dis Tance Nate Genna a 41-year-old maintenance Man from Boston thought of his Days As a 19-year-old Marine under fire from North vietnamese gunners hidden in similar mountains in South Vietnam. They look awfully familiar he said. They re not the same ones but the look the  the former marines Are self styled unofficial ambassadors of Good will who Hope their 10-Day visit will bring other veterans Back and better relations be tween the two countries. As Long As we can get veterans Back Over Here to see what s going on Here and to let the world know that these Are fantastic wonderful people and they need help if we can get that across to the american people i d be Happy said Mike Wallace a 41-year-old Farmer fro Langdon Kan. The other former marines include Gene Spanos 39, a Rosemont 111., police lieutenant William Johnson 41, of Manchester conn., a maker of electric signs and Robert Dalton a 54-year-old free Lance writer from Davidsonville my. Their patrol into the past a journey to heal their own pain As much As to look their former foes in the eyes will take them to what is no More the demilitarized zone along the 17th parallel that once divided Vietnam into North an South. The 11th Marine in 3rd Marine div in which All of the men except Dalton served planted about 100,000 mines along the Doz to protect a string of . Outposts named Camlo con Thien Gio Linh and Dong a. After North Vietnam Defeated the South in 1975, it reunified the country. Vietnamese officials said thousands of civilians were killed while Clearing the mines so that the land could be Farmed and houses built but they said All the mines Are gone. The marines Are not so sure. Concerned that the mines Are still causing civilian casualties they want to attempt to verify the vietnamese claims. It s a sense of accomplishment Given a Chance to come Back to a country where we fought Spanos said. We re looking Forward to meeting the Vietnam Ese  Johnson said he was unsure of himself when he arrived at Hanoi s International Airport. As i remember Vietnam you had to be looking Over your shoulder and that s history now but still you re very unsure when you re going through customs. Everybody s in  his anxiety soon vanished wiped away by the Charm and friendliness of the vietnamese children. I m glad i came Johnson said. None of us can describe what the emotion we feel is said Wallace. It s different now said Noe. Nothing wrong is