Real Estate Calculator Copyright (C) Moose O'Malley, ---------------------- September 2007. +===========================================================+ | T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S | +===========================================================+ | * Introduction | * Real Estate Agent's Commission and Stamp Duty | * Adjustments | * Mortgage / Loan | * Mortgage / Loan - Hints and Tips | * Why I wrote this program ? | * Credits / Thanks | * Installing and Using this Program | * Uninstalling this Program | * The Future | * Other Real Estate Software | * Reviews / Awards / CDs | * Freeware Information | * Warranty | * Amendment History | * Contacting the Program's Author +===========================================================+ Introduction : -------------- Real Estate Calculator is a program for Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, etc. This program is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. See "Freeware Information" below. Real Estate Calculator enables you to perform a number of calculations which should be useful to anyone who is involved in buying or selling properties or houses, such as first home buyers, investors, real estate agents, solicitors, etc. More specifically, this program allows you to : - Calculate the Real Estate Agent's Commission due on the sale of a house or property. - Calculate the estimated Government Stamp Duty due when you purchase a house or property. - Calculate the Settlement Adjustments (for rates, rent, etc) due at settlement when you purchase a house or property, and calculate these for the Vendor and Purchaser. - Calculate the mortgage / loan details, depending on the loan amount, interest rate, repayment amount, and the frequency of repayments (weekly, fortnightly, monthly, etc). The program can also generate a full breakdown of the repayments, interest, etc for this loan. These calculations / functions are explained further below. N.B. Some of the calculations that this program performs are - at this stage anyway - probably only specific to Australia, but most of the program can be used anywhere in the world. Developed using 32-bit Delphi. This program will **NOT** run under Windows 3.x (even with Win32 installed). Real Estate Agent's Commission and Stamp Duty : ----------------------------------------------- N.B. The calculations that the program performs in this area are - at this stage anyway - probably only specific to Australia. On the "Commission + Stamp Duty" tab, you can enter a property's price and it will calculate the Real Estate Agent's Commission based on calculations valid in Australia as follows : - 3% of the first $18,000 - 2.5% of the balance It is on my list of things to do to add American, UK, etc specific calculations for Real Estate Agent's commission into this program. (See "The Future" below). You can then copy the commission amounts (with or without GST) to Window's clipboard (by using the little buttons next to each value) and paste them into your own documents / spreadsheets / files. You can also set the GST (Goods and Services Tax) rate. (At the time of writing, this rate is 10% - which has been a constant rate since GST was first introduced in Australia - but it may change in the future - so, I've allowed you to change the GST rate in the program to cater for this.) The program also calculates the estimated Government Stamp Duty due in Australia when you purchase a property as follows : - 1.5% of the first 20,000 - 2.25% of the next 30,000 - 2.75% of the next 50,000 - 3.25% of the next 150,000 - 3.5% of the next 250,000 - 3.75% of the remainder N.B. This is the estimated Stamp Duty because things are a lot more complex than this - they always are with the Australian Government !! If the property is commercial, or is vacant land, or is going to be your principal place of residence live, then different rates of Stamp Duty apply - and there are also numerous rules to apply and complexities to consider as well. It is on my list of things to do to add a more complete stamp duty calculation into this program in the future. (See "The Future" below). A full history of calculations is kept, so you can use the drop down arrow on the right-hand side of the Property Sale Price data entry box to select any previously entered price to review the commission and stamp duty for a property selling for this price. Adjustments : ------------- N.B. The calculations the program performs in this area can be used by anyone anywhere in the world. i.e. they are NOT specific to Australia. Example : Let's say that you are buying a house, and the vendor (i.e. the current owner) has paid the rates up to and past the date that you become the new legal owner of the house, then at settlement you will need to pay the vendor a proportion of these rates. To illustrate this, let's say that the rates are $400 per half year, and they have been paid for the period 6-Jan-2003 to 4-June-2003, and that settlement date is 26-April-2003. This means that from 26-April-2003 you are required to pay the rates for this house - so you need to reimburse the vendor for the rates he has already paid from 26-April-2003 to 4-June-2003. So, in this case, on the "Adjustments " tab in the program, you would enter the following into the program : Period Start Date : 6-Jan-2003 Settlement Date : 26-April-2003 Period End Date : 4-June-2003 Full Amount : 400 and press the "Calculate" button, and the program would tell you that the adjustment due at settlement is 104.70. That is, at settlement, you would need to pay the vendor 104.70 for rates. You can then press the "Save" button to save this adjustment under a meaningful name, such as "14 Smith St - Rates Adjustment". You can use the Load, Save As, and Delete buttons to load previously saved adjustments, save adjustments under other names, and delete previously saved adjustments respectively. Further adjustments may be required if the house is rented out, etc - and the process required to generate these adjustments is the same as above - but with different start and end dates and amounts. Mortgage / Loan : ----------------- N.B. The calculations the program performs in this area can be used by anyone anywhere in the world. i.e. they are NOT specific to Australia. Let's say you have or are thinking of getting a loan for a house, car, or some other investment. Working out what you can afford to pay off the loan each week or month or fortnight is crucial. Also, determining the best strategy for loan repayments specific to your circumstances can save you a lot of trouble and money. The functions provided on the "Mortgage" tab in the program are designed to help you explore and find the best strategy for repaying a loan. For example, let's say that you want to borrow 95,000, and that a bank will lend you money at 5.5% p.a., and that you are paid fortnightly and can spare 300 per fortnight to pay off your loan. For this loan, you would enter these details into the program (on the "Mortgage" tab in the program) : Loan Principal : 95,000.00 Loan Interest Rate (%) per Year : 5.50% Loan Repayment Frequency : Fortnightly Loan Repayment Amount per Period : 300.00 You could then hit the "Calculate" button, and a summary of the loan will be calculated - showing how long it will take to pay the loan off, how much interest you will pay during the life of the loan, etc. Assuming that interest rates, bank fees, etc don't change, the above loan will take 20.2 years to pay off. However, if you increase the repayments by 30 per fortnight, then the loan will be paid off in just 17.1 years. In addition, you can also press the "Generate and View Report" button to generate a detailed report of the loan, or press the "Generate Report to Clipboard" button to generate the report and save it to Windows' clipboard so that you can paste it into a word processor document or email or web page or somewhere else. You can also press the "Save" button to save this mortgage under a meaningful name, such as "14 Smith St - 95,000 Loan". You can use the Load, Save As, and Delete buttons to load previously saved mortgages, save mortgages under other names, and delete previously saved mortgages respectively. Mortgage / Loan - Hints and Tips : ---------------------------------- On the "Mortgage Hints and Tips" tab in the program, you can find a information which could save you a lot of money and hassle during your loan. Good luck with things - but don't hesitate to seek professional advice if there is anything you are not sure about or want to double check. Why I wrote this program ? -------------------------- I wrote this program because I am a property investor and I needed a program to provide these details / calculations and functionality. Recently (during a month's holiday from work), I have been involved in buying and selling properties and was horrified to see that ALL real estate agents in my area (Capricorn Coast, Queensland, Australia) are still calculating Agent's Commission and GST by hand - using a calculator and/or pen and paper. (They didn't even have a spreadsheet set up to calculate this !!) These calculations are NOT complex, but when rushing (to put properties on the market or to draw up contracts) it is easy to make mistakes, and I noticed more than one agent make errors in the calculations. So, I originally wrote this program to calculate real estate agent's commission to enable any real estate agent with a PC or laptop to calculate their sales commissions. Then, I added in the mortgage report functionality. This was already contained in my old DOS program "Loan" (available on my Freeware web page). This program has served me very well over the years, so it was time for a windows version, and this was a perfect opportunity. Next, I added in the calculations of adjustments at settlement which almost everyone by counting days on a calendar and then performing calculations with a hand calculator - not any more ! This program makes it very easy to work out the adjustments due at settlement. I personally use this program extensively, and I hope you find the program easy to use and useful. Credits / Thanks : ------------------ There aren't really any credits or thanks, but I'd sure like to take this opportunity to say a big hello to Sylvia - the cutest little agent on the Capricorn Coast ! ;) Installing and Using this Program : ----------------------------------- To use this program, unzip the contents of the ZIP file to a directory - such as c:\Real_Estate\ - and run the executable file : Real_Estate_Calculator.EXE. If you want the program to run automatically when Windows starts up, then select this option under the "File" menu in the program. If you would like to be able to run this program by clicking on an icon in the Windows Start Menu, or on the Desktop, etc then you can use the "Create Shortcut ..." options under the program's File menu. I hope you find the program easy to use and useful. Uninstalling this Program : --------------------------- At the present time, there is No Uninstall function. If you ever want to delete this program from your computer, then : 1. Exit the program, and delete it from wherever you installed it on your harddrive. Before doing this however : - If you have selected / enabled the "Auto-Run at Windows Startup" option (under the File menu), then you should ensure that this option is not checked / enabled (which you can easily do by re-selecting the "Auto-Run at Windows Startup" option from under the File menu). - If you have used any of the "Create Shortcut ..." options under the File menu, then you should use the "Delete All Shortcuts" option under the File menu to remove these from your system. Simple as that ! The Future : ------------ There are many things I could do with this program in the future, for example : - Support for calculating agent's commissions in other countries. (Please send me an email and let me know how the agent's commissions are calculated in your country and I'll add these into the program). - Enable the user to change the various percentages. So, for example, the commission could be calculated as : - 3.5% of the first $18,000 - 3.0% of the balance instead of : - 3% of the first $18,000 - 2.5% of the balance - Enable the user to change the various thresholds. So, for example, the commission could be calculated as : - 3.5% of the first $30,000 - 3.0% of the next $20,000 - 2.5% of the balance - Allow the user to rename the services tax. In Australia, it is called GST, in the UK, it is called VAT, etc. - Add in American, UK, etc specific calculations for Real Estate Agent's commission. (Please email me and let me know what the calculations are in your country). - Add a more complete stamp duty calculation into this program - to cater for vacant land, principal place of residence, etc. - Add in American, UK, etc specific calculations for stamp duty. (Please email me and let me know what the calculations are in your country). - Anything else ?? If you would like any of these improvements, or would like to suggest more, please email me and let me know. How much more work I do on this program depends entirely on what support I get, how many people use the program, etc. Other Real Estate Software : ---------------------------- There are many other useful pieces of software that I could develop. For example, I have already developed a basic computer system which draws up all documents relating to the sale and transfer of a property - including all vendor, purchaser, agent, solicitor, property, etc details on all normal contracts and transfer documents. (Yes, I do all my own conveyancing). However, this is currently for my own personal use - there is still a fair bit of work to do before this is a polished application. Also, I am not a solicitor or a lawyer - so, I do not know if the system will work for all people in all situations. And, I am certainly not prepared to release it for anyone else to use until it has been thoroughly tested and signed off by one or more solicitors. Also, at this stage, I only have the necesssary documents for Queensland, Australia - and the forms in other locations in Australia and in other countries may be quite different. Are any solicitor's interested in helping test / verify such software ? If so, then let me know, and in exchange for your help and "stamp of approval" I will provide the program to you at discounted rates, so that you can use it yourself or sell it to your own clients. Also, the REIQ Standard Contract, and the various transfer forms (Form 1, Form 24, Form Q), etc are all copyright material, so I will need some no doubt expensive legal advice before I could ever consider selling a program that made use of these copyrighted forms. (Or can I just make up my own forms which loook similar ?) But, if any Real Estate Agents or solicitors or vendors or purchasers or any one else out there would like me to finish off this system and provide it for sale, then please let me know. If there is support for such a system, and I get some help from several solicitors, then I will finish this system off and sell it. Reviews / Awards / CDs : ------------------------- None so far. Freeware Information : ----------------------- This is free software. Anyone - any person, any company, or any business - can use this program for free. No fees or payment is required. However, if you find the program useful, then please consider making a PayPal donation to support my efforts. (To make a donation, please run the program and select the "About" option under the Help menu, and then click the PayPal link on the "About" screen). Warranty : ---------- This software and the accompanying files are provided "as is" and without warranties as to performance or merchantability or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. You should seek always professional advice if there is anything you are not sure about. You should seek professional advice to double and triple check everything that this program tells you. The user assumes the entire risk of using this software. If you do find any faults with this program, email me and let me know. Amendment History : ------------------- Vers Date Description 1.0 27-Feb-2003 First Public Release. (58,751 lines of code / comments.) 1.1 22-June-2004 On the Adjustments tab, add : - Vendors share calculations and display, - Start To Settlement Length (days), - Vendor's Calc and Purchaser's Calc buttons and functionality. So you can now do the adjustments either way, and calculate the Vendor's share and the Purchaser's share of each settlement adjustment item. All add in the ability to copy the calculation expansion (e.g. 23 days * $23.86 per day = ...) for the Vendor and the Purchaser. This all makes it a breeze to do settlement adjustments now, and this program has saved me an absolute packet in Solicitor's fees - as I've been doing my own conveyancing for several years now. Bring the program up to date with my latest code libraries. (68,311 lines of code / comments.) If this program was not downloaded from my Home Page, then it is possibly an old version. The latest version of this program is available from my WEB page - see below. Mike "Moose" O'Malley ____________________________________________________ Moose's Software Valley - Established July, 1996. WEB: http://move.to/moose ____________________________________________________