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                        12-14 Laurel St                                                      University of Massachusetts
                        Cambridge, MA 02139                                            Boston, MA 02125
                            tel: 617/547-5033                                                        tel: 617/287-6067
                            george.salzman@umb.edu                                      fax: 617/287-6053 (at univ)
                            http://omega.cc.umb.edu~/salzman

                                                                  May 24, 1999
A note to my housemates:

      This note is an update to one I wrote June 25, 1997. It's mainly for those of you who have moved here since then. The purpose is to provide you with information about the costs and the income of the (duplex) house at 12-14 Laurel St., so you'll know what's going on moneywise with the house. You know, of course, that currently I am charging each of you $315/month without providing utilities. With five housemates that comes to $1,575/month, or $18,900/year, if there is continuous full occupancy. That is a substantial amount of money, and you may wonder what I do with it all. The basic data follows:

      I bought the 14 Laurel St parcel on March 15, 1984 for $78,000.
      I bought the 12 Laurel St parcel on July 31, 1989 for $178,000.

      Of course I paid all the usual closing costs as well: lawyer's fees, a bank mortgage application fee, house inspection fees, plot plans, title search and certification fees, title insurance, recording fees, as well as beginning to assume insurance payments, interest payments, taxes and repairs and maintenance. Although I could construct detailed records of income and costs for the years 1984-1992, it would be quite laborious because I do not have computerized records before 1993. For the past six years the arithmetic is as tabulated.

                year            expenses paid            rents received             my net cost
               1993              19,265.78                 10,070.03                  9,195.75
               1994              29,809.46                 15,705.24                14,104.22
               1995              27,411.52                 15,270.49                12,141.03
               1996              30,525.86                   9,043.00                21,482.86
               1997              25,155.04                 13,009.50                12,145.54
               1998              37,009.95                 14,258.49                22,751.46

        Six year total       169,177.61                 77,356.76                91,820.86

Attached to this note is a copy of the detailed information for 1998. The house is over 160 years old and needed substantial work initially. I look forward to the time, hopefully soon, when major repairs and renovations will have been completed, and the cost of ongoing expenses will not be much in excess of the monthly rents.

                                                                  Sincerely,
                                                                  /signed/George