David Saks

We've heard it said that the "rule of thumb" in financing a home is that a person should be able to buy a home costing 2 and one-half times his annual income.

What would be the minimum weekly salary of a buyer to purchase a $235,500 home using this "rule of thumb" ? 

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. $1811.54

$235,500 divided by 2.5 equals $94,200 yearly income.

$94,200 divided by 52 equals $1811.538 or rounded $1811.54 a week.

What's the annual interest rate on a $165,000 loan if the monthly interest payments are $1097.75 ?

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. .079836 or 8%

Multiply $1097.75 times twelve to get $13,173

Then divide $13,173 by $165,000 to get .079836 or .08 or 8% rounded to the nearest decimal

A parcel of land sells for $20,750. Your are a referring agent and are to receive 15% of the total 6% commission from the sale for your referral.

How much will you receive ?

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. $186.75

6% of $20,750 is $1245.

15% of $1245 is $186.75

The value of a home was estimated to be $235,600 at the end of seven years.

What was the original cost of the house if the yearly depreciation was 2.5% ?

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. $285,575.75

Multiply the depreciation of 2.5% times seven (seven years of depreciation) to get a total of 17.5% in totla depreciation.

Divide $235,600 by .825 (the percentage of value left after depreciation) to arrive at the original cost of $285,575.75

Multiply .75 times .83 1/3 to the lowest fraction.

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. 5/8th's

Convert the numbers to fractions.

First take .83 1/3 and change it to 83 1/3. Then convert it to fraction based on the denominator by multiplying 83 times three to get 249 plus 1 which equals 250/3 and divide by 100. Remember to invert the divisor fraction of 100/1 to 1/100 and multiply which then gives you 250/3 times 1/100 equaling 250/300 or 5/6th's. .75 is 75/100 or 3/4.

Now multiply 3/5 time 5/6 and you get 15/24, or 5/8th's when the lowest common denominator is discovered.

$855.27 is 7.25% of what amount ?

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. $11,796.83

Divide $855.27 by 7.25% or .0725 and you get $11,796.82758620, or rounded $11,796.83.

Divide 18 1/2 by 4 1/6

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. 4 11/25th's

18 1/2 equals 37/2

4 1/6 equals 25/6

37/2 divided by 25/6 equals 37/2 times 6/25 equals 111/25 = 4 11/25

Remember to reverse the divisor fraction and multiply the dividend after the numbers have been converted to fractions.

Add 26 1/2 plus 19 3/4 plus 8 5/6 plus 44 2/3

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. 99 3/4

The common denominator is twelve in the fractions.  Therefore, 33/12 = 2 9/12 added to the sum of 26, 19, 8, and 44 (which is 97) equals 99 9/12. Take the 9/12 and divide by three to come up with 3/4 for a totla of 99 3/4.

A developer wants to sell part of his land but decides to give one-fourth of it to his son and three sixteenths of it to his daughter. How much of the land is left after he gives the apportioned parcels to his children ?

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. Nine sixteenths or 9/16

1/4 to his son equals 4/16th's and 3/16th's to his daughter equal a total of 7/16th's . The whole, 16/16th's , is left with 9/16th's after subtracting the gifts to his children.

What part of an acre is 5,445 square feet ?

The answers, along with the corresponding solution, will be posted below the photographs at the bottom of the page, so spend a little time on it before you make your way to the bottom. It helps to keep your math skills sharp. Hope you have a fine week ahead.

A. one eighth of an acre.

Divide 43,560 (the number of square feet in an acre) by 5,445 and you get eight.