Cash Generation
• Takeover prevention
• More effective utilization of the tax laws
• Minimizing agency cost
• The use of real estate financing as a market signal
• Playing the local real estate market by using the corporate advantage generated by the corporation's long-time horizon.
• Maintaining flexibility given the firm's current and expected space needs, flexibility is an important consideration while pursuing the objectives above
Since the most common choice of financing is the mortgage [2], it is important to analyze the most important components in the mortgage choice. A basic component of mortgage choice is the loan-to-value decision, the choice of mortgage instrument and the decision to prepay or default. Prepayment may be caused by a household's decision to move, by refinancing to obtain a lower rate, or to obtain more money.
Follain [2] argues that any model of mortgage choice should be consistent with several stylized facts about mortgage choice. In the case of Loan-to-Value Decision (LTV) the following facts must be taken in to consideration.
• LTV for the population as a whole is quite low, around 30%; indeed, over one third have no mortgage at all.
• LTV among recent home buyers are much higher
• LTVs decline rapidly with length of stay in the house
• LTVs among the elderly are specially low
• Lending rules limit mortgage payment to income ratios