Question: Corin Tucker, a real estate developer, is considering several new projects in her city. To finance these purchases, she will take out either a fixed

Corin Tucker, a real estate developer, is

Corin Tucker, a real estate developer, is considering several new projects in her city. To finance these purchases, she will take out either a fixed rate or an adjustable rate mortgage (ARM). Although the ARM currently has a lower interest rate, it comes with the added risk of the rate increasing over time. The fixed rate loan will have the same interest rate through the life of the loan, so it is less risky. The immediate problem is to determine which type of loan to take, despite the uncertainty regarding future interest rates. Corinthus considers two scenarios: favorable future interest rates and unfavorable future interest rates. If the future rates are favorable, then the present value of financing the projects with the fixed rated mortgage is $4 million and the present value of financing the projects with the ARM is $6 million. On the other hand, if future interest rates are unfavorable, then the present value of financing the projects with the ARM is $3 million, while the present value of using the fixed rate mortgage remains at $4 million. She currently believes that future rates will be favorable with a probability of 0.3 and unfavorable with a probability of 0.7. To learn more about the direction of future interest rates, Corin has asked her assistant, Lance, for help. Lance has a source, Mr. Brown, who works for the city and who may have insider information regarding the city's upcoming actions. In particular, the city has a debt obligation that is due by the end of the year, and the direction of interest rates for city-backed loans likely depends on if this obligation is met For a fee of $300,000, Mr. Brown will tell Lance if he believes that the city will or will not meet its debt obligation. Thus, if Corin and Lance choose this option, the present value of the investment will be reduced by $300,000. There is very little information available on what Mr. Brown's prediction would be, so Corin and Lance agree that the probabilities of Mr. Brown predicting and not predicting that the city will meet its obligation are both 0.5. In past situations when Mr. Brown has predicted that the city will meet its obligations, interest rates have been favorable with a probability of 0.6, while in past situations when Mr. Brown has predicted that the city will not meet its obligations, interest rates have been unfavorable with a probability of 0.8. Corin needs to make an immediate decision on which type of loan to take, so she must decide if she should utilize Mr. Brown's services and which type of loan to take. Perform a decision tree analysis to determine the best course of action

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