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Buying a House

Date: Dec 15 2006

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

mortgage

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Ok, it’s not just the American Dream. Everyone would love to have a little place to call their own. Whether it’s house with a yard, a piece of land, or an apartment in the city, it feels good to know that your home is your own.

Buying a home is an investment. Often, property values increase over time. If you take care of your place, chances are you can sell it for more than you bought it for. Parents often leave their house to their children when they die.

In some cities, real estate is so expensive that it impossible for many people to buy property. Folks sometimes are renting their entire lives.

Logan and Emily just bought a condominium in Portland. Listen to them talk about how excited they are.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Logan

Emily

Logan: I am so glad to get out of my renting situation and actually move into a condo where I can start helping pay for a mortgage.

Emily: I know. It’s such a good investment as opposed to renting. There was a long time there where I just didn’t think I had, you know, the resources available to me and the stability to buy a place, um, but now that I’m finally at that point in my life, I’m so glad and I completely see the value in it.

Logan: You know another thing, another aspect of it that I really, really love is that I don’t have to answer to a landlord anymore.

Emily: Exactly.

Logan: If something breaks, it’s my… I mean, yeah, we have to take care of it, but there’s no landlord aspect. And that is probably one of the best things I think there is.

Emily: Well, and you can make changes to your house or condo. You can get new carpet, or you can decorate it however you want. There’s no restrictions. You can paint the walls.

Logan: And you’re gaining value.

Emily: You’re gaining value long-term. You gotta start somewhere, you know? It’s like, why not start now?

Logan: Yeah, and, like, every time I write that rent check, I feel like it’s just going to nothing. It’s just…

Emily: It’s going to someone else’s mortgage is what it’s going to.

Logan: I might as well just rip it up and throw it away and live at my parents’ house.

Emily: I agree.

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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Discussion

Logan is happy to own now instead of renting. He wants his money going toward his own mortgage instead of his landlord’s. He feels like rent is a total waste of money because it’s going to someone else’s investment, not his own.

And Logan wants to be in charge of his own home repairs too.

Emily is happy to be able to paint and decorate however she wants. She also thinks it’s a great investment.

Do you own or rent?

Do you want to own a home some day?