住房话题参考阅读文章
"To buy or to rent", that is a question about living for most young people who just graduated from university or who have worked for one or two years in big cities. Many people see it as a torturing choice and feel weak in face of it.
sub-topics:
1.Which one will choose or have you chosen? Why?
2.Discussion: the advantages and disadvantages of buying a house and renting a house.
3.What's your expectation about the realty market in the coming 10 years?
Millions of Americans have been unable to pay the mortgage on their houses and have had to leave them. Many are now renting, but are finding it difficult financially
Owning your home was once part of the American dream. But that dream has faded because of the economic recession in the United States. Millions of Americans have been unable to pay the mortgage on their houses and have had to leave them. Without a home of their own, many people are now renting, but this also can be difficult financially.
Until recently, Brenda Ganaway lived in a home of her own in Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb close to Washington, D.C. But then the economic crisis hit and she was unable to keep paying the mortgage on her house. "We were behind on a few payments and we couldn't get a loan anywhere, so they just immediately foreclosed it and told us we had a certain amount of days to leave," she explained.
There are millions of people like Brenda Ganaway in America now. Raphael Bostic is the assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. He says the number of Americans who own their homes is steadily dropping. "The homeownership rate in the United States used to be somewhere close to 70 percent. We've fallen off by several million households now," he said. "And so the rate is down considerably. And a lot of those have now gone into the rental market."
Renting does have some advantages over home ownership. If a renter wants to move, for example, he does not have to worry about finding a buyer for the house.
Yazgul Odekova manages a rental property in Alexandria. She says the major reason people rent is that it is usually less expensive than owning a home. "People rent for different reasons. Number one is affordability," she said. "It is cheaper to rent and it is risk-free."
Renting is cheaper for many reasons, says Arun Shu. He is an international businessman who rents a home near Washington. He says there are many costs to owning a house besides paying the monthly mortgage. "If you decide to buy a house, a lot of expenses are involved. Not only payment if you take a mortgage, but also you have to pay property tax, maintenance and upkeep of the house," he said. "You probably will want to spend some money on renovating the house, remodeling parts of the house if you buy [a] used house."英语作文
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