金融英語泛讀:你適合買房還是租房

House—Buying or Renting?你適合買房還是租房？

With housing prices down significantly in many parts of the country and interest rates low, it may be an affordable time for twenty somethings to buy that first home.

In some instances, the price of owning can be comparable to renting in the long run. But a lot of uncertainty still remains about the housing market and the economy-making the decision to buy more complicated.

Nicole Stivers, a 24-year-old who works in public relations in Contra Costa County, Calif.，purchased her first home with her fiancé in February.They were able to capitalize on what she calls a“perfect storm”—job stability, a desire to settle down, a surge in home foreclosures and the$8000 tax credit for first-time buyers.

Still, the move was not without its concerns.“Would we be able to afford this if we both lost our jobs?Do we have enough for a down payment?Do I have enough for moving?It's really nerve-racking when you're first doing it，”says Ms. Stivers.

Here are some questions to consider when deciding if buying or renting is the right choice for you：

How long do you plan to stay in your home?“There are high transaction costs associated with buying and selling a house，”says Dean Baker, co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, so home buyers should plan to stay put for at least four to five years.

The reasoning?The costs for buying and then selling a home-which can include a real-estate agent's fee, a transfer fee, closing costs, and inspector and surveyor fees-could add up to about 10%of the sale price, or roughly 1. 5 years worth of rent.“If you average that over 10 years, it is not that big a deal.”says Mr.Baker.“But if you average it over, say two years, you're paying an awful lot of money to own a house for a short period of time.”

Can you handle the monthly expense?While a monthly mortgage payment may be comparable in some cases to a monthly rent, there are other expenses to consider.

To get a feel for the financial burden you'll be taking on-and to see if you can handle it—“practice”making payments. Each month, set aside projected mortgage and property-tax payments, maintenance costs, utilities and any other home-related expenses into a separate savings account, says Gary Smola, a certified financial planner with financial-educational firm Financial Finesse.

What's the price-to-rent ratio?“Home prices have come down significantly in some areas of the country, but nobody knows what tomorrow's going to bring in the housing market，”says Daniel Morris, a certified public accountant in San Jose, Calif.

To determine whether it makes more financial sense to buy or rent in your area, compare home sales prices with the cost of renting a similar place.

Divide the price of the home by the total cost of rent for one year. If the result is more than 20，“I'd be very concerned that the price（of the home）might fall more，”says Mr.Baker, and you should consider waiting to buy.If it's 15 or below, he says，“you're probably reasonably safe with prices holding steady or growing.”

What is your job and relationship status?Twenty somethings are still getting a grasp on their futures and a constantly changing lifestyle might require the flexibility of renting.

“But if your career stability is strong, you are comfortable doing what you're doing and you are committed in some form to your lifestyle，”Mr. Morris says，“buying a home becomes a more attractive option.”

如今美國很多地方的房價(jià)都有了大幅下跌，銀行的利率又很低，似乎正是二十幾歲的人購置人生第一套房產(chǎn)的好時(shí)機(jī)。有些情況下，買房跟長期租房的花費(fèi)相差無幾。不過樓市和經(jīng)濟(jì)仍然有很多不確定因素——所以做決定還是件挺復(fù)雜的事情。

妮科爾·斯蒂弗斯現(xiàn)年24歲，在加利福尼亞州康特拉哥斯達(dá)縣從事公關(guān)工作，今年2月跟未婚夫買下了他們的第一套房產(chǎn)。她稱目前的現(xiàn)狀為“完美風(fēng)暴”—他們兩人工作穩(wěn)定，希望安定下來，目前有大量的房產(chǎn)喪失贖取權(quán)，而且初次購房者可享受8000美元的稅收減免—他們正好抓住了這一時(shí)機(jī)。

當(dāng)然，他們做出這個(gè)決定也不完全就是高枕無憂的。妮科爾說：“如果我們雙雙失業(yè)，還能供得起房嗎？我們的錢夠付首付嗎？我的錢夠搬家嗎？頭一次買房可真是傷腦筋啊?！?/p>

在決定買房還是租房更適合你之前，可以先考慮以下這些問題：

你打算在新買的房子里住多久？經(jīng)濟(jì)與政策研究中心聯(lián)席主任迪安·貝克說：“買賣房產(chǎn)交易費(fèi)用很高?！币虼巳绻蛩阗彿康脑?，至少要住四五年才劃算。

原因何在呢？買了房子再賣掉所需的費(fèi)用——包括房產(chǎn)中介費(fèi)、過戶費(fèi)、買賣手續(xù)費(fèi)、驗(yàn)房師和估價(jià)師的費(fèi)用——加在一起大概是房價(jià)的10%，或者大致相當(dāng)于一年半的房租。貝克說：“如果你把這個(gè)費(fèi)用分?jǐn)偟绞辏蔷筒皇莻€(gè)大數(shù)目了，不過如果要分?jǐn)偟絻赡?，那就意味著，你要為短期擁有一個(gè)房子付出很貴的價(jià)錢。”

你能承擔(dān)得起每月所需的費(fèi)用嗎？雖然在有些情況下，月供跟你每月租房的費(fèi)用差不多，不過買房后，還會產(chǎn)生一些其他費(fèi)用。

要切身體會買房后的經(jīng)濟(jì)負(fù)擔(dān)——也是為了看你能否承擔(dān)得起——“演練”一下每月的還款吧。理財(cái)教育公司的注冊理財(cái)規(guī)劃師加里·斯莫拉說：“每個(gè)月，把預(yù)期的月供、房產(chǎn)稅、維修費(fèi)用、公共事業(yè)費(fèi)及其他與房子相關(guān)的費(fèi)用單獨(dú)存入一個(gè)賬戶?！?/p>

房屋租售比如何？加利福尼亞州圣何塞的注冊公共會計(jì)師丹尼爾·莫里斯說：“在美國有些地區(qū)，房產(chǎn)的價(jià)格跌得非常厲害，不過誰也不知道房產(chǎn)市場下一步走勢如何?！?/p>

要想判斷在你所在的地區(qū)是買房劃算還是租房劃算，可以將房價(jià)與同類房屋的租價(jià)做一番比較。

貝克說，如果將房價(jià)除以一年的租價(jià)得出的結(jié)果大于20，“我就會擔(dān)心房價(jià)極有可能還會再跌”，你就應(yīng)該考慮再觀望些時(shí)候了。他說：“如果結(jié)果小于等于15，買入應(yīng)該還是相當(dāng)安全的，因?yàn)榉績r(jià)會保持穩(wěn)定，甚至還會上升?！?/p>

你目前的工作如何？跟伴侶的關(guān)系如何？二十幾歲的人還處在事業(yè)的打拼階段，個(gè)人生活也會經(jīng)常發(fā)生變動(dòng)，也許還是租房——這種靈活的方式更適合他們。

莫里斯說：“不過，如果你的工作非常穩(wěn)定，你對現(xiàn)狀非常滿意……個(gè)人生活也相對穩(wěn)定，那么買房就更具吸引力?！?/p>

實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升

核心單詞

foreclosure[f?:'kl?u??]n.（抵押人）回贖權(quán)的取消

nerve-racking['n?:v,r?ki?]adj.使人極不安的；傷腦筋的

mortgage['m?:gid?]v./n.抵押

property tax財(cái)產(chǎn)稅

accountant[?'kaunt?nt]n.會計(jì)師

財(cái)經(jīng)知識一點(diǎn)通

房產(chǎn)稅（building tax）

是以房屋為征稅對象，按房屋的計(jì)稅余值或租金收入為計(jì)稅依據(jù)，向產(chǎn)權(quán)所有人征收的一種財(cái)產(chǎn)稅。房產(chǎn)稅的特點(diǎn)：①房產(chǎn)稅屬于財(cái)產(chǎn)稅中的個(gè)別財(cái)產(chǎn)稅，其征稅對象只是房屋；②征收范圍限于城鎮(zhèn)的經(jīng)營性房屋；③區(qū)別房屋的經(jīng)營使用方式規(guī)定征稅辦法，對于自用的按房產(chǎn)計(jì)稅余值征收，對于出租、出典的房屋按租金收入征稅。

容積率（plot ratio）

是指一個(gè)小區(qū)的總建筑面積與用地面積的比率。對于發(fā)展商來說，容積率決定地價(jià)成本在房屋中占的比例；而對于住戶來說，容積率直接涉及居住的舒適度。綠地率也是如此。

翻譯練習(xí)

ln some instances, the price of owning can be comparable to renting in the long run.

While a monthly mortgage payment may be comparable in some cases to a monthly rent, there are other expenses to consider.

To determine whether it makes more financial sense to buy or rent in your area, compare home sales prices with the cost of renting a similar place.