(mortgage, loan, lender, property, to own, heritage, to belong, heating, to rent)

LESSON 7. The aim of the lesson is to focus on the problems of buying and selling property and to teach you to define some notions connected with this sphere and to give good advice when selling or buying a house.

1. Mute exercises.

2. Pronunciation-drill: Back translation.

to rent to lend heritage to inherit an estate agent

property to borrow a depositor mortgage a long-term loan

monthly expenses a solicitor to charge for the services real estate agency to advertise for a house

3. Reproduce the piece of information:

Some people buy a flat or a house. Then they own it or in other words it belongs to them. When they do this in Britain, people usually borrow money from a bank or an organisation called a Building Society. This money, which is called a mortgage, is often paid back over 25 years. Other people rent a house or a flat. Then they pay money every week or month to the person who owns the house. When they do this, the money they pay is called the rent, and the person who owns the house or flat is the landlord.

4. Explain the meaning of the following words and word expressions:

 an owner, an estate agency, a mortgage, property, a building society, a price, an interest rate, expenses

5. Complete the sentences with a suitable noun or verb and reproduce them in the “look-up-& -say” manner (the words below may help you):

-  Do you own the flat or do you ………… it?

- I’m living in the house now but it actually ………… to my brother. He bought it two years ago.

- It costs a lot of money to ………… a house when you live in a cold climate. Central ………… is usually quite expensive.

- We have a ………… of $40000.

- These ancient buildings are part of the national ………….

- Be careful not to damage other people’s ………….

-  I’m only asking you for a …………. I’ll pay you back.

- Seek help from your mortgage ………… before you get too far behind with your payments.

(mortgage, loan, lender, property, to own, heritage, to belong, heating, to rent)

6. Finish the sentences logically to get the schematic picture of the process of buying and selling:

· If you want to sell your house, you should … · The estate agent will want to know how much … · If you agree with his proposals, he will … · The leaflet will … … · At the same time, if someone wants to buy your house, he’ll … and … · If he is attracted by …, he will … · If he is still interested after seeing …, he’ll … · If you agree with …, then … · But if a purchaser doesn’t have …, he’ll go … to get money to buy a property. · There he’ll be asked … and the society will … · When everything is agreed, the buyer will …

7. Read the text and single out the main problems of buying and selling and the possible ways of solving them.

Buying a House

There are two types of organisations which are central to the buying of houses and flats. The first is the estate agent. An estate agency is, essentially, a shop which arranges for the sale of homes. Let us imagine that Mr and Mrs Smith want to sell their house. First, they ask one or more local estate agents to visit the house and tell them how much they should be able to sell it for. They will also want to know how much the agent will charge for his services (usually 1% and 2% of the selling price). If the Smiths are happy with his proposals, the agent will publish details of the house in the form of give-away leaflets and possibly in the local or even national newspapers. The leaflet will describe the house in detail, describing the position, number and sizes of its rooms, the garden and so on. Mr and Mrs Smith then wait for prospective buyers to arrive. Imagine that Mr and Mrs Johnson want to buy a house in the same area. They go to the estate agency and inspect the details of the houses on offer. If they are attracted by the description of the Smiths’ house, they will visit the property to look at it. If they are still interested after seeing the house they may make an offer to the Smiths via the estate agent. Often the offer will be slightly less than the official ‘asking’ price. If the Smiths agree, the house can be sold. But the Johnsons probably do not have enough money to pay for the house immediately, so what do they do? They go to the second type of institution involved in house buying and selling – the building society. A building society’s main function is to lend people like the Johnsons enough money to buy a house. Banks also offer a similar service. Building societies make their money by borrowing money from some members of the public – their ‘depositors’ – and lending it to others. Many British people have building society savings accounts. They save their money with a building society, which pays them interest. The society then lends this money to people who want to buy a house or flat and charges them a higher interest rate on the amount borrowed. This long-term loan is called a ‘mortgage’. So Mr. and Mrs. Johnson go to a local building society where they will be asked a number of questions – what type of jobs do they have? How much do they earn? What are their monthly expenses? And so on. The society will also inspect the house to see if it is worth the money they are being asked to lend. All being well, it will offer to lend the Johnsons up to about 90 per cent of the price of the house, to be paid back with interest over 25 years, or sometimes less. When all is agreed and the papers signed, the money is paid to the Smiths or to their legal representative – usually a solicitor – and the Johnsons can move in. Over the 25 years, the Johnsons, because of the interest on the loan, will pay far than the original price of the house -–but since they are paying it in fairly small sums once a month they are, at least, able to afford it.

8. Reproduce the dialogue “Buying a House” . Mind that one speaker is a bit excited but tired, and the other one is rather inquisitive:

Tess: Hi, Bess. This is Tess. How are you?

Bess: Fine, thank you. Where have you been?

Tess: Oh, I’ve bought a house. I’ve been dreaming about it all my life. And now, gee, I have it!

Bess: Congratulations! I think, it’s wonderful to live in your own house.

Tess: Yes, it is. But buying a new house, you get a lot of problems.

Bess: What do you mean? Your house doesn’t need repairing, does it?

Tess: No, it doesn’t. But I need to repaper the walls and to furnish the house.

Bess: Are you going to do it yourself or will you invite a designer?

Tess: I’d like to invite a designer, but I’m afraid, I can’t afford it now.

Bess: How much did the house cost? You must have paid a pretty penny.

Tess: Yes, I have. You are right. That’s the problem. I had not enough money to pay for the house at once.

Bess: How did you manage to buy the house then?

Tess: I had to go to a building society.

Bess: What is it? Is it a bank?

Tess: Kind of. This society lends money to those who want to buy a house or a flat. I took a mortgage which amounts to 90 per cent of the selling price of the house. Of course, for 25 years because of the interest rate I’ll pay much more than the original price of the house, but I’ll pay relatively small sums of money a month and at least I can afford it.

Bess: Oh, that’s wonderful. I’d like to buy a house of my own too!

9. Make up your own dialogue. One of you will act as a real estate agent the other – as a potential customer. Offer your client houses using the pictures below. Give more detailed descriptions of the house your client is interested in. Answer her questions. Persuade your client.

ROSE COTTAGE	SEAVIEW	PARK HOUSE
* £ 115, 000 * Built in 1912 * 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living-room, a kitchen * a beautiful garden 20 metres long * 50 metres from the sea, 2 kilometres from the shops and the town centre	* £ 135, 000 * Built in 1985 * 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a living room, a dining roan, a kitchen, a study. * a garage, a garden 30 metres long * 500 metres from the sea, 1 kilometre from the shops and the town centre.	* £ 95, 000 * Built in 1999 * 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, a kitchen, a breakfast room * a big garage, a small garden 8 metres long * 1. 5 kilometres from the sea, 50 metres from the town centre, next to the park.

9. Compose a newspaper ad of your own, describing an apartment or a house.

Home Assignment:

2) Render the story. The words below may help you:

spacious, enchanting, delightful, convenient, picturesque, rough, lounge, tiny, miserable, leaky, to run, unreliable, handkerchief-size, overgrown, ridiculously

Этот замечательный дом …

Если люди говорят правду о недвижимости, которую продают, им надо давать приз за честность. Дом, который описывают как «просторный» часто бывает слишком большим. Такие слова как «восхитительный», «обворожительный», «удобный» часто используют для описания маленького дома.

Слова «маленький» и «живописный» используются довольно редко и оба обозначают «слишком маленький». Живописный дом – это дом с одной спальней, в которую не входит кровать, и кухней, которая настолько мала, что в ней невозможно сварить яйцо. Приз за честность, несомненно, должен быть отдан владельцу дома, который описал его следующим образом: «тот дом, который находится в неблагоустроенном районе Лондона, действительно нуждается в ремонте. В доме ужасная гостиная, крошечная столовая, три отвратительные спальни и ванная комната с текущим душем. Центральное отопление, обслуживание которого довольно дорого, очень ненадежно. Перед домом заросший сорняками садик размером с носовой платок. Соседи очень недружелюбны. Цена дома, который невозможно рекомендовать купить, до смешного завышена – 85, 00$.