置業良機來了嗎？

去年年末的谷底，今年三四月的“小陽春”，中國的房地產市場行情可謂撲朔迷離。其實無論是出現在東方的中國房地產震蕩，還是大洋彼岸的美國房地產危機，都只是世界房地產界的一個縮影。經濟危機影響下的各地樓市，是漲是跌，是短期反彈還是全面復蘇，誰也說不清楚。不過，樓價動蕩倒是讓不少人蠢蠢欲動，紛紛量度是否該“出手”啦。

Reporter(Reggie): 1.2 million homes have gone into 1)foreclosure in just the past year and a half， and of course， for each individual family it is a huge deal. It’s 2)devastating， but it also devastates the market and the neighborhoods that surround it. So we are joined now by John Adams. He is a real estate 3)broker， a radio host and a columnist here in Atlanta. He talks all things real estate. So let’s get right into that. We see these foreclosure numbers that are inching up every month， and then we’re also seeing what’s happening in these neighborhoods. An empty house…

John: It’s bad.

Reporter: … is a bad thing. There’s no question about it.

John: Reggie， I think it’s important we recognize， as Christine said， it is a tragedy for each individual family， but it’s broader than that. When the house is empty， it tends to attract 4)vagrants， it attracts crime， the bank takes the house back， they’re losing money on a daily basis， the house goes into 5)disrepair often， the air conditioning is…the air conditioning 6)compressor is stolen， the…in many cases the actual copper wiring is ripped out of the walls， so the house loses value on an ongoing basis， and this is a problem for the neighborhood. Who wants to buy a house in a neighborhood where there are homes like this out there， and there’s nobody to buy these houses， because each represents a major construction project. So it’s a real serious problem.

Reporter: And you say that it’s time for the government to step in and to start offering 7)incentives， 8)left and right， to get buyers， who can afford a home right now， to buy those homes.

John: Well， I think the President’s housing initiative has some good first steps. The loan 9)refinancing， for those that can afford it， the loan modification for people in

10)imminent danger of foreclosure. The $8，000 tax credit was a good first step， but I agree with Senator Johnny Isakson who said that， “…housing led us into this

11)recession; housing is gonna lead us out.” I’d like to see a $20，000 federal tax credit for anybody who buys a foreclosed home. I’d like to see financing made available for investors who are willing to take on … These are major 12)renovations; it’s not just paint and carpet， Reggie. Somebody’s gotta go in there and spend $15，000 to $20，000 to restore this house to livable status， and then either put 13)tenants in it or sell it， and in this marketplace， selling is tough， so more than likely this home will have to be rented.

Reporter: Alright， so let’s talk about renting， because there are a lot of people out there who say， “Look， it might not be time for you to buy at all， or maybe you’re just not a home-owner. Maybe this is going to be a renting life that you’re going to have.” Is there anything wrong with that?

John: Well， not at all， and， and I think this represents a change from multiple administration policy for the last 20 years， where we had this idea that we have to put every American into a position of home ownership.

Reporter: Hmm-hmm.

John: Right now about 30% of American households rent， and as we try to move higher than that 70% ownership figure， each percentage point is much more difficult to achieve. And we now can look back and say that in the early 2000， or 2001， 2002， we were making loans to people who， quite frankly， shouldn’t have been buying if they weren’t ready. And I think the return to stricter underwriting guidelines makes sense， and I think some people， we need to recognize， simply value the flexibility of renting; it gives them the opportunity to make a decision to move. Some people， particularly young people， shouldn’t be pushed into home ownership. If you buy a 14)condo for example in Atlanta， Georgia， right now， and within a year or two you’re transferred or you take a job somewhere else， you may have a great difficulty selling that condo in this market.

記者(雷吉):在過去一年半的時間里，有120萬戶家庭房產陷入喪失贖回權風潮，不可置疑，這對每一個家庭來說，都是一件大事。它具有相當的破壞性，也進而影響了房產市場和房子的周邊環境。我們現在來與約翰·亞當斯聊一聊，他是亞特蘭大的一位房地產經紀人，又身兼電臺主持和專欄作者的身份。他可是房地產界的專家?，F在讓我們開始這一話題吧。我們看到喪失贖回權的房子數量每個月都在小范圍上升，我們也看到在這些房子周邊發生的一系列情況。一個空房子……

約翰:情況很糟糕。

記者:……是很糟糕。毫無疑問。

約翰:雷吉，就像克莉絲汀說的，對于每個家庭來說，這都是一個悲劇。但我想我們也很應該認識到，它的影響遠遠大于家庭悲劇。一間房子空了出來，乞丐游民、犯罪就接踵而至;銀行回收房子，每天都損失無數;房子失修;空調機……空調壓縮機被偷;還有……還有很多房子連墻里的電線都被挖了出來。房子的價值逐日下降，而這對于街坊鄰居來說，更是頭痛的問題。試問誰想在一個這類房子遍布的社區買房呢?而這些房子沒人買，因為一套房子就是整個建筑工程的縮影。所以這真的是一個很嚴重的問題。

記者:你說政府是時候介入(房地產市場)并制定盡可能多的刺激方案，來讓那些現在有能力買房的人買下這些房子。

約翰:嗯，我認為總統先生提出的房地產刺激方案已經開了個好頭。比如重新貸款政策，讓那些有支付能力的借貸人能修改房貸，以緩解當下的止贖權危機;對首次置業者實行稅收抵免8000美金的政策也是利好措施。我同意參議員約翰尼·艾薩克森的看法，他說:“……是房地產把我們卷入這一場經濟危機，也最終要由房地產帶我們走出這場危機。”我希望看到的是對每個購買斷供房的買房者實行抵免聯邦稅收兩萬美金的政策;我希望看到的是國家、銀行仍肯借貸給那些愿意承擔購買房產風險的投資者……這些房子需要大整修，而不僅僅是簡單的刷刷墻鋪鋪地毯什么的而已，雷吉。買的人必須花上1萬5到2萬美金來裝修，才能讓它勉強達到可居住標準，然后他們要不就把房子租出去，要不就賣了它。但在這一市場環境下，出售是相當困難的，所以最終的可能應該是將房子出租。

記者:好的，現在我們來談談租房，因為有好多人都說:“看看，這不是買房子的時機，或者你根本就不應該成為業主，又或者你這一輩子可能租房子住就行了。”這種看法不對嗎?

約翰:呃，這種看法無可厚非。我想這也是代表過去20年來多任政府內閣政策的一個變化。過去我們總認為必須讓每一個美國人都擁有自己的房產。

記者:嗯嗯。

約翰:現在，有30%的美國家庭住在租來的房子里，當我們努力要把余下70%擁有自己產業的美國家庭這個數字往上漲時，提高每個百分點都相當相當困難。而我們現在回過頭來看，其實早在2000年、2001年、2002年的時候，坦白說，我們實際上是在向那些沒準備好、不應該買房子的人提供住房貸款，因此我認為重新嚴格制定貸款規則是對的。我們也必須承認，有些人考慮得更多的是租房的彈性。租房讓他們有機會做出搬遷的決定。一些人，尤其是年輕人，其實不應該鼓勵他們置業。舉個例子來說，如果你現在喬治亞州亞特蘭大買一個公寓單位，但一兩年后你被調遣或到其他地方工作，那么你要在現今市場下賣掉這個公寓單位就相當困難了。

“現在正是買房良機。”

正方

● If you are ready to settle down and start a family， owning your own place goes a long way to giving you and your family peace of mind. It’s nice to have a place you can call home.

Tips: 中國人總覺得“安家”才能“立業”。對年輕人來說，要安定下來(settle down)結婚成家，首要解決的問題就是房子。一間屬于自己的房子對你和你的家人來說都是一個安心的存在。短語“go a long way”這里表示“對……大有幫助”，而“peace of mind”則表示“內心的安寧”之意。所以，當你有了一個可以稱之為“家”的地方，也就為靈魂找到棲息處了。

● Rent is always going up and it’s basically like pouring money down the drain. While housing costs may be high， at the end of the day， you will own your home.

Tips: 租金水漲船高估計是每個租客心中的痛。尤其當你認為這租房的錢都打了水漂(pour money down the drain)的時候，心痛指數更是一路飆升。相比起租房，買房的費用固然大，月供也不少，但這個房子終有一天(at the end of the day)是自己的。為自己的東西投資，心甘情愿。短語“at the end of the day”字面表示一天結束時，但在口語中也常用來表示“最終、最后”之意。

● Houses increase in value over time. If you wait it out， after ten or twenty years， you could be sitting on a gold mine.

Tips: 最近的樓市再怎么震蕩，樓價比起以前卻是有增無減，房子仍然是增值(increase in value)的東西。如果你買了房子，等個十年二十年再轉手賣出去，估計就成了坐擁千金萬銀的富豪了?！皐ait sth. out”也可作“wait out sth.”意為“等到某事發生/結束”。而“sitting on a gold mine”則生動地描繪出坐擁金礦的富貴形象。

● Nowadays， many governments are throwing money at homebuyers as incentives to promote spending. Not to mention there is a whole range of tax breaks available.

Tips: 經濟危機下，全球政府都不約而同地制定刺激消費方案，讓利消費者，以拉動內需。政府如此這般地砸錢(throw money)，估計多少能吸引國民消費。再加上各種各樣的稅收減免、抵免政策，如果不是經濟危機鬧得人心惶惶，如今可算是消費者的黃金時期了。“Not to mention…”引導從句大家再熟悉不過了，意為“更不用提……”。

反方

● Buying a house brings with it a lot of unwanted stress and pressure. House hunting， signing contracts， and transferring funds will have you tearing your hair out!

Tips: 決定了買房子，許多想都沒想過的壓力也隨之而來。買房子不僅是個體力活，更是場斗智斗勇的心理戰?？纯矗瑥目捶孔印⒑灪贤教幚磴y行資金事務，每一步都復雜繁瑣，讓人抓狂(tear your hair out)。“tear your hair out”在上幾期的《瘋狂英語口語版》中反復出現，讀者朋友應該不陌生了。想想看，都要把頭發扯出來了，還不心煩至極嗎?

● Spending or borrowing a huge sum of money is going to leave you in the red and result in some financially tough times. It could take years till you are back on your feet.

Tips: 如今買房子不像幾十年前流行一次性買斷，按揭還款幾乎成了主流方式。向銀行借貸讓你在接下來的幾十年間成為名副其實的債務人，財政永遠處于赤字(in the red)狀態。更甚者，銀行貸款還可能讓你陷入財政危機。如果你想達到無債一身輕、再謀出路(back on one’s feet)的境地，估計要經過幾十年緊衣縮食的磨煉才行。

● As we’ve seen in the US， you could lose everything but the shirt on your back if you don’t make the monthly payments. Think it through before you bite off more than you can chew.

Tips: 美國的房地產危機讓我們知道，如果你不按時交付月供的話，可能真會嘗到山窮水盡的滋味，“everything but…”表示“除了這一個之外”，“the shirt on one’s back”這個詞組是從固定搭配“take the shirt off one’s back”延伸而來，表示你所擁有的最后一件東西。如果你到最后淪落到只剩一衣蔽體的境地，那是何其悲涼。所以買房子前要考慮清楚，別落得個“貪多嚼不爛”(bite off more than you can chew)的下場。

● Think about the upkeep of the home. It’s not gonna be a walk in the park. There are bills to pay， lawns to mow and repairs to be made. And in this economy the cost of building supplies and laborers have also gone up.

Tips: 買了房子也不是一勞永逸。想想房子的維修費(upkeep of the home)。那也是很可觀的，不是什么小菜一碟(a walk in the park)。 “a walk in the park”自然是公園散步的意思，但作為常用表達，它也表示“相當容易、小菜一碟”的意思。