My student asks, "how to buy a house in the USA?" This lesson introduces English financial and legal vocabulary.
The main idea is the amount of the mortgage payment depends on the size of the down payment. My student and I define "escrow" as the contractual and financial commitment to buy the house. We define "lien" as a legal and financial freeze on a property purchase. The deed and title are the main documents to prove ownership in the USA. The deed proves ownership, and the title shows there is no legal claim or lien.
First, ask these questions to elicit vocabulary:
1. What is the house price?
2. What is the market value?
3. What is the first payment?
4. How do you commit to buy a house?
5. After you pay the deposit and sign the offer, what do you wait for?
6. What do you do while in escrow?
7. How do you check a house for problems?
8. What is a house with problems you can fix?
9. What are possible expensive problems?
10. What surveys check for these?
11. What audits check for these?
12. If you pay for certain things, then you can report less income and pay less tax. What is this?
13. What is the document that proves nobody has any legal claim against the house?
14. What is the document that proves house ownership?
15. If home values in the neighborhood increase, then your house...in value?
• Appreciate in value
• Down Payment
• Put money down
• Tax deductible
• Don't rush
• Scout out
• Balk
• Fixer-upper
• Home inspection
• Financial landmines
• Deed
• Title
• Lien
• Escrow
• appreciate
• down Payment
• deductible
• fixer-upper
• deed
Next, ask the student to scan the wiki article how to buy a house to find the answers to the questions.
Finally, hold a free response discussion to allow the student to practice the new vocabulary. My student compares and contrasts how to buy a house in the USA and Turkey. He tells me that there is no mortgage in Turkey. He prefers to sell his property based on trust, relationships, and cash upfront. Quite simply, he places his name and phone number in the window of the house, and waits for a call from a credible buyer. He does not hire a realtor. A Turkish deed is called topu. However, there are no titles. He tells a story of someone claiming ownership of his family member's house.
Here is a gap fill quiz using example sentences from Merriam Webster's Learners Dictionary:
The trip was ___________ as a business expense.
All donations to charities are ___________ .
She made a 10 percent ___________ ___________ on the car.
Their first house was a one-bedroom ___________ .
He gave them the ___________ to the property.
Given the history of the company, your investment should ___________ (in value) over time.
He is honest in word and in ___________ .
They taught their children to be kind and to do good ___________ .
Living in the city has taught me to ___________ the differences between people.
The main idea is the amount of the mortgage payment depends on the size of the down payment. My student and I define "escrow" as the contractual and financial commitment to buy the house. We define "lien" as a legal and financial freeze on a property purchase. The deed and title are the main documents to prove ownership in the USA. The deed proves ownership, and the title shows there is no legal claim or lien.
First, ask these questions to elicit vocabulary:
1. What is the house price?
2. What is the market value?
3. What is the first payment?
4. How do you commit to buy a house?
5. After you pay the deposit and sign the offer, what do you wait for?
6. What do you do while in escrow?
7. How do you check a house for problems?
8. What is a house with problems you can fix?
9. What are possible expensive problems?
10. What surveys check for these?
11. What audits check for these?
12. If you pay for certain things, then you can report less income and pay less tax. What is this?
13. What is the document that proves nobody has any legal claim against the house?
14. What is the document that proves house ownership?
15. If home values in the neighborhood increase, then your house...in value?
• Appreciate in value
• Down Payment
• Put money down
• Tax deductible
• Don't rush
• Scout out
• Balk
• Fixer-upper
• Home inspection
• Financial landmines
• Deed
• Title
• Lien
• Escrow
• appreciate
• down Payment
• deductible
• fixer-upper
• deed
Next, ask the student to scan the wiki article how to buy a house to find the answers to the questions.
Finally, hold a free response discussion to allow the student to practice the new vocabulary. My student compares and contrasts how to buy a house in the USA and Turkey. He tells me that there is no mortgage in Turkey. He prefers to sell his property based on trust, relationships, and cash upfront. Quite simply, he places his name and phone number in the window of the house, and waits for a call from a credible buyer. He does not hire a realtor. A Turkish deed is called topu. However, there are no titles. He tells a story of someone claiming ownership of his family member's house.
Here is a gap fill quiz using example sentences from Merriam Webster's Learners Dictionary:
The trip was ___________ as a business expense.
All donations to charities are ___________ .
She made a 10 percent ___________ ___________ on the car.
Their first house was a one-bedroom ___________ .
He gave them the ___________ to the property.
Given the history of the company, your investment should ___________ (in value) over time.
He is honest in word and in ___________ .
They taught their children to be kind and to do good ___________ .
Living in the city has taught me to ___________ the differences between people.