Activity and Handouts: “Buying a Home,”
the Fictional Account of Angelo Rodriguez

Cathy Anderson, Adult Literacy Resource Institute, Boston, MA
and Andy English, Roxbury Community College, Boston, MA

Recently, we bought a house in the town of Malden, Massachusetts, about 20 minutes from Boston. My wife, Maria, and I looked a long time for a home we could afford near public transportation and good schools for our daughter, Angela. I am very glad we took the time to search thoroughly. Our new home is on a quiet street not too far from Malden Center. We like the big kitchen even though the bedrooms are small. In the spring, we’ll plant a garden in the backyard. My daughter already has a playmate her age.

My wife Maria and I both came from the Dominican Republic 11 years ago. We worked hard at two or three jobs to save enough money for a home and other expenses such as school. My wife and I now manage the Store 24 in Malden Center. We have worked for the Store 24 as managers and clerks for about six years. For 10 years we were living in small apartments on or near Main Street with no yard and near heavy traffic. We desperately wanted a safe place for our daughter to play. We also wanted to have another child someday. Before we started to look seriously, I made sure that our credit was OK. We had only two outstanding debts, a car and my college loan. We were “first-time home buyers” in the market for our dream house.

We collected fliers and advertisements of homes in the Malden area, where we wanted to live. For about three months, we saw this house, the one we eventually bought, listed in the paper. We drove by it every once in a while to get a feel for the neighborhood, the traffic, and the businesses. We looked into the prices of houses in the surrounding neighborhoods so we could make a comparison, and we went to open houses in the neighborhood almost every Sunday. Finally, we realized that this was the house we really wanted. The only problem was that the owners were asking $125,000, much too high for us! We had about $10,000 in our savings account and could not afford to spend the whole amount on the down payment and closing costs.

On Sunday morning the phone rang. It was the realtor. My English is pretty good, but I thought I was having a bad day when she told me, “Your dream house went down to $101,000.” I couldn’t believe it! Maria and I packed up Angela and went to take another look. We met the realtor there, and after spending a day or so checking again to see what other homes in the area were selling for, we decided to offer $100,000 for the house of our dreams.

We submitted our offer to purchase with a $750 deposit, and the owner accepted. This first payment would go toward the down payment of $5,000. Before we made the offer, however, Maria said to check the dates: 10 days to get an inspection, 14 days to apply for a mortgage, 21 days from application to approval, and 7 days to closing. The offer we made was in writing. We then found a home inspector who was certified by the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) and recommended by a good friend. This inspection cost us $200.
Then came the purchase and sale contract. Maria and I were concerned about some of the details, so we hired a lawyer to look over the contract and help us negotiate with the seller’s attorney. We negotiated with the lawyer to pay him $500. We also wrote another check for $2,250 toward the down payment.

Next we had to apply for a mortgage. We called several lenders and asked if they had a special loan for low-income or first-time homebuyers. We then decided to go with the one that had the best mortgage for us. Our mortgage lender asked many questions, keeping us there for over two hours! We found out what the interest rate was on that day and decided to “lock in” at that rate because it was the most favorable. During the next two to four weeks we kept calling them to make sure our application was progressing. This made us very nervous, but we got through it.

Finally, we received our loan approval. We read the letter through carefully and returned it to the bank. Fortunately, we were able to receive a 5 percent down payment and a soft-second mortgage, which reduced our expenses. We were on our way!

We next had to buy fire and hazard insurance for $700. We were given an insurance binder to take to closing. We went to visit our new house one more time to check to see that everything was all right before the closing. Maria and I decided that things were OK. Two days before the closing, the bank attorney listed what to write our final check for:

Writing that last check felt scary because we were using up almost all of our savings. Thank goodness we had dependable jobs. At the closing, we brought our certified check for the final amount. Then we sat down and signed so many forms, our fingers went numb. At last, the keys were turned over to us and we could open the door to our new home!

Reading Comprehension Questions by Cathy Anderson

1. What do Angelo and Maria think of their current home?

2. Why do they want to buy a house of their own?

3. What kind of work do they do? How long have they been working?

4. What did Angelo do before he and Maria started to look seriously for a house?

5. What is a “first-time home buyer”?

6. How did Angelo and Maria “shop” for a house?

7. Why was the first price of $125,000 too high for them?

8. What was the amount Angelo and Maria eventually offered? What did they do before they made the offer?

9. How much did the house inspector charge? How did they find the house inspector?

10. Why did Maria and Angelo hire a lawyer to check the purchase and sale contract? How much was their second check? How much had they paid already toward the down payment?

11. When they were looking for a mortgage, what question did they ask?

12. When Angelo and Maria found a good mortgage, they “locked in” the interest rate. What does this term mean?

13. How much was their down payment?

14. How much did they pay for fire and hazard insurance?

15. What does the term “closing” mean?

Reading Comprehension Questions by Andy English

I. Put the following events of the home-buying process in chronological order. Refer to the story if you are not sure.

a. ___ save money for down payment

b. ___ receive keys

c. ___ look at houses/check neighborhoods

d. ___ make offer to purchase, along with a deposit

e. ___ go to closing

f. ___ find house that you like

g. ___ get home inspection

h. ___ get mortgage

i. ___ collect fliers and ads for houses in area

j. ___ review purchase and sale contract

k. ___ buy homeowners insurance

l. ___ receive accepted offer from owner

m. ___ apply for mortgage

n. ___ do final check (walk-through) of house

o. ___ go to open houses

II. Vocabulary: word search. Find synonyms for the following words from the reading:

1. completely	8. employed
2. unpaid	9. check
3. brochures	10. bargain
4. expensive	11. lawyer
5. real estate agent	12. frightening
6. gave	13. without feeling
7. worried	14. given (find two synonyms)

Previous Page | Next Page