美國大學畢業生的買房故事大綱

The Wall Street Journal is following the journey of the graduating class of 2013. We are using social media to connect with a number of graduates, and will be sharing their stories of real world work throughout the year.

《華爾街日報》正在跟蹤報道2013屆畢業生的經歷。我們利用社交媒體跟多位畢業生聯絡，並將分享他們在真實世界中的故事。

Meredith Kenyon, 22, graduated from St John's University, NYC, in January 2013 with a degree in Hospitality and Management. Kenyon has been employed as a Marketing Coordinator for HeritageBank Mortgage in Atlanta since March.

22歲的梅雷迪斯•凱尼恩(Meredith Kenyon)在2013年1月份從紐約聖約翰大學(St John's University)酒店管理專業畢業。3月份以來，凱尼恩受僱於亞特蘭大的房貸公司HeritageBank Mortgage，任營銷協調員。

She just signed papers completing her purchase on a house in Atlanta. This is a big milestone in anyone's life, especially for someone who has recently graduated.

她在亞特蘭大買了一棟房子，剛剛簽完合同。買房對於任何人的人生都是一個重要的里程碑， 對於畢業不久的人來說更是如此。

This is her story.

以下是她的故事。

I got condo fever and instead of getting a baby, I decided to get a house! Everyone at work told me that I had to buy now, as it was such a good opportunity. Property values are really low in Atlanta, and after looking at the numbers I decided to buy. They have a program for first-time buyers called Georgia Dream Home Ownership, which has a Down Payment Assistance program for first-time buyers. Since I work for a mortgage company, I had heard of the first time home buyer program (because everyone complained about how much work it was and how it doesn't really make the company any money!)

我渴望有套房子，於是決定先不要孩子，先買房！同事都說，現在就得買，畢竟機會難得。亞特蘭大的房價真的很便宜，研究了相關數據之後我就決定買了。他們針對首次購房者有一個名叫“佐治亞業主夢”(Georgia Dream Home Ownership)的項目，這個項目又有一個面向首次購房者的“首付援助”(Down Payment Assistance)計劃。因爲是在房貸公司工作，我聽說過這個針對首次購房者的計劃（因爲大家都抱怨它帶來了多麼繁重的工作，又是怎樣沒有給公司帶來利潤）。

My loan officer, a friend and coworker, told me that this is probably the only time in my life I'll be poor enough to qualify so I'd be crazy if I didn't take advantage of it.

貸款專員、同時也是我的朋友、同事跟我說，我這輩子大概只有現在才窮到有資格申請的程度，如果不抓住機會，那我就是瘋了。

The program gave me $5, 000 towards the deposit. I contributed $1, 800 of my own money towards it, and that covered all the initial expenses.

這個計劃給了我5,000美元用於首付，我自己則拿出了1,800美元，於是初期費用全都涵蓋了。

My parents were a little hesitant about me buying a house, but now they see it as a good investment. They didn't pay anything towards it. I paid for it all myself. They would have helped me in a heartbeat if I asked, but that's not what this is about. They started from scratch and I will too. The interest rates are very low right now. I know it might make more sense to wait a year or two, but I didn't want to risk it. The monthly costs are around $1200 a month, so I do plan to get a roommate.

父母對我買房有點猶豫，但現在他們覺得這是一筆不錯的投資。他們沒有提供任何資助，全都是我自己付的錢。如果我找他們要，他們會毫不猶豫地幫我，但這不是重點。他們是白手起家的，我也會白手起家。目前的利率非常低，我知道等上一兩年可能更有道理，但我不想冒這個險。每個月房子的開銷在1,200美元左右，所以現在我確實要打算找人合住。

It was hard to find a house to begin with, as nothing felt right. Then my realtor showed me one that actually wasn't available yet, and it was perfect! We'd been looking for weeks and we were passing this house that her friend lived in. She told me that her friend didn't want to sell, but that he was getting married and she knew that he'd rethink, so we went up and knocked on the door and talked to him about selling it. I fell in love with it! I walked out and told my agent I wanted it. The next day we made an offer of 100% of his asking value. The realtor was a close friend of the homeowner, and that helped. The whole process took 45 days, starting with when I saw the house.

一開始找房很不容易，因爲什麼事都不稱心。然後經紀人帶我去看了一套實際上還沒有掛牌的房子，太完美了！之前我們看了好幾個星期的房，有次路過她的朋友住的這棟。經紀人說，她的朋友不想賣房，但他要結婚了，她知道他會重新考慮，於是我們前去敲門，跟他聊房子賣不賣的事。我愛上了這套房子！出來之後我就跟經紀人說想買。第二天我們就按他要價的100%發出了要約。經紀人是房主的好朋友，這一點很有幫助。從我看到房子開始到買下來，整個過程花了45天。

I even ended up adopting two pit-bull dogs from the owner as well; they were a bit much to take to his new home with his wife. He offered to pay for my dog food for a year, which is a help.

最後我甚至還收留了房主留下的兩條牛頭犬，因爲把狗帶到他們夫婦倆的新家不太方便。他提出幫我承擔一年的狗糧錢，這太好了。

I do worry about the safety aspect of living on my own, as Atlanta has a high crime rate. My car was broken into last week! Having the dogs should help with that. I also think that as long as you're not stupid you should be OK. I lived in New York for four years, so I know how to be safe at night. I think it will be fun to learn about myself from living on my own.

我確實擔心獨自居住的安全問題，畢竟亞特蘭大的犯罪率很高。上個星期就有人闖進了我的車！養這兩條狗應該會在這方面發揮作用。我還覺得，只要人不犯傻應該就沒問題。我在紐約生活了四年，所以知道怎樣在夜晚注意安全。我覺得，通過獨居認識自己將是一件很有意思的事情。

I've been sleeping on my friends' sofa to save money for when I move into my house. I realized that I don't have any house things. Over the years, everywhere I have lived has had stuff, and I have no bed, no pans, no sheets, and will have to buy all of this. I just have a couple of suitcases and that's it.

在搬進我的房子之前，我一直爲了省錢而睡朋友的沙發。我意識到自己沒有任何傢俱。這些年來不管是住哪裏，傢俱都是配好的，而現在我沒有牀，沒有鍋，沒有牀單，這一切都得自己買。我只有兩個箱子，除此之外什麼都沒有。

I'm lucky enough to not have any loans to pay back. I had a mix of athletic (I play soccer) and academic scholarships that covered my fees. I argued with my Dad about this at the time, as I wanted to go to a college that offered different courses, but not as much scholarship money, but now I'm really glad I have no debt.

幸運的是，我沒有任何其他貸款要還。我拿過多項運動員獎學金（我踢足球）和學術獎學金，涵蓋了學費。當初我跟父親爭過此事，因爲我想上一所課程不同、但獎學金沒這麼多的大學。但現在我很高興自己無債一身輕。

A lot of my friends think what I'm doing is crazy. They say things like, 'How can you buy a house, you're not even married yet?' It's because a lot of my friends are struggling with unemployment or low-paid internships after graduation. Not having that debt is one of the reasons I was able to get the house now.

很多朋友都覺得我買房是瘋了。他們說：“婚都沒結，怎麼能買房呢？”這是因爲我的很多朋友在畢業過後都遇到了失業和低薪實習的麻煩。沒有債務是我現在就能夠買下這棟房子的原因之一。

I'm not a southern girl, but I really am falling in love with it now.

我不是一個南方女孩，但我現在真的愛上了南方。