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House-Buying or Renting?
你適合買房還是租房？
With housing prices down significantly in many parts of the country and interest rates low, it may be an affordable time for twenty somethings to buy that first home.
如今美國很多地方的房價都有了大幅下跌，銀行的利率又很低，似乎正是80后購置人生第一套房產的好時機。
In some instances, the price of owning can be comparable to renting in the long run. But a lot of uncertainty still remains about the housing market and the economy-making the decision to buy more complicated.
有些情況下，買房跟長期租房的花費相差無幾。不過樓市和經濟仍然有很多不確定因素一一所以做決定還是件挺復雜的事情。
Nicole Stivers, a 24-year-old who works in public relations in Contra Costa County, Calif, purchased her first home with her fiance in February. They were able to capitalize on what she calls a "perfect storm"----job stability, a desire to settle down, a surge in home foreclosures and the $8, 000 tax credit for first-time buyers.
妮科爾·斯蒂弗斯現年24歲，在加利福尼亞州康特拉哥斯達縣從事公關工作，今年2月跟未婚夫買下了他們的第一套房產。她稱目前的現狀為“完美風暴”一一他們兩人工作穩定、希望安定下來，目前有大量的房產喪失贖取權，而且初次購房者可享受8，000美元的稅收減免一一他們正好抓住了這一時機。
Still, the move was not without its concerns. "Would we be able to afford this if we both lost our jobs? Do we have enough for a down payment? I have enough for moving? It's really nerve-racking when you're first doing it," says Ms. Stivers.
當然，他們做出這個決定也不完全就是高枕無憂的。妮科爾說，“如果我們雙雙失業，還能供得起房嗎？我們的錢夠付首付嗎？我的錢夠搬家嗎？頭一次買房可真是傷腦筋啊。”
Here are some questions to consider when deciding if buying or renting is the right choice for you:
在決定買房還是租房更適合你之前，可以先考慮以下這些問題：
How long do you plan to stay in your home? "There are high transaction costs associated with buying and selling a house," says Dean Baker, co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, so home buyers should plan to stay put for at least four to five years.
你打算在新買的房子里住多久？經濟與政策研究中心聯席主任迪安·貝克說，“買賣房產交易費用很高，”因此如果打算購房的話，至少要住四五年才劃算。
The reasoning? The costs for buying and then selling a home-which can include a real-estate agent's fee, a transfer fee, closing costs, and inspector and surveyor fees-could add up to about 10% of the sale price, or roughly1.5 years worth of rent. "If you average that over 10 years, it is not that big a deal," says Mr. Baker. "But if you average it over, say two years, you're paying an awful lot of money to own a house for a short period of time."
原因何在呢？買了房子再賣掉所需的費用——包括房產中介費、過戶費、買賣手續費、驗房師和估價師的費用一一加在一起大概是房價的10%，或者大致相當于一年半的房租。貝克說，“如果你把這個費用分攤到10年，那就不是個大數目了，不過如果要分攤到兩年，那就意味著，你要為短期擁有一個房子付出很貴的價錢。”
