美国大学毕业生的买房故事

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.

《华尔街日报》正在跟踪报道2013届毕业生的经历。我们利用社交媒体跟多位毕业生联络，并将分享他们在真实世界中的故事。

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岁的梅雷迪斯•凯尼恩(Meredith Kenyon)在2013年1月份从纽约圣约翰大学(St John's University)酒店管理专业毕业。3月份以来，凯尼恩受雇于亚特兰大的房贷公司HeritageBank Mortgage，任营销协调员。

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.

她在亚特兰大买了一栋房子，刚刚签完合同。买房对于任何人的人生都是一个重要的里程碑， 对于毕业不久的人来说更是如此。

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，于是决定先不要孩子，先买房！同事都说，现在就得买，毕竟机会难得。亚特兰大的房价真的很便宜，研究了相关数据之后我就决定买了。他们针对首次购房者有一个名叫“佐治亚业主梦”(Georgia Dream Home Ownership)的项目，这个项目又有一个面向首次购房者的“首付援助”(Down Payment Assistance)计划。因为是在房贷公司工作，我听说过这个针对首次购房者的计划（因为大家都抱怨它带来了多么繁重的工作，又是怎样没有给公司带来利润）。

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.

贷款专员、同时也是我的朋友、同事跟我说，我这辈子大概只有现在才穷到有资格申请的程度，如果不抓住机会，那我就是疯了。

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.

这个计划给了我5,000美元用于首付，我自己则拿出了1,800美元，于是初期费用全都涵盖了。

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.

父母对我买房有点犹豫，但现在他们觉得这是一笔不错的投资。他们没有提供任何资助，全都是我自己付的钱。如果我找他们要，他们会毫不犹豫地帮我，但这不是重点。他们是白手起家的，我也会白手起家。目前的利率非常低，我知道等上一两年可能更有道理，但我不想冒这个险。每个月房子的开销在1,200美元左右，所以现在我确实要打算找人合住。

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.

一开始找房很不容易，因为什么事都不称心。然后经纪人带我去看了一套实际上还没有挂牌的房子，太完美了！之前我们看了好几个星期的房，有次路过她的朋友住的这栋。经纪人说，她的朋友不想卖房，但他要结婚了，她知道他会重新考虑，于是我们前去敲门，跟他聊房子卖不卖的事。我爱上了这套房子！出来之后我就跟经纪人说想买。第二天我们就按他要价的100%发出了要约。经纪人是房主的好朋友，这一点很有帮助。从我看到房子开始到买下来，整个过程花了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.

最后我甚至还收留了房主留下的两条牛头犬，因为把狗带到他们夫妇俩的新家不太方便。他提出帮我承担一年的狗粮钱，这太好了。

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.

我确实担心独自居住的安全问题，毕竟亚特兰大的犯罪率很高。上个星期就有人闯进了我的车！养这两条狗应该会在这方面发挥作用。我还觉得，只要人不犯傻应该就没问题。我在纽约生活了四年，所以知道怎样在夜晚注意安全。我觉得，通过独居认识自己将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.

在搬进我的房子之前，我一直为了省钱而睡朋友的沙发。我意识到自己没有任何家具。这些年来不管是住哪里，家具都是配好的，而现在我没有床，没有锅，没有床单，这一切都得自己买。我只有两个箱子，除此之外什么都没有。

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.

幸运的是，我没有任何其他贷款要还。我拿过多项运动员奖学金（我踢足球）和学术奖学金，涵盖了学费。当初我跟父亲争过此事，因为我想上一所课程不同、但奖学金没这么多的大学。但现在我很高兴自己无债一身轻。

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.

很多朋友都觉得我买房是疯了。他们说：“婚都没结，怎么能买房呢？”这是因为我的很多朋友在毕业过后都遇到了失业和低薪实习的麻烦。没有债务是我现在就能够买下这栋房子的原因之一。

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

我不是一个南方女孩，但我现在真的爱上了南方。