实战口语情景对话：Buying a House 买房

Todd: Michael, this is a beautiful home.

托德：迈克尔，这房子真漂亮。

Mike: Yeah, we've lived here for about twelve years and it's too big for us now.

迈克：是啊，我们已经在这里住了12年了，现在对我们来说这座房子太大了。

Todd: Really. It's pretty big.

托德：是啊，真的很大。

Mike: Well, yeah, I mean, it's got four bedrooms and it's got this big living room area and dining room area, and I've got two kids and both of them are in college now, so they don't live here anymore. (Oh) So my wife and I are thinking about, you know, moving to a smaller house.

迈克：嗯，这房子有四间卧室、还有客厅和餐厅，我们有两个孩子，现在都在上大学，他们已经不住在这里了。(哦)所以我妻子和我想搬去小一点的房子住。

Todd: Oh, that makes sense. Well, so where are you going to move?

托德：哦，这可以理解。你们要搬到哪里去?

Mike: Well, this area is called Walnut Creek, it's in the East Bay of San Francisco, and we want to move into an area that's in the Berkeley Hills. It's called Orinda. 迈克：这里是旧金山东湾的核桃溪，我们想搬到伯克利山的奥林达去。 Todd: Oh, yeah. That's nice.

托德：哦，那很好。

Mike: Oh, it's very nice. I mean it's a little more inconvenient, and it's not as convenient as here (Yeah) but it's a little more, there's more privacy, and there's more nature, you know more like old established trees and hills, and a little quieter, and so all those things appeal to us, so we're looking. It's not easy to find a right place but we're, actually today we're gonna meet a realtor, and we're going to be looking at some houses that are available and see if you like any of them.

迈克：对，非常好。我是说虽然那里不太便利，没有这里便利，但是那里有更多的私人空间，而且也更接近自然，那边有很多古老的树木和山脉，比这边安静，这都是吸引我们的地方，所以我们正在那边找房子。不过要找到合适的房子并不容易，其实我们今天约了房屋中介见面，我们要看一些房子，看看有没有我们喜欢的。

Todd: You know, actually, I've been thinking about getting a house. I'm kind of getting up there in age. What is the process of buying a house? Like how do you go about it?

托德：你知道，我在考虑买房。我不太懂这方面，买房的手续是怎样的?都要经历什么过程?

Mike: Well the first step to find a place is you, generally you have to work with a realtor, somebody who has access to homes that are for sale, and then you sort of look through the listings and you find ones that you like, that you can afford, and then you visit with the realtor, and say you find a house that you like, like there is one that we're going to visit today that we think we like and we're going to check it out again. After we visit we make an offer sheet, we draw an offer sheet, that says how much we're willing to pay for the house, and the owner looks over the offer sheet. They never meet us directly, they meet only through their (the realtor) the realtors talk to each other. The buyer and the seller never actually talk to each other directly, and in this case, the house is going to have multiple offers. Many people will want this house.

迈克：首先你要找到一个地方，然后和房屋中介联系，房屋中介知道房屋销售信息，你浏览这些房屋信息确定你喜欢的房屋和你负担得起的房屋，然后你要和房屋中介一起去看房，如果你看上一个喜欢的房子，就比如我们今天要去看房，如果我们喜欢那个房子，我们会仔细核对。我们看过房之后会填一份报价单，写明我们愿意为这座房子支付的价格，然后这份报价单会交给房主。房主从来不和买房者直接见面，他们只通过房屋中介沟通，房屋中介会向各方说明情况。买房者和卖房者从来不直接对话，这样一来这座房子就可能有多个出价者。有可能许多人都想要这座房子。

Todd: OK.

托德：嗯。

Mike: So they're not going to look at the offers until next week, and say five or ten people bid on it, they're probably going to take the one, the person who offers the most money for it, so it's competitive.

迈克：所以他们可能要到下周，或者说在大概出现了五个至十个出价的买主后他们才会看那些报价单，然后他们会选择那个出价最多的买主，将房子卖给他，所以极具竞争性。

Todd: That is a tough situation.

托德：这真是一个艰难的局面。

Mike: Yeah, so sometimes you'll find a house that you love, and you can afford, but somebody outbids you. Somebody bids more for the house than you do and you lose it, and you have to keep looking so it can take weeks of months.

迈克：对，所以有时你找到一个你喜欢也能负担得起的房子，可是会被其他出价高的人抢走。有的人比你出价高，所以你就买不到这座房子了，你不得不继续找其他的房子，这个过程可能要花费几周甚至是几个月的时间。

Todd: Wow, well.

托德：哇，天哪。

Mike: To find the house you want.

迈克：才能找到你想要的房子。

Todd: Sounds tough. Good luck.

托德：听起来太难了。祝你好运。

Mike: Thanks a lot.

迈克：非常谢谢你。