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Introduction
“When are you moving out??”
You are getting close to graduation and are excited to look for a place of your own! Are you going to live with your parents forever?! I don’t think so! In this WebQuest, you will work through the first steps you need to take to buy a home.
The Task
You will draw a role for this project out of the hat and use the criteria set for your character(s) and you will decide whether to buy or rent a house. You will determine how much you can afford to spend on a house and shop for a house! You will make calculations using online tools.
The Process
Step 1: After selecting one of the role-plays below, you will use the information for your house shopping. Record your information in Part I of the student worksheet.
Chris Singleton: You are a recent graduate. You have a great job that started you at $55,000 per year. Your car and loan payments are $650 per month. You have
managed to save $40,000! You will live in this area for at least 5 years but can’t stand the idea of living with your parents the whole time.
Mr. and Mrs. Young: You are in your mid-twenties and were married four years ago. Congratulations – you have a 2 ½ year old and a baby on the way! You are looking to settle in an area and raise your children here. Your annual income is $95,000. You put $1000 per month towards credit bills. You have $80,000 saved toward a new house.
Mr. and Mrs. Middleson: You are married and both in your mid-forties. You have just been relocated to the area from another state. Your children are finishing school and are settled on their own. Your annual income is $160,000. Your monthly credit bills are $3,000. You have $100,000 from the sale of your old home to put toward
a new home. You are not expecting to be transferred again and will retire here.
Mrs. Grey: You are a single woman in your seventies. You are active and healthy and would like to find a smaller home where you can spend your retirement. You are living on a fixed income of $45,000. You only have $200 a month in credit debt. After you sell your current house, you will have $58,000 for a down payment
on a new house.
Step 2: Visit an article at http://www.freddiemac.com/homeownership/rent_or_buy/right_for_you.html
and enter your information to see if you should rent or buy a home. When finished with the survey, print your results, show them to me, and save them to hand in with your completed project. Complete Part II of the student worksheet.
Also read this web page for some eye-opening information:
http://www.realtor.org/field-guides/field-guide-to-buying-vs-renting
https://www.yourmoneycounts.com/ymc/owning-home/renting-vs-buying-a-home.html
An alternate source is:
http://mortgages.interest.com/content/calculators/index.asp
Take at least two of the following quizzes:
http://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/Buy-Rent-Quiz-35937024
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/buy-home-or-rent-quiz.aspx
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=should-i-rent-or-buy
http://home.howstuffworks.com/real-estate/first-time-home-buying/buy-or-rent-quiz.htm
Step 3: Visit one of these sites to calculate how much house you can afford and what your monthly payment will be.
For all our scenarios, use the percentages below:
property tax rate of 1.981 %, property insurance rate of 0.5%, and an interest rate of 5.75%.
HSH House Price Calculator: http://www.hsh.com/calc-howmuch.html
How Much Can You Afford Calculator:
http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/houseafford/houseafford.html
Print your findings, and save them to attach to your completed project. Complete Part III of the student worksheet.
Step 4: What features do you want in your house?
Complete Part IV on the student worksheet. List the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and other features you feel are important.
Visit this site: http://www.mtstcil.org/skills/housing-AdsGlossary.html that shows abbreviations in apartment ads (many apply to house listings). You may also Google “real estate abbreviations” to find alternate sources. Write the abbreviation next to the features you listed in Part IV on the student worksheet.
Other options for this:
http://abbreviations.yourdictionary.com/articles/real-estate-abbreviations.html
http://www.westerwelle.net/abbreviations.htm
Step 5: Use one of the following websites, your local newspaper, or local real estate publication to search for a house. You must find a house in NJ!!
ReMax:
http://remax.realtor.com/FindHome/defaultREMAX.asp?gate=remax
Weichert:
Century 21
http://www.northjerseyhomes.com/
Bergen Record House Listings:
***Attach the ad (print it out) for the house you have chosen to your completed project.
You should also bookmark the website and email it to yourself. You may use this ad to present to the class your chosen home.
***After you find your house go back to one of the online payment calculators and calculate your monthly payments for this particular house.
Step 6: Write (TYPED in paragraph/narrative form) a summary that answers the following (one paragraph per question.):
a. Write an introductory paragraph about your characters. You should create a background story for them.
b. Based on your role-play, explain why you chose the features you chose for your house
c. Why did you choose the house you did?
d. Were you able to afford and find a house with all the features you wanted, in the area you wanted to live? EXPLAIN (You must answer with more than a “yes” or “no” to this question.)
e. If not, brainstorm some approaches you could take to get the house you want. Or, if you were successful, give some ideas others could use to get the house they want.
Step 7: Present you choice to the class and discuss your summary.
Check list: Do you have the following?
1) COMPLETED student worksheet ______
2) Rent vs Buy results (printed and attached) ________
3) How much can you afford results (printed and attached)______
4) Ad for your chosen house (printed and attached)_______
5) PowerPoint (or other presentation media)______
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