Розуміння та розмова англійською мовою може допомогти вам покращити своє життя в Австралії. У кожному епізоді ми пояснимо австралійське життя та як вживати різні вислови та словосполучення. Отже, з SBS Learn English ви покращите свої знання англійської мови, дізнаєтеся про Австралію та радісно проведете час. В нашому останньому випуску ви можете навчитися розповідати про свої навички та досягнення на робочому місці. Також почуєте поради та стратегії відвідування мережевих професійних заходів
This lesson suits intermediate learners. After listening, scroll down and test your knowledge with our quiz.
Learning notes
Language objective
Asking questions before buying a house
Different questions you can ask when buying a house:
- What is the reserve price for the property?
- What is the settlement period?
- Are there any issues I should be aware of? Structural issues? Or legal disputes?
- Are there any conditions that need to be met before settlement?
- Have any building inspections or valuations been carried out on the property?
- Can I see the reports?
- How much deposit is required if I am the successful bidder?
Colloquial expressions:
To get carried away means to become very excited and lose control of your actions or behaviour because of it.
House hunting is a process of searching for a new home or property to buy or rent.
Vocabulary:
An auction is an event where items or properties are sold to the highest bidder
An auctioneer is someone who runs auctions, where items or properties are sold to the highest bidder.
A bid is an offer made by a potential buyer to purchase the property for a specific price.
The bidding process is when potential buyers, bidders, make offers to buy.
A building inspection is an assessment, like evaluation, rating, analysis of the condition of a property conducted by a qualified building inspector.
Legal disputes are disagreements which may result in legal action.
A property valuation is an assessment of the current market value of a property, and it’s typically done by a qualified person.
A real estate agent is a licensed professional who assists people in buying, selling, and renting properties such as houses, apartments, and commercial buildings
The reserve price is the minimum amount that the seller is willing to accept for the property at an auction.
The settlement period is the length of time between the exchange of contracts and the time when the sale is completely final.
A solicitor or conveyancer is the person who looks after the legal transfer of property. They are legally trained and certified.
Structural issues are problems with the design or construction of a building.
Transcript:
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)
Here at SBS we acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands, and waterways throughout Australia.
Hi, my name is Josipa, and I’m sure we could agree that it would be nice to own a house.
Maybe you already do, but I don’t, and since I would like to be ready for that big moment in life, in today’s episode we’ll practise questions and phrases we could use when we are house hunting.
House hunting is a process of searching for a new home or property to buy or rent.
It involves a series of steps, such as identifying your budget, deciding on the location, choosing the type of property you want, viewing potential homes, and making an offer.
During this process, we’ll come across people such as real estate agents and auctioneers. Do you know the difference between the two?
We have found someone who can explain,
Sam Maley
I’m Sam Maley from Buxton Real Estates based here in Bentleigh in Melbourne, and I'm a director and auctioneer.
What real estate agents do is they are actually employed to sell the home. So, they represent the vendor in transaction and the auctioneer is responsible to call in the auction, should the property go to auction. People that are real estate agents can become auctioneers but they need to undergo specific training.
Josipa
Thank you, Sam. I can’t wait to take part in your auction listening challenge later. Now, let’s go practise some questions that could be useful when buying a property.
What is the reserve price for the property?Claire
The reserve price is the minimum amount that the seller is willing to accept for the property at an auction.
So, when you ask, what is the reserve price for the property, you are asking what is the minimum amount that the seller is willing to accept.
It’s also useful to know if the property has any structural issues, physical problems with the building or if a property has any legal disputes.
Legal disputes are disagreements which may result in legal action.
These may be arguments about money that still needs to be paid to a builder, or some other problem. You don’t want to buy a house where there are legal problems.
So, you could ask,
Are there any issues I should be aware of? Structural issues? Or legal disputes?Allan
Moving on, for the next question we need to know about the settlement period.
The settlement period is the length of time between the exchange of contracts and the time when the sale is completely final.
In Australia, this period is typically between 30 to 90 days.
You could ask,
What is the settlement period, and are there any conditions that need to be met before settlement?Claire
You might also request to look at any reports that have been done on the property, that is, any building inspections or valuations.
A building inspection is an assessment, an evaluation, rating, analysis of the condition of a property conducted by a qualified building inspector.
A property valuation is an assessment of the current market value of a property, and it’s typically done by a qualified person.
So you could ask,
Have any building inspections or valuations been carried out on the property? I’d like to see the reports please.Allan
After you’ve asked all your questions, if you are considering buying the property, you can do this through an auction or private treaty. This is decided by the seller.
Buying a home at auction can be exciting and intense, as you bid against other potential buyers at a live event.
In a private treaty , the seller specifies a price and you negotiate from there privately with the seller or real estate agent. It’s private because you don’t know how many other people are placing offers.
Before we hear the last question, we need to go through some vocabulary first like a bid, bidding process, the highest bid, starting bid, bidders.
Let’s start with the word ‘bid’. Once you know what this means the other words will make a lot more sense.
A bid is an offer made by a potential buyer to purchase the property for a specific price. So, the bidding process is when potential buyers, bidders, make offers to buy.
During the auction, the auctioneer will start the bidding process by announcing a starting bid, and then ask for higher bids from the bidders.
And if you are planning to bid, you might want to know,
How much deposit is required if I am the successful bidder?Claire
This sentence is asking how much money you will need to pay in advance to show that you are serious about buying the property.
If you decide to go to the auction and bid, be aware that auctions can be very competitive.
I would have to be careful not to get carried away, that is, I have to make sure that I don’t bid more than I can afford.
Because the last thing I want to do is to pay more than I have to just because I love winning, and I got carried away.
By the way, when you get carried away you become very excited and lose control of your actions or behaviour because of it.
For example, at an auction, getting carried away may cause someone like me to bid more than I intended, or more than the property is worth.
But you know what, since I would love to visit an auction one day, I need to learn new vocabulary and practise phrases.
Let’s listen in on Allan and Claire who are talking about the settlement period.
Allan
Have you heard back from your conveyancer about the settlement period?
Claire
Yes, they said vendors want a 30-day settlement period.
Allan
That's great. Have you fulfilled all the conditions of the sale yet?
Claire
Not yet. We're still waiting on the building inspection report, but we've already got finance sorted and signed all the necessary documents.
Allan
That's good.
I don’t know how you feel, but for me this dialogue was full of new expressions. But that’s OK, because I love when the English language challenges me.
So, let’s go through this dialogue.
Have you heard back from your conveyancer about the settlement period?Allan
We’ve already heard that the settlement period, is the length of time needed for the money and the property to officially change hands so that there can be an exchange of ownership.
But Allan used another word…what was it….conveyancer.
A solicitor or conveyancer is the person who looks after the legal transfer of property.
They are legally trained and certified. They can ensure that all necessary legal steps are taken.
Have you fulfilled all the conditions of the sale yet?
Claire
Not yet. We're still waiting on the building inspection report, but we've already got finance sorted and signed all the necessary documents.
During the settlement period, the buyer must fulfill all the conditions of the sale as specified in the contract of sale.
And if you got your finance sorted you have arranged your finances and are ready to make a purchase, such as buying a house or a car, or anything else.
Sam, would you like to add something,
Sam Maley
I find it is fairly common at auction for Chinese speaking clients or Mandarin speaking clients to get mixed up with numbers. So I'll ask for a rise being an auctioneer of ten thousands dollars, and they'll just nod their head and say yes but they actually mean one thousand dollars, not ten. So, if you are not speaking English sometimes it can be a very expensive mistake.
A big thank you to our educational consultant Professor Lynda Yates, our guests Sam Maley and Ramy Aly. Paul Nicholson and Lily O'Sullivan voiced the characters of Allan and Claire.
