TOEFL iBT Wriging for an Academic Discussion Buying a House or Renting an Apartment? (Revised)

Should individuals prioritize buying a home or renting an apartment? (Economics)

 

 

☆Let’s Think

1.        What are the disadvantages of having a house?

2.        What are the disadvantages of renting an apartment?

3.        What is the decisive reason for choosing one over the other?

 

Note: If you pay $800 a month as a rent for an average apartment for 50 years, you’ll pay $480,000, which is a little more than the cost of an average house. If you buy a house and cannot pay for it in cash, you pay your monthly mortgage that lasts about 30 years. Sometimes, the mortgage rate rises. If you cannot pay for it, you will get evicted.

 

 

☆Hints for Points

Renting an apartment

・You have more usable money left in the bank as you don’t pay for the furniture and goods for the house.

・It provides mobility, or flexibility as Ben says.

・It is the best lifestyle for a minimalist, who tries to keep their possessions at a minimum.

・When we die, we can take nothing with us, so it is better for us to have as little property as possible while we are alive.

・You have to consider your neighbors more when in an apartment than when you are in a house.

・You cannot renovate your apartment. If you cause damage to it, you have to compensate for the damage.

・How comfortable the life living in an apartment depends much on the superintendent.

 

Buying a house

・Peace of mind is easier to get because you have autonomy and privacy, as well as a sense of permanence as Tamara points out.

・A house has a yard or a garden and can have a garage.

・Most people get married and have children, so a house is more preferable.

・Pet-owners would be happy to own a house as apartment tenants are usually not allowed to own a pet.

・Monthly mortgage payment can be a mental burden.

・House prices fluctuate, and it is often risky to own a house if your income is not high and stable. You may go bankrupt if you lose your job after you buy a house or if interest rate soars and your mortgage rate is variable.

 

 

☆Ideas and Expressions  

【Thesis】I believe individuals should prioritize living in an apartment unless they plan to have a family because it is better for mental health than living in a house.

【Supporting Details】First of all, unless you buy a house in cash, you will be burdened by the mortgage payment for the rest of your life and this will restrict your freedom because you cannot easily quit your job or move to a new place when you want to. The pressure can lead to alcoholism or depression. You may think you can sell your house if you want to, but real estate usually depreciates like any other tangible commodities unless it sits on land in a super prestigious area. Also, living in a house tends to make you materialistic and possessed with consumerism, since few people can stand leaving extra rooms vacant. When you get in a house, you buy pieces of furniture to fit in the new rooms and fill the furniture with the content. You may also buy paintings and plants to decorate the rooms. As a result, homeowners spend money and time on the consumption of household goods, while they could spend that much for other purposes such as hobby, relationships, or traveling if they lived in an apartment.

【Counterargument-treatment】The stability of life and the abundance which living in a house provides cannot be expected in life in an apartment, However, stability will turn mannerism, and abundance is equal to consumerism and corruption. Apartment life is free from the cost of settlement.

【Conclusion】Whether to choose materialistic life or not depends on individual values in the end, but I think people will be happier when they are free from anxiety and greed, which follows the goal of economics. Therefore, individuals should choose to live in an apartment. (295 words)

 

Write your draft. Then read each other’s draft, asking questions and making counterarguments.

 

                                                   DRAFT