Which is better: Buying or renting a home? - Ella Feldman · TED-Ed
通过双胞胎姐妹买房与租房的对比，探讨在美国买房和租房的财务利弊。适合练习比较、分析和表达观点。
Morgan and her twin sister Lisa have been inseparable since birth.
摩根和她的双胞胎妹妹丽莎从出生起就形影不离。
So nobody was surprised when they moved into identical houses right next to each other.
因此，当他们搬进彼此相邻的、一模一样的房子时，没有人感到惊讶。
The only difference?
唯一的区别是什么呢？
Morgan bought her house, while Lisa is renting hers.
摩根买了自己的房子，而丽莎则是在租房子住。
For generations, conventional wisdom has been that home ownership is financially better than renting.
几代以来，人们普遍认为拥有房产在财务上比租房更有优势。
But let’s follow the twins and see how things play out over the years, based on historical trends in the US.
不过，让我们跟随这对双胞胎的脚步，看看随着时间的推移，事情会如何发展——这一切都将基于美国的历史趋势来进行分析。
As Morgan and Lisa move into their two-bedroom houses, their upfront costs look a little different.
当摩根和丽莎搬进他们的新房子（两居室）时，他们需要支付的初始费用有所不同。
Morgan buys her house for $400,000.
摩根以 40 万美元的价格买下了她的房子。
Like most buyers, she takes out a mortgage— a loan that she'll pay back to a lender over time with interest.
和大多数买家一样，她也申请了抵押贷款——这是一种需要分期偿还的贷款，利息也会一并支付给贷款机构。
For this, she needs to make a down payment— a lump sum that’s some percentage of the total home price.
为此，她需要支付首付款——这笔款项是房屋总价的一定百分比。
Between Morgan’s 10% down payment and a few extra fees, known as closing costs, Morgan spends a total of $50,000.
摩根支付了 10% 的首付款，同时还支付了一些额外的费用（即所谓的“交易手续费”），因此总共花费了 5 万美元。
Next door, Lisa signs a 12-month lease to rent her house for $1,800 a month.
在隔壁，丽莎签订了一份为期12个月的租赁协议，每月租金为1800美元。
To get her keys, she’ll also pay a security deposit, bringing her total to $3,600— just a fraction of Morgan’s payment.
为了拿到钥匙，她还需要支付一笔押金，因此她的总费用为 3,600 美元——这只是摩根所支付费用的一小部分而已。
Five years in, Morgan and Lisa have added a few more members to the family.
结婚五年后，摩根和丽莎又迎来了几个新成员，家庭规模进一步扩大了。
Lisa’s rent has been steadily climbing, about 2% every year.
丽莎的房租一直在稳步上涨，每年大约增加2%。
Her monthly rent is now over $2,000, including a new pet fee.
她的每月租金现已超过 2000 美元，其中还包括一项新的“宠物费用”。
This brings her five year total to around $112,000.
这样一来，她五年来总共获得的收入约为 112,000 美元。
Meanwhile, Morgan’s still paying off her mortgage, a 30-year loan with a fixed interest rate of 6%.
与此同时，摩根仍在偿还她的抵押贷款——这是一笔为期30年、利率为6%的固定利率贷款。
This type of long-term fixed-rate loan is common in the US, though loans with adjustable rates over shorter periods
这种长期固定利率贷款在美国很常见；不过，期限较短、利率可调整的贷款也很普遍。
are much more typical in the rest of the world.
在世界其他地方，这种情况要普遍得多（即更为常见）。
Longer mortgages lower monthly payments by spreading them over an extended period.
期限较长的抵押贷款通过将还款期限延长，从而降低了每月的还款金额。
Morgan's monthly total, including taxes and insurance, is around $2,500 per month.
摩根每月的总支出（包括税费和保险费用）约为2,500美元。
But a large fraction of early payments goes towards interest.
但是，早期支付的大部分资金都用于支付利息。
So five years in, she’s spent $150,000 on her property— $38,000 more than Lisa.
五年过去了，她在自己的房产上花费了15万美元，比丽莎多花了3.8万美元。
Despite this, she's only chipped about $25,000 off her mortgage.
尽管如此，她的抵押贷款金额仅减少了约 2.5 万美元。
The good news for Morgan is that the market has changed and interest rates have dropped, allowing her to refinance.
对摩根来说，好消息是市场环境已经发生了变化，利率也下降了，这使她能够重新申请贷款并重新安排还款计划。
Basically, she takes out a new mortgage at the lower interest rate to replace her old one.
简单来说，她会以较低的利率申请新的抵押贷款，以此来取代原有的旧抵押贷款。
Her new rate is 5%, bringing her total monthly cost down to around $2,300.
她的新利率为 5%，这使得她的每月总费用降至约 2,300 美元。
15 years in, Lisa’s rent now exceeds Morgan’s monthly payments.
15年过去了，丽莎的房租现在已经超过了摩根每月的还款额。
But this isn’t the only cost to consider.
但这并不是唯一需要考虑的成本因素。
During an intense storm season, flash floods hit their neighborhood.
在一个暴风雨频发的季节里，山洪暴发袭击了他们的社区。
As a homeowner, Morgan pays for repairs, while Lisa lets her landlord handle everything.
作为房主，摩根需要自己承担维修费用；而丽莎则选择让房东来处理所有维修相关事宜。
At this point, Morgan has spent over $500,000 on her house, while Lisa has paid around $380,000.
到目前为止，摩根在她的房子上花费了超过50万美元，而丽莎则花费了大约38万美元。
After 30 years, Morgan is finally done paying off her mortgage.
30年后，摩根终于还清了她的抵押贷款。
To get there, she spent about $1 million, including the price of the house, interest, taxes, and insurance.
为了达到这个目标，她花费了大约100万美元，其中包括房屋本身的价格、利息、税费以及保险费用。
But she's also had to pay for repairs and upkeep, bringing her total to $1.4 million.
但她还不得不支付维修和保养的费用，这使得她的总花费达到了140万美元。
Meanwhile, Lisa’s rent is now $3,300 a month, and she's spent around $900,000 in rent.
与此同时，丽莎的房租现在每月为3,300美元，她总共已经支付了约90万美元的房租。
But before we calculate final tallies, there’s one more cost to consider: opportunity cost.
但在我们计算最终结果之前，还有一项成本需要考虑：机会成本。
When Morgan chose to spend $40,000 on a down payment, she missed out on putting that $40,000 into a stable,
当摩根决定用 4 万美元支付首付款时，她错失了将这笔钱投入一个稳定、收益可靠的投资机会的机会。
diversified retirement account.
多元化退休账户（Diversified Retirement Account）。