Introduction

You and your high school sweetheart are engaged to be married in one year.  You have began to start looking for a house in your specified county.  Between you and your fiancé you have only a certain amount of money to purchase a house.  Good Luck!

 
The Task

You are to search for a house using www.realtor.com.  After you have found your "dream house ," you will need to print the detailed listing report.  Use the worksheet to answer the rest of the questions pertaining to your down payment, amortization, and if you were to take your mortgage out using different programs (15 year fixed, 5 year balloon, and FHA 1 year ARM).  Finally you will be able decorate a house plan.

 
Resources

The following websites may be used to purchase a house, figure your amortization payments, and to design your own house:

www.realtor.com

www.mortgage101.com

www.improvenet.com  

 

The Process

Follow the process below to complete this assignment.

1.  Go to www.realtor.com  Then click "Find a Home."  
2.  Select the state of Illinois, then select your county using the index card information.
3.  Then a list of cities will be provided in the county area.  Select a town to investigate possible homes.
4.  Next you will need to input the price ranges given on your index card and start shopping for your new home.
5.  In order to keep track of your choices, use the attached Home Buyer's Property Recap to list several choices (at least 6 - 10 different homes should be listed - they do not have to be from the same city - they must be from the county given and in your price range).
6.  Then select one house and print the realtor.com "detailed listing report" for your final selection.  (The price and information about this home will be used for the rest of this simulation.)
7.  Complete the questions about your final selection on the worksheet after printing it.  
8.  Finally go to www.imporvenet.com then click on Design and Product Ideas then click Design Gallery.
9.  Investigate what interests you and then click on home plans.
10. Search through the floor plans and try to plan a design idea to fit into your house.
11. Print any ideas that you might like to put together and attach with a short explanation of your thoughts and their coordination.
12.  Make sure all charts are attached to the worksheet before turning in.

Evaluation

The following rubric will be used to assess this project.

Conclusion

Congratulations!  Now you know where to look for a house, what an amortization schedule is, and how your mortgage payments can differ depending on the type of loan you choose.  Best of luck in your future house hunting extravaganzas.