Next you will hear a fragment of the program Tell us your experience in which Lucas recounts how he bought his first house. You will hear it twice. Then select the correct option, a), b)or c), for each question, 7-12.
Cuéntanos tu experiencia
Hola, soy Lucas y vengo de Argentina. Yo Ilevaba dos añios de novio con mi actual mujer y decidimos mudarnos juntos. Teníamos en claro que no queríamos alquilar. Sé que tuvimos suerte porque en total demoramos cinco meses, cuando hay conocidos y amigos a los que les Ilevó bastante más. De todas maneras, no file sencillo. El afán de las inmobiliarias por vender nos ocasionó más de una visita inútil. Los avisos, en muchos casos, eran un fiasco. Te quieren vender sea lo que sea. Por más que por teléfono preguntáramos todo lo imaginable, nos llevábamos grandes sorpresas por no decir decepciones. Por ejemplo, pedíamos dos dormitorios, y nos encontrábamos con que ese segundo dormitorio era… ¡un patio techado o una cocina comedor! Al comenzar la búsqueda, acordamos que nos mudaríamos a un barrio en el que los dos nos sintiéramos cómodos. Ella venía la de zona norte y yo de Villa Urquiza y decidimos circunscribirnos a Núñez, Saavedra y Vicente López. Como pensábamos, no fue fácil. La verdad es que mucho de lo que aparecía en oferta era simplemente un desastre. Los nucvos parecían hechos de cartón. O, si no, estaban esos departamentos viejos que se publican con la advertencia reciclar. Lo que en otras palabras quería decir para hacer de uevo, porque estaban en un estado deplorable.
Hasta que un dia encontramos un departamento que nos encantó: primer piso por escalera, supertranquilo, con un balcón que da hacia unos árboles. La obtención del crédito fue un capítulo aparte. Habíamos convenido que lo sacaríamos con el plazo más largo posible y a tasa fija. Toda la tramitación nos llevó cuatro meses, un tiempo razonable, aunque para mí esos cuatro meses equivalieron a cuatro afños. Terminamos tomando el crédito del Banco Nación, donde las condiciones eran buenas y, además, encontramos a una chica encargada de la operaciön que fue un gran apoyo. Ella fue muy organizada y nos ayudó muchísimo en todo el proceso. Llevé puntualmcnte cada uno de los mil papelitos que el banco nos fue exigiendo. No era nada simple. Había que ir de un lado al otro y siempre con incertidumbre. ¿Aparecerá el certificado que piden? ¿Estará el papelito? ¿Lo aprobarán? Y mientras tanto, la presión del propietario: había que tranquilizarlo, convencerlo de que la cosa marchaba y de que tenía que ser un poco paciente. La historia tiene final feliz porque finalmente llegó el dia de la escritura. Hoy, cuando me acuerdo de esos meses, me pregunto cómo hicimos para soportar tanta tensión. Pero también me acuerdo del momento en que firmamos los papeles. ¿Qué emoción! La chica del banco me dijo que nunca había visto a alguien tan contento. Y bueno, hoy estamos acá, en nuestra casa, cada día más linda.
Tell us your experience
Hello, I’m Lucas and I’m from Argentina. I had been dating my current wife for two years and we decided to move in together. We were clear that we didn’t want to rent. I know we were lucky because it took us five months in total, when there are acquaintances and friends who took much longer. In any case, it wasn’t easy. The eagerness of the real estate agents to sell caused us more than one useless visit. The ads, in many cases, were a fiasco. They want to sell to you no matter what. No matter how many questions we asked on the phone, we were still surprised, not to say disappointed. For example, we asked for two bedrooms, and we found that the second bedroom was… a covered patio or a kitchen-dining room! When we started looking, we agreed that we would move to a neighbourhood where we both felt comfortable. She came from the north zone and I from Villa Urquiza and we decided to limit ourselves to Núñez, Saavedra and Vicente López. As we thought, it wasn’t easy. The truth is that a lot of what was on sale were simply a disaster. The new ones looked like they were made of cardboard. Or, if not, there were those old apartments that are advertised with the warning to recycle. Which in other words meant to do it again, because they were in a deplorable state.
Until one day we found an apartment that we loved: first floor with stairs, super quiet, with a balcony overlooking some trees. Obtaining the loan was a separate chapter. We had agreed that we would take it out with the longest term possible and at a fixed rate. The whole process took us four months, a reasonable time, although for me those four months were equivalent to four years. We ended up taking out the loan from Banco Nación, where the conditions were good and, in addition, we found a girl in charge of the operation who was a great support. She was very organized and helped us a lot throughout the process. I punctually delivered each one of the thousand pieces of paper that the bank required of us. It was not at all simple. We had to go from one place to another and always with uncertainty. Will the certificate they ask for appear? Will the paper be there? Will they approve it? And in the meantime, the pressure from the owner: we had to calm him down, convince him that things were going well and that he had to be a little patient. The story has a happy ending because the day of the deed finally arrived. Today, when I think back on those months, I wonder how we managed to bear so much tension. But I also remember the moment when we signed the papers. How exciting! The girl at the bank told me that she had never seen anyone so happy. And well, today we are here, in our house, more beautiful every day.
Preguntas
7. Lucas says in the audition that he and his girlfriend:
a) Decided to buy a house when they got married.
b) They couldn’t agree on whether to buy or rent.
c) They had been dating for two years when they decided to buy.
8. According to the audio, Lucas’s problems were due to:
a) A lot of the advertising they saw was false.
b) They didn’t ask before going to see apartments.
c) It was difficult to find apartments with two bedrooms.
9. According to the recording, Lucas and his girlfriend:
a) Lived in the same neighborhood where they found the house.
b) They came from different neighborhoods.
c) They wanted to find something in the north area.
10. Lucas says that the bank paperwork took:
a) Four years.
b) More than usual.
c) A normal amount of time.
11. According to Lucas, some of the paperwork that the bank asked for:
a) Was not delivered on time.
b) Was difficult to obtain.
c) Had to be done by the owner.
12. On the day of signing, the bank employee said that:
a) It was the most beautiful house she had ever seen.
b) She was very excited.
c) Lucas seemed very happy.