By Dwight Jarrat, ABCD's South Side Head Start Adult ESOL Program, Roslindale

Summary

I work with our program's most advanced level of ESOL students. The class is made up of 3 Albanian students, 2 Latino/a students, 5 Haitian students and two students who speak Arabic, one from Syria and the other from Lebanon. The students range in age from 26 to 65 years old and the amount of time they have spent living in the United States ranges from a few months to over ten years.

Originally, I had planned to devote 4 or 5 three-hour classes to the topic of homebuying in order to give my students a taste of the homebuying terminology and the process that they would have to undertake if they were interested in one day owning a home. However my students' interest in the topic far superseded my expectations. After we finished Unit One of the FannieMae Foundation's English as Second Language curriculum, How to Buy a Home in the United States, and then again after we finished Unit Two, I asked them if they were ready to move on to other materials in our program's curriculum. They unanimously said that they wanted to continue to learn about homebuying. It's not that the homebuying curriculum didn't provide rich discussion and multiple and useful approaches to learning and practicing English, it's just that there were other materials to cover before the semester ended. In the end, we covered all but the last unit of the workbook and invited a banker and Realtor to answer the numerous questions that were generated by the unit. Also, through my teacher training at the Adult Literacy Resource Institute, I learned about the many first time homebuying classes and programs available to Boston city residents, information that I shared with my students.

Unit 1

I approached the topic of homebuying with a general in-class discussion. Were students interested in the topic? Why? Did any of the students already own homes? What did they think it would cost to own and maintain a home? After that discussion, we worked with Unit 1 of the curriculum workbook, "Do you want to buy a home?" Students had little difficulty understanding the vocabulary and concepts presented in this unit. There was some confusion with the terms "borrow" and "lend," but after using ALRI lesson materials developed for this purpose, the students could use the two terms correctly. I believe that the grammar, vocabulary and comprehension exercises provided by the curriculum, combined with the students’ high level of interest in the actual topic of homebuying is what made the classes so successful. We had many interesting discussions about such things as the legal and financial institutions in the U.S., the pros and cons of being a landlord, and home ownership as one of the central components to achieving "the American dream." I saw my students engage in meaningful conversation in English, pushing themselves to express their ideas and generate questions just because the topic was of such interest to them.

Of the five students who own homes, two students own condominiums, one student owns rental property as well as the house he lives in, one owns a two-family, renting out the second unit, and one student recently bought a house at an auction. Needless to say there was a wealth of information and perspectives on home ownership within the classroom.

Unit 2

This unit introduced many new terms that most students were unfamiliar with. The students enjoyed learning about different kinds of houses, deciphering housing advertisements that described the interiors of the houses, and dreaming about what kinds of houses they wanted to own. With input of the students who already own, we had heated debates about the pros and cons of buying "fixer-uppers," and just how much work was too much work to make a "fixer- upper" worth its lower-than-market selling price.

The final lesson in Unit 2, "Deciding how much to offer," gave students a chance to role-play negotiating an asking price. It also raised the issue of the housing market and how in today's market, more often than not, potential buyers did not have the luxury of offering anything much below the asking price. There was another heated discussion about the role of Realtors, and how, unless you were working with a buyer's broker, the Realtor represented the seller. This conversation was brought on by one student's experience of being treated poorly by a Realtor who had placed her in a bidding war with another potential buyer. The asking price of the house kept rising and eventually the student walked away from the deal. The student ended up working with another Realtor, but felt saddened because she had really liked and trusted the first Realtor. This story pointed to the need for caution and restraint when forming relationships with Realtors. Students who hadn't yet started their homebuying search felt lucky to have learned from this student's experience.

Unit 3

Equally as interesting to the students was the chapter on getting a mortgage. During this unit I brought in an amortization handbook from the library, and in pairs, students figured out how much they would have to pay for their monthly mortgages at various interest rates and over various amounts of time. I also introduced the concept of soft-second mortgages through the city's first time homebuying programs for low- and low-moderate income households. I distributed information about first time homebuying classes offered through city programs such as the Boston Home Center, a division of Boston Community and Neighborhood Development, and Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA) reminding students that in order to be eligible for many of these programs they would have to complete a first time homebuying class. For students like mine who were seriously considering buying homes, the listing of resources distributed at the ALRI homebuying project meetings was indispensable. Through this unit on homebuying readiness, I learned, along with my students, that most Boston-area neighborhoods offer first time homebuying classes and programs for their residents. In one case, through the auspices of the Boston Home Center in partnership with City Life/Vida Urbana, first time homebuying classes were being offered in Spanish!

We also spent time exploring the different ways to develop a credit history so as to be better prepared for the mortgage application process. We spoke about the importance of paying bills on time and creating a paper trail. One student shared the story of how he had to collect his receipts from South Side Head Start's Daycare Program to prove that he and his wife had paid a whole year of daycare for their child. This led to a discussion about the possibility of establishing a non-traditional credit history.

As a way to see how my students' attitudes about homebuying had changed during the course of the unit, I decided to revisit the initial discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of owning a home. On the whole, students expressed some of their same concerns about being home owners including their anxiety about keeping up property, and making the monthly payments so as not to lose the house. But there also seemed to be an overall sense that home ownership was a realistic and attractive option for many immigrants. Because students had been writing about homebuying in their journals, I was able to discern and dispel other more subtle concerns about home ownership. For instance, one student wrote about her dislike of banks and how borrowing money for a mortgage was in the interest of the bank and not of the borrower.

The next class period we spoke frankly about banking practices in the U.S. Students shared their distrust of banking, borrowing and accruing debt. We spoke about the need for careful research and financial planning when deciding to apply for a loan or credit card. Was it different to use your credit card to go grocery shopping than to take out a loan to buy a house? How about opening up a no-fee checking account where you could accrue interest and establish a rapport with a bank? Without answering these questions for my students, I was able to facilitate a discussion about financial planning and investment and the advantages of prioritizing living expenses such as housing. Through class discussion, it became evident that buying a house in the United States was much more complicated than buying property in the students' native countries, but that ultimately, in the United States, it was a much more possible goal to achieve.

The Banker and the Broker

For our final activity, we invited a Realtor to come talk to the class. He in turn, brought a Mortgage Originator from one of the local cooperative banks. Both the Realtor and the bank representative are immigrants themselves and have a good reputation in the community. It was a dynamic meeting, which took the entire three hour class period. Not only were students introduced to the complicated Offer to Purchase form and Purchase and Sales Agreement, but they were reminded of the excellent soft-second mortgage programs available to low-income city residents. The importance of hiring a real estate lawyer was emphasized given that even nice Realtors represent the seller. Students had a lot to say and had a lot of questions.

Reflections

Overall, the homebuying unit was a great success. Not only because of my students' authentic interest in the topic, but also because it provided a way to study English-- grammar constructions, communication practice and developing literacy skills -- in a real life context. As a result of the unit, one student has signed up for a first-time homebuying class during the summer school break, and the remaining students have a folder full of community contacts and resources when and if they decide to pursue homebuying. Also, one student has invited the entire South Side Head Start Adult ESOL program to her recently built and recently purchased house for a barbecue. Her generous invitation will give our students an opportunity to socialize and celebrate all their hard work. I think though, it also speaks to how generous this student is and how proud she feels to own her home.

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