第二步：精读重点段落

（Tips: 双击文中单词可以查释义并加入你的生词本哦）

第09段
Although the couple has enjoyed getting to know their dog clients, the job isn’t without disadvantages. “We lose some flexibility on personal vacations because we want to be available for our guests,” she says. “And I am constantly worried about the pups and making sure they are OK.” But the venture ended up earning them about $25,000 over two years, which they put down on a five-bedroom home in March.

• Be available for
• Worry about 担忧
• End up doing 以……告终
• Put down 付定金

第16段
Other people have teamed up with friends to make a home purchase happen. Emily McNicholas, for instance, bought a home in south London with a friend last year because neither of them had enough money to buy on their own.

• Team up with 与协作
• Make sth. happen 使发生
• For instance 例如
• On one’s own 独自

第20段
While it’s a viable option, Muotoh cautions that buying property with a friend or associate can get sticky if plans diverge down the line.
McNicholas and her housemate have a contract that stipulates how long the women have to stay in the house and what happens if one of them wants to sell. “There’s no sort of grey area about that,” McNicholas says. “So that does make it feel more relaxed.”

• Caution that 警告
• Down the line 彻底地
• Sort of 某种程度

（Tips: 双击文中单词可以查释义并加入你的生词本哦）

He Lived in a Prison to Save for a House Deposit

[1] In what many would call an extreme move, when he was 33, Christopher Gerhart took up residence at a nearby prison.

[2] “At the time, there was a Bachelor Officers’ Quarters that was on the prison grounds,” says Gerhart, now 50, who lives in Arkansas in the US. “It cost $25 per month for a shared room in a college-dormitory-type building.
“There was a bathroom down the hall, exercise equipment and a common area with a TV and a fireplace. It was admittedly bare bones, but it limited my housing and utility costs to $25 monthly.”

• Bare bone 基本要素

[3] Eighteen months later, Gerhart had a substantial deposit saved up. He kept his spot on prison grounds for six more months while he had significant renovations done on the house he purchased, and with all the money he’d saved, he owned his condo outright in less than five years.

• condo n. 分户出售的公寓
• outright adv. adj. 全部彻底／直率

[4] With home prices on the rise, putting together enough money to buy property can present a challenge, particularly in an area with a high cost of living.

[5] In the US, 77% of non-homeowners under age 35 state that affordability is the reason they’re unable to purchase a home, according to apartment-hunting site Apartment List. In the UK, non-property-owners report that they’re prepared to save for about 5.5 years for a home deposit, compared to 5.35 years in 2015, according to a report from online UK bank Halifax. And first-time buyers paid an average deposit of £32,927 ($41,929), up 13% from the year previously.

[6] To combat the problem and start scaling the property ladder, some would-be buyers are getting creative.

• scale n. vi. vt. 衡量／攀登／刻度
• ladder n. 阶梯／vi. 成名

Earn extra cash

[7] Danielle Haymes and her husband, Joe, both have full-time jobs out of the home. To store money away for a down payment, they started a side business from their house: boarding dogs through DogVacay.com.

• boarding n. 上船／adj. 供膳的

[8] “We started dog sitting as an easy way to supplement income,” says Haymes, who lives in Texas in the US. “We love dogs, so it was the perfect fit for us.”

• supplement vt. n. 补充

[9] Although the couple has enjoyed getting to know their dog clients, the job isn’t without disadvantages. “We lose some flexibility on personal vacations because we want to be available for our guests,” she says. “And I am constantly worried about the pups and making sure they are OK.” But the venture ended up earning them about $25,000 over two years, which they put down on a five-bedroom home in March.

• pup n. 小狗／幼畜

[10] Other options include taking on extra work, such as bartending at night or boarding Airbnb guests. “Some clients of mine were so determined that they decided to drive for [global rideshare company] Uber,” Muotoh says. “Within six to seven months they were able to come up with $17,000 to put down for the purchase of a condo.”

• bartend vi. 当酒吧侍者

Living strategically

[11] In 2009, Georgina Kenyon and her partner were fed up with renting, but they couldn’t afford to buy a flat in London. “You just can’t save much money with an average UK salary,” says Kenyon, now 44, who worked for the British government at the time. (She’s now a freelance writer living in Australia, who also has written for BBC Capital.)

• Fed up with 受够了／极厌恶

[12] Back then, they decided to save money for a deposit by moving into a boarding house that cost less than half what they were paying to rent in London. “There was a window which looked onto the drain beneath the pavement,” Kenyon says. “There was a shared bathroom for two floors and I seemed to have a continuous cold all year.”

• drain n. 下水道／vi. vt. 耗尽
• pavement n. 人行道

[13] It was a depressing, damp experience, but it worked. In a year, they had enough saved to buy a small flat in London. 

[14] For Brian Davis, the answer to his down payment quandary was giving up housing entirely in 2008. His girlfriend at the time was a travel nurse who moved from place to place on contracts, and Davis had a part-time telecommuting job, so he tagged along.

• quandary n. 困惑／窘境
• tag n. 标签／vt. vi. 紧随

[15] “We were put up in furnished apartments, so we didn’t spend a dime on rent or home furnishings or décor,” says Davis, 35, who is a real-estate blogger at SparkRental.com and now lives in Abu Dhabi. “I ended up travelling with her for two years, paid off $10,000 in credit-card debt and saved up another $15,000 as a down payment for my first home.”

• furnish vt. 提供／装备
• dime n. 一角硬币

Phoning a friend

[16] Other people have teamed up with friends to make a home purchase happen. Emily McNicholas, for instance, bought a home in south London with a friend last year because neither of them had enough money to buy on their own.

[17] “We were both really struggling to find anything that was remotely nice or where we were used to living,” says McNicholas, 29.

[18] So the two banded together, pooled their resources and purchased a two-story Victorian terrace house just a 15-minute Tube ride from downtown London. “,” McNicholas says. “I wish we did it earlier.”

[19] Harris has also seen business associates or training partners go in together on a house. “There are all different types of collaborations we’re seeing,” he says. “A buddy of mine got a house with eight people. They all happen to be entrepreneurs. It’s a first step to owning a home, and then they want to help each person own their own home.”

[20] While it’s a viable option, Muotoh cautions that buying property with a friend or associate can get sticky if plans diverge down the line.

[21] McNicholas and her housemate have a contract that stipulates how long the women have to stay in the house and what happens if one of them wants to sell. “There’s no sort of grey area about that,” McNicholas says. “So that does make it feel more relaxed.”

• Viable adj. 可行的
• sticky adj. 粘的
• diverge vt. vi. 分歧／偏离
• stipulate vt. vi. 规定／保证