The American Dream: Case Study

The American Dream; Case Study

Question:

Write a 4 page paper on the Harvard case study “The American Dream”
Addressing the following questions:
  • Discuss the various living options available to the Hanlons. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the different options?
  • How much can the Hanlons’ afford to spend, and why?
  • How big a cash down payment should they make, and why? Explore what their monthly payments would be given some different down payment scenarios in the purchase of a Devonshire home.
  • How will the Hanlons’ plans be affected by their real estate decision? How will the decision affect their lifestyle? Please discuss some of the qualitative issues involved in their decision (more space, school system, distance to work, potential investment profits, etc.). Are their any unknowns that should be taken into account.
  • Make a recommendation as to what the Hanlons should do? Do you think they should buy or rent? Please support your recommendation with quantitative analysis. What changes to the numbers would change your recommendation (this is a sensitivity analysis: you should discuss and if possible show how changes in certain numbers such as purchase price, down payment amount and mortgage size may lead to a different recommendation)
Answer Preview:

Question 1: Various living options available

The Hanlons had three different living options from which they had to make a choice of purchase.

Fairhill is the first option.

National housing developer was constructing 400 well-designed townhouse units at the Fairhill. The units were new and well-built with an affordable price that was pleasant according to Hanlon’s budget. According to the records of sales data provided by the realtor showed that these housing units were very popular since 100 units sold in the first weekend during its grand opening

Length: 1228 words
MLA