The Decision to Buy Your First Home

Written by Steve Stovall

Pulling Teeth

Have you heard the expression, “It’s like pulling teeth!?” We usually utter these words in a negative tone but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact it seems that the loss of a tooth is quite a status symbol in the primary grades. My youngest daughter Stefani is much older now, but I remember like it was yesterday when she was six years old and she lost one of her front teeth. It was quite an ordeal. She began by proclaiming that she was in fact the proud owner of a loose tooth. Then the wiggling began. She became so proficient at wiggling her tooth that she became the tooth wiggling expert of her 1st grade class. During a teacher conference, Mrs. Casey said that all of the kids would come to Stefani for her to wiggle their teeth to see if they were loose. (We told her to stop doing that.)

After weeks of wiggling with movement so slight it could only be measured by NASA, one night I finally felt a slight movement with my own bare fingertips. The tooth was finally going to come out soon. However, I found out that soon is a relative term. Wiggling, wriggling, and jiggling. More wiggling. It seemed that the thing was never going to actually come out until one night with Kleenex in hand and thoughts of pliers, I got a good grip on the little sucker and twisted. I almost had it! The crying didn’t start until she saw the blood, then she wouldn’t let me get my hands back on that little tooth. I was banned.

There it was, hanging by one little root. You wouldn’t think a tooth could hang by a root for long, at least I didn’t. Well, guess what? It can hang on for as many days as it takes to get the kids to spend the night with the grandparents. Did you know that the Tooth Fairy actually leaves the tooth when it comes out at Granddad & Gama’s house? So, the Tooth Fairy came twice.

Deciding on Your First Home

The decision to buy a first home can be a little like the process of pulling a tooth. First-time buyers often put themselves through weeks, months, or years or wiggling, wriggling, and jiggling while trying to decide if it is the right time to buy. Many go through the process of looking and looking and looking, watching rates, over analyzing, and creating paralysis by analysis. The real reason they are delaying has nothing to do with the market and has everything to do with fear. If they would just take that step, grab a Kleenex and pull, they would stop throwing money away on rent and begin to build equity in a home of their own.

Follow Through

The decision to become a homeowner can be painful at times. It can involve blood, sweat, and tears, but once the decision is made, just think of how proud you will be. Just like my daughter wanted to show everyone, even strangers, the hole in her mouth, you will be so proud of your new home that you will want to show it off. With the help of a Stovall Realtors Associate, the experience of buying can be much easier than “pulling teeth!”

To read our previous blog, click here.