Buying A House Can Be Like Riding A Roller Coaster

Buying a House Is Like a Ride on a Roller Coaster

            At Six Flags Over Texas, there’s a wonderful wooden roller coaster called the Texas Giant.  It’s one of my all-time favorites, and I’m a serious roller coaster junkie.  You hear the great clackety-clack, clackety-clack of the rails as your car slowly climbs 143 feet into the air.  And just as you reach the summit, you look up to see a wooden plaque hanging over your head. On it is a picture of Wiley Coyote, looking… well, like Wiley Coyote.  It says. “Wait! Let’s discuss this!”

            Then the bottom drops out and you’re screaming in ecstasy.

            Or terror.  Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.

That’s a perfect picture of real estate, right?

        

A Thrill Ride

            Finding a house can be an adventure. The “hunt” can be fun and exciting as you and your realtor determine what’s important to you and what isn’t.  (There are few more satisfying experiences for a realtor than to take a client into a home and see the look that comes over their faces as they realize, This. Is. It. It is fun and rewarding, the real estate business.) 

But finding the perfect house is the fun part. Or should I say, the first fun part.

           

Then, Terror Strikes

            Any great roller coaster has an element of danger involved.  And let’s face it. If it wasn’t scary, it wouldn’t be so much fun.

  Many people find the purchase contract (and signing it) almost as frightening as that plunge from the top of the Texas Giant.  And your heart has barely settled into place from that experience when you are thrust into a world of people who seem to speak a different language than you. 

A language that involves words like:

            *Escrow

            *Prepaids

            *Disclosures

            *Good faith

            *Hud-1

            *Settlement statements

            *Brokerage agreements

            *Underwriting

            *MIP, PMI

           

The list is endless.  And the truly scary part is that they all know what they’re talking about. 

And you don’t have a clue.

            Most people don’t know escrow from those black birds that dot the countryside.  And isn’t all faith supposed to be good?  And why, oh why, does a “settlement statement” sound like some kind of threat?

It sounds like English, but it’s a lot like moving from an Italian neighborhood in Jersey to a small town in Georgia.  You find yourself saying, “Huh?”

A lot.

Excuse me, please

            Before you jump out of line and skip the ride of your life, consider this.  A qualified realtor is there to answer all those pesky questions.  That’s what they do.  They actually know what “prepaids” are and can explain them in simple terms. 

            So in addition to helping you find your dream home, they’re on standby to take care of lots of little things for you --  including translating this new foreign language for you.

And The Winner Is…

            My least favorite thing about roller coasters is the picture the amusement park likes to take of your face just as you’re plunging to what seems like possible death.  You know the one?  Where your face looks like part of it stayed up at the top of the hill and the rested of it melted into a scary Halloween mask? 

And then they try to sell it to you as a memento!

            Really?

            I much prefer the picture of you and your family standing, keys in hand, at the front door of your new home.  One of the great thrills in life is holding those keys and knowing your future is going to take place here. 

Right here.

            And that’s a win in anyone’s book.