08-26-2006, 06:09 PM | #1 (permalink) |
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Houston, Texas 4.5 Months In - Some Thoughts
Houston, Texas 4.5 Months In - Some Thoughts
After graduating college in December, I started making steps to fullfill my desire to move out of Indiana. Sometime in March a priceless friend in Houston, Texas offered me a chance to move into his spare bedroom. I went ahead and seized the opportunity. In early April I drove 18 straight hours, through the night, with a puppy in a cage in my backseat, out of the state I grew up in, to Houston, Texas, where I had spent a mere 6 days of my whole life, in quest for something greater than the boredom and repetitiveness I had encountered in Indiana. Consider this post a collection of random thoughts that are currently scrambling through my brain 4.5 months after making a major change in my life: A.) I'll get the most important thing out of the way: The decision to leave Indiana and move somewhere else, while knowing just one person, scared shitless, and out of money; was the best thing I've done in my short 22 years on this Earth. To those of you reading this who find themselves in Indiana, where you have been for the majority of your life; I cannot encourage you enough to take a stab at living somewhere else as soon as reasonably possible. Life is an adventure. This isn't a fucking dress rehearsal. This is your life. You're only getting older. Capitalize this very fucking minute and leave everything on the playing field. You're not going to get another chance. B.) I have learned more in the past 4.5 months than I did in the entire 3.5 years I was in undergrad. Granted a large portion on this is a product of living with a fucking genius whose friends are also geniuses, but I feel that even if I was living with total dumbasses, I still would have learned a ton about life just by moving away from my roots. Noticing a theme? Move away. You can always come back. It's America. C.) You'd be surprised how fast you bond with your new location. For example, I moved down here as a hard-core Cubs fan. Ask my close college friends; I allocated a large portion of my energy to Chicago Cubs baseball. That in mind, I shit you not, it took me no less than 2 months to care about the Houston Astros as I ever cared about the Cubs. Before moving down here, I would have never considered this a possibility, but after arriving here, I took to my habitat like a duck in the water and now find myself unsure of who to root for while attending a Cubs-Astros game. Look to the big-picture in this example; while it might seem zany to embrace a different region than that which is current, I speak from experience when I say that, chances are, you'll really come to love your new location, especially if it's better than your previous dwelling. I could go on, but in the interest of increasing the chance that y'all will actually read this post after scrolling through to see how long it is, I will wrap things up. I live in Houston right now. When focusing entirely on evalutating Houston, Texas, from an objective standpoint, I would tell you this: It is very standard. It's a huge city with a nice amount of things to occupy your time with, but the city itself is far from being a topic of conversation for people all around the world. I am thrilled with the time I have spent, and am yet to spend, in Houston. It's a great city that I have bonded with enough to say that I have "lived" here at some point in my life. All of that in mind, I doubt I will live here for more than 1-2 years in my life. Just as equally as my heart yearned to leave Indiana, it yearns to make sure I do not live in Houston for much longer than another several months. So what's next? I want to see more of the world. I want to live in California. I want to live in New York City. I'd even consider moving to Europe for a while if it seemed practical. The point of me saying all of this is; life is an adventure. Leave it all on the playing field. You have nothing to gain by staying in the secure little bubble you currently find yourself in. I'm sure some part of your soul, even if it's just the very deepest part, is saying to your brain upon reading this post, "YES! listen to what this guy is saying," All I ask is that you lend more attention to that voice. I like you guys. I don't want you to wake up in 20 years and realize that you should have heeded the slightly disorganized words of your adventurous friend on some random internet messageboard. Live your life how YOU want to lead it. You answer to none. This is your life. What am I asking? That you lead YOUR life exactly how you REALLY want to lead it. In the end, we all die alone. Make sure you're happy with yourself when that day comes. -Your Friend |
08-27-2006, 01:23 AM | #5 (permalink) | |
Jelqing for Jesus
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08-30-2006, 11:17 AM | #12 (permalink) |
Jelqing for Jesus
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I can't remember the name of who she married. He was verananzo or some shit like that on bjj.net. I might be wrong on that though. I'll have to ask Buck. I think he still keeps up with her. Also heard somebody married Amanda's fat ass as well.
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08-30-2006, 12:45 PM | #14 (permalink) |
G'd up from the feet up.
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Wow mandy was wifed too? There's a blast from the past. California's definitely something you should get out of the way but I think you'll find a lot of our laws ridiculous, and it's fucking expensive as hell here too. That being said, there is NO STATE BAR NONE with weirder real estate laws than Texas. If you plan on buying a house at some point, stay away from Texas.
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Creeping around as I please nonchalantly like any other Supreme Emperor might.
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08-30-2006, 01:32 PM | #16 (permalink) | |
Jelqing for Jesus
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Mandy's ginermous ass got wifed to some dude in Cleveland after she moved there. | |
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08-30-2006, 03:20 PM | #17 (permalink) |
G'd up from the feet up.
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Where do I begin? Keep in mind Texas is the only state that has these:
-There's a mandatory waiting period of 12 days after a loan application is taken (no matter how quick I close it). The disclosure form informing the applicant, must have an original signature (not a faxed copy) in the file. The 12 days starts the date they sign that. -You are only allowed to refinance a property once per year, no exceptions. -If you are taking cash out (whether to pay off bills or cash in hand) you're only allowed to finance up to 80% of the value of the home. -Even if you're not taking cash, but if you ever have with that same property, you're still capped at 80%. -Most properties require a full land survey in the file. -A final Housing and Urban Development settlement statement must be in the applicant's hands for 24 hours before they're able to sign. -Documents must be signed at an attorney's office instead of just having a regular notary do it. (There are a couple of other states that require this as well but it's only like 2-3). -Applicant's must sign a form saying they're waiving their right to rescind. The loan will not fund until it has been signed. In all other states, simply not rescinding is good enough. -Points must be paid in discount points. I don't even know what this means, it's just another weird thing only done in Texas. Those are just some off the top of my head, but on top of that you can look forward to paying some of the highest property taxes in the country. California isn't a whole lot better as far as property tax but believe it or not, it usually is. Oh and your title fees will be outrageous as well. Almost the entire rest of the US conforms pretty much to traditional regulations, with an exception here and there. Doing a loan in Texas is a nightmare. |
Creeping around as I please nonchalantly like any other Supreme Emperor might.
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08-30-2006, 09:29 PM | #19 (permalink) |
MURICAN
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Yes but in texas they cannot take your house when you file bankrupsy.
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The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them. |
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08-31-2006, 08:18 AM | #20 (permalink) |
Jelqing for Jesus
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OK Wayne, I see. Texas has no weird real estate rules. It's lending that you're has some wrinkles to it. That I confess, is a different ball game. On the otherhand, some of the items you mention are only problems on the lender's end. Particularly out of state lenders. Not only that some of what you mention aren't laws or regulations (i.e. the lawyers office to close). I have no idea why you just don't use a title company to handle the whole shebang at closing.
A lot of this goes back to the fact that branch banking in Texas is a fairly new concept. Also as soon as it started, the S & L industry went bust. Want to avoid all the shit that Wayne just mentioned. Go to an in state mortgage company. It's lending laws that are weird in Texas, particulalrly from out of state lenders and brokers. Texas is just about 30 years behind the times. HOme equity loans are just a few years old here. |
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08-31-2006, 12:35 PM | #22 (permalink) |
G'd up from the feet up.
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Not sure about the title company thing, all I know is that it has to prepared and closed by an attorney. If the title company prepares the report, it still has to be at least approved by an attorney.
As for the "bankrupsy" AP is definitely correct. The laws have changed fairly recently. A chapter 7 may result in your house gettnig taken. A chapter 13 they can't take because you're still making payments. I'm not aware if there's any difference in Texas or not though. I'm only licensed in Connecticut, Oregon, and Illinois. Strangely enough, not California. But I just have to go back and take the test again for that. |
Creeping around as I please nonchalantly like any other Supreme Emperor might.
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08-31-2006, 01:29 PM | #23 (permalink) | |
MURICAN
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The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them. |
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09-01-2006, 06:48 AM | #24 (permalink) |
Jelqing for Jesus
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I figured you were referring to the homestead rules. However, you have to qualify for the homestead. Believe it or not, some homes don't qualify for homestead exemption. Even then the exemption has limits to it. A couple of things though: 1) if there's a mortgage --it doesn't matter. 2) Most normal run of the mill homes are going to fall within the homestead exemption.
This is mainly because the Bankruptcy Code allows the debtor to elect to take federal exemptions or state exemptions. As for my co-counsel wayne, he's just messing with you. He knows that all things in bankruptcy court are federal and those courts have a seperate admissions process seperate from the states and no bar exam is required. It's a matter of filling out a one page form and writing a check. Also, an attorney does not have to be involved in the closing of a home sale. Oddly enough, Texas is one of the few states where it makes no sense to have an attorney involved in the purchase/sale. The only place an attorney typically comes involved in the process is in making sure that the title is clear. All transfers in Texas are governed by RECLA and the same RECLA forms must be used. The agent and title company do pretty much everything. |
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