Lessons In Buying a House: The $116 Lesson–Yours for Free

I am in the process of trying to find and purchase a house–my first one. It doesn’t matter how many times you watch HGTV’s “My First Place” and “House Hunters”, going through the actual process has many more details and, in my opinion, many more aggravations. The best information that I got was through a couple of home-buying classes that I took through Leisure Learning here in Houston. However, they didn’t prepare me for this lesson. There have been other lessons that I want to explain, but since this is the first that has cost money, and the most recent sore spot, I’ll start here.

Also be aware that I’m doing this in Texas, so the laws and the ways houses are bought and sold where you live might be different.

Anyway, here goes. When the buyer finds a house that he likes, he makes an offer to the seller. If the seller agrees to the offer, the seller and buyer sign papers which make a commitment for you to buy and them to sell. (It’s kind of like getting engaged. The marriage is the closing.) When that commitment is made, the buyer must put down some money as security that he will continue the buying process; the big chunk is called earnest money and goes into an escrow account at a title company, and a small chunk, called the termination option, goes to the seller. Both of these “chunks” will be applied to the buyer’s closing costs if the buyer doesn’t back out of the deal.

Now here is the lesson–my $116 lesson. As a buyer, do not give checks for either the earnest money or the termination notice until the seller has signed all of the necessary papers to finish his side of the commitment. My agent had me give her checks for these the day I made my offer; then the name was incorrect on one check and the sellers wanted more earnest money put down, so I had to write two more checks and took them to the seller’s agent’s office because it is near where I live.  There’s no legal reason why you have to give the agents that money yet; they just want you more emotionally committed to the sale.

It’s supposed to be a buyer’s market, but the sellers of the house I wanted would not budge on anything. In fact, the straw that broke the camel’s back for me was that they wanted to stay in the house for several days after closing without paying anything and didn’t want to put anything in writing about when they would move out. Therefore, I withdrew my offer before they had even finished with their part of the commitment papers.

However, at that point, I had four checks hanging out there with people I don’t really trust, so immediately upon making my decision about not purchasing that house, I went to Wells Fargo and put a stop payment on each one–at $29 a pop. Though I now have gotten the checks back, at that point I wasn’t sure if I would.

In the end, the lesson for the buyer is: don’t put out earnest money or termination option money until you have all of the papers from an offer (the commitment) which you and the seller have both signed.

Yet Even More Christian Preachers and Leaders Arrested for Sex Crimes

While most of the attention to Christians and their so-called “morals” has been on Senator John Ensign of Nevada and Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina for their sexcapades and other questionable activities, there continues to be many more lesser hypocrites committing sex crimes. This is a continuing topic on this site as it’s important to keep up the pressure and make what’s these creeps are doing known as far and wide as possible.

Dunn

The first of these moral hypocrites is from the Houston area. Darrell Dunn, principal, teacher and pastor at Living Praise Academy and Church of Crosby, was arrested for molesting two of his male students. According to local news sources, the Harris County District Attorney’s office also is accusing him of sending sexually explicit photos of himself to one of the victims via text message and the internet. Local authorities are seeking information about other possible victims of this predator.

Brock

The second hypocrite is also a religious school principal. Daniel Charles Brock, 36, the principal of Silver State Christian School in Morrison, Colorado has been arrested for sexual assault on one of his students and attempted sexual assault on another. Apparently this guy was definitely sexually harassing his students in other ways before finally being arrested; according to the Denver Post article, Brock often asked students about their personal sexual relationships and talked to them about what he and his wife did intimately.

Nies

Another “moral” Christian predator is accused of having a sexual relationship with a pre-teen girl. Gregory J. Nies, 56, was the victim’s youth group leader at Lititz United Methodist Church in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Nies is also accused of contacting the girl for on-line sex. According to local sources, he girl met Nies’ family through the church and he began molesting her when she visited with his own children in his home. Not only that, Nies is married with his own children and was previously a Republican candidate for mayor the the town.

Horvath

Let’s don’t think all of these “moral pervies” are men. Cynthia Horvath, faculty member at Warner Christian Academy in South Daytona, Florida, was arrested for having sexual relations with a 17-year-old student at the school. Coincidentally, Horvath, who is 45 and married, has a 17-year-old son, who attends Warner Academy, “a school with scheduled prayer times for the faculty, students and their families”.

It seems that Horvath and her other “moral” Christian cohorts spend more time “preying” than “praying”.

It Looks Like We’re In For Another Hot Week: Check Out the Weather Forecast for Houston’s Memorial Park, 77007, Camp Logan, Rice Military, and WOW

Here’s hoping everyone had a great 4th of July. I hope that you were able to have your favorite cold beverage and a tub of ice to sit in if it’s as hot as it has been here in Houston! It looks like were in for more hot days.

Monday (July 13th): Mostly sunny, with a high near 98. Heat index values as high as 103. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 78. South wind between 5 and 15 mph.

Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 98. Heat index values as high as 105. South wind between 5 and 15 mph.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. South wind between 5 and 15 mph.

Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 97.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 77.

Thursday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 95.

Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77.

Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 96.

Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 77.

Saturday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 95.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 77.

Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 95.

OK, Sarah Palin Is Resigning, At Least Now Maybe the News Will Have Something Different To Talk About

I’m sure that a lot of people will disagree, but I’m tired of turning on the TV news, whether it’s the local channel or a national cable network like MSNBC and CNN, and they’re still talking about Michael Jackson. The same goes for the radio, talking about how great he was but playing the same couple of songs over and over.

Everything is about what a musical genius he was and how he influenced music. I was really into pop and dance music during the 70s, 80s, and 90s, bought a lot of vinyl dance singles and still own countless CDs, but I never purchased anything of Michael Jackson’s. In fact, I can only name one song of his that I liked, “Billy Jean”. “Thriller” was famous because of the video, but I never thought the song was all that much.

Michael Jackson had his moment when he was performing and was the new “wonder” , but I really don’t get why that popularity stuck after that. Except for a short span of time, what did he come out with? He didn’t really have any hits for many years, and most of his notoriety came from just being a creepy guy, the reasons for which I don’t need to repeat.

With all the noise on TV and radio, Michael Jackson’s “come back” as a result of his death is probably far greater than any tour he would have made.

Yeah, so I really don’t want to hear about Palin either.

And What Will the Conservative Republicans Say Now about Sancti-MOAN-ious Sanford’s Revelations and the Sanctity of Marriage? Come’on Now, We’re All Waiting with Bated Breath

Mr. A-List (that’s A for Adultery), Republican Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina was forthcoming with even more revelations about his relationship with Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentinian woman with whom he has been having an affair. It seems, though, that his current mistress is not the only woman he has been involved with during his marriage to his wife, Jenny. “Oh, what a tangled web . . .” If you’re into the details the South Carolinian newspaper, The State has the most.

Actually, I’m not that interested in what Sanford or other straight people do in bed; it’s just that when so many of them give out this “holier than thou” attitude, laying it on thick about the sanctity of marriage and how gay marriage and homosexuality are just about the worst thing that anyone could be part of, you want to sit there and say, “Hey, Sluggo, maybe you might want to re-think your position on love and who can love whom, and maybe your love isn’t really any different than anybody else’s love.” (Wow, that was a long sentence; I got to take a breath myself.)

Anyway, ya gotta dig these cartoons:

Houston Gay Pride Parade Follow-up: The Police and “Hello Kitty”

HPD officer enjoying himself big time with the "Hello Kitty" Brigade

After all of the discussion about the Houston Chronicle story about the woman being trampled by a police officer’s horse at the Pride Parade and all the seeming interest in the “Hello Kitty” entry of the Gay Asians and Friends entry in the parade, I thought I needed to add another post. From the pictures, it’s very evident that at least one member of HPD was having the time of his life. Also, the “Hello Kitty” group was one of the most unique of the whole parade. (Thanks to Asians and Friends Houston for a couple of the photos.) Check out more of the parade and other Houston Pride events here.

Resting Kitties before the parade

Getting ready to start the parade

Finally, going down Westheimer

Sad Note on Houston’s Gay Pride Parade When Woman Hurt by Police Horse

Houston Police Department leads the parade, members definitely in a festive mood with sirens going and bullhorns asking for noise from the crowd. Totally positive attitude from HPD, definitely different from years ago--shows how far everyone has come.

Apparently, there was a woman trampled by a police officer’s horse down near Stanford Street during the parade last night. The comments to the Chronicle article are saying all kinds of things, but I was quite a few blocks from there, so I can say nothing about what happened in that incident.

However, nothing I saw done by the police last night was negative; most everything was positive and then some. They had a great contingent leading off the parade. The head car, in fact, was one they use for recruitment and several of the officers walking alongside were gay (based on my “gaydar”). The police cars had sirens going and the lead car driver was trying to liven up the crowd, shouting things like, “Let’s make some noise” over his bullhorn.

These HPD officers acted very cordially with everyone as they patrolled the parade.

The couple of street patrol officers who were in the area where I was standing often let people cross the street between floats in nice, easy-going way. They kept people off the street, but most of the time while they were near me, they were chatting about “nothing”, not saying anything about the parade or the onlookers. One of them seemed bored, and was engrossed in text-messaging for a good, long while.

I was paying attention to all that because I can’t say I always have had a “love” for the police, and sometimes at past parades, I had seen them be somewhat aggressive in their crowd control.

But I thought the involvement of the police, the firefighters, and even a group of city employees says a lot about how far everyone has come since the early years of the gay pride parades.

The problem is that almost every entry in the parade throws out beads or some other kind of small, cheap favor and half of the people scramble out into the street to pick up dropped ones or even go up to the float riders begging for more. On top of that, many of these same people have no sense about their own safety, because they are so intent upon getting these trinkets, and for quite a few, the alcohol factor can be added in.

I thought to myself as I watched last night that I had never seen so many adults acting like children when they were going after these little bits of cheap nothings, and the meaning of the parade itself was only secondary in their frenzy to grab anything that might be tossed toward the side of the street.

Read more about Houston’s Pride Parade here.

Gay Pride Houston 2009

At dusk, before the start of the parade--surrey tram bikes carrying parade-goers around.

View before the parade--Bambolino's Pizza--the big crowds are always further down--near the intersection of Montrose and Westheimer

Houston’s Pride Parade took place last night ( Saturday, June 27th).  Nothaving gone last year, I decided to endure the heat and parking difficulties to go take it in. I’ve missed a few since my first parade in 1983, but not many. They changed through the years, but not so much. Houston’s Pride Parade is a typical parade of floats, marching groups, dignitaries, and commercial entries. Thousands of people attend, but the large majority watch from curbside rather than throng into the street as they do in some other cities.

Mayor Bill White gives me a wave.

Some differences from years gone by: fewer drag queens, fewer floats with muscle guys, fewer bar-sponsored floats. However, there are more marching groups of all kinds, more exuberant participation by public officials, police and firefighters, and many more business and corporate entries.

Likewise, the atmosphere has changed. What used to be a more raucous, festive parade with heavy-beat dance music pumped from the floats (there’s still a little of that) has become a sporadic frenzy of bead-grabbing, as almost every entry has colored chains and other chucherias to toss into the crowds alongside.

Part of the police contingent

These crowds are definitely different from years gone by when it was mostly gays and lesbians and others of the “artsy” kind. Now it’s definitely a mixed crowd, and not exactly easy to always identify who is gay and who is straight or even “whatever”.

In my opinion, though, this Mardi Gras-like bead-tossing, while definitely bringing in a wider variety of people takes something away from the parade’s significance. So many people are jostling and running for the favors thrown out that they really could care less about the significance of the organization or people throwing them the “goodies”. Maybe this attraction helps make the many non-gays in the crowds more gay accepting. I think only the future knows if this is so. Anyway, the parade is a chance for everyone to have a good time and and enjoy the culture. Yes, it’s a culture, not a lifestyle, and a pretty fun culture if you get to know it.

(Check here for more about Houston Pride 2009.)

Some of the South Beach guys having a good time

One of the more unique entries

Gay Asians and Friends and "Hello Kitty"

PFLAGHouston always gets a huge response from the crowds

Guys from the Club Cristal float

The Bunnies on the Bayou entry

One of the many business and corporate parade participants

Impact Houston--one of the large number of activists groups participating

Happy Gay Pride, Houston!

Taking in the sights in the heat of the day at Houston's Pride Festival

Pride Fesival just beginning near the corner of Waugh and Westheimer

Impact Houston members holding down the fort at the group's booth

More of the festival on the Lovett Esplanade

Just after noontime, I went down to the Pride Festival . The start time was 11 AM. There were lots of booths of all types, lots of gay organizations for every interest and various vendors. All I can say is “Hot, hot, hot.” And I am talking about the temperature. The car thermometer said 98 when I left home, and out there on the radiating pavement, it had to have been much higher. Some groups were passing out hand fans. Though, I’m not sure what effect they were having. Despite the heat, the number of people increased during my short 20 minutes there. I talked to some great people at the Impact Houston booth, and then as I was leaving a street evangelist tried to make some headway with me. Ha! No luck there. I can’t imagine how people are standing it now in the hottest part of the afternoon. I’m planning to go back for the parade tonight. It starts at 8:45 PM; here’s hoping there will be some relief from the heat by then.

The Pride Festival runs until 7 PM in Montrose, just south of Westheimer near Commonwealth. Admission is free for all kinds of entertainment, including music and exhibits.

The unique night parade begins at 8:45 running down Westheimer from Dunlavy to Crocker.

For details about these and other Houston Pride events, check www.pridehouston.org/events/ .

USA Gets Big Soccer Win Over Top-Ranked Spain in Confederation Cup: Confed: EEUU Da La Sorpresa y Elimina a España en Semifinales

Nacogdoches,Texas native, Clint Dempsey scores in the second half to seal the deal for the U.S.

There are a lot of sports I like better than soccer–I’ve never been able to watch a whole game through. Give me a good college basketball or football game any day.

But today in South Africa in the Confederations Cup, the U.S. won a very big game by beating number-one ranked Spain 2-0 (yes, two to zip!) in the semi-final match. They’ll take on either Brazil or the home team, South Africa in the finals this weekend. It’s good for our guys to beat some of the big soccer teams. Even next-door neighbor, Mexico, who we regularly beat these days, still likes to think that the U.S. can’t field a good soccer team. Most of the rest of the world can’t understand why Americans aren’t that into soccer, when so many around the planet are “mad” about it. The real answer to that is that we have other big sports which are so much a part of our culture, sports that we have grown up with from an early age. To most American sports fans, soccer is just kind of a diversion, not something to plan a barbecue around.

(Hay un montón de deportes mejor que me gusta mas que el fútbol– nunca había sido capaz de sentarme durante un partido completo. Dame un buen partido de baloncesto o fútbol americano entre equipos de universidades.

Pero hoy en Sudáfrica en la Copa Confederaciones, los EE.UU. derrotó el equipo español que está clasificado número uno en el mundo. Los americanos van a enfrentar a Brasil o el equipo local, Sudáfrica, en la final este fin de semana. Es bueno para nuestros chicos a derrotar a algunos de los grandes equipos de fútbol. Incluso nuestro vecino, Mexico, que nos golpearon regularmente en estos días, todavía le gusta pensar que los EE.UU. no pueden poner en competición un buen equipo de fútbol. La mayoría del resto del mundo no puede entender por qué los estadounidenses que no están fanaticos del fútbol, cuando tantos en todo el planeta son “locos” al respecto. La verdadera respuesta es que tenemos otros grandes deportes que son tan parte de nuestra cultura. Para la mayoría de los fanáticos de los deportes de América, el fútbol es sólo un tipo de desviación, y no algo para organizar un asado.)