Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Spring into Mulch-imizing your Curb Appeal ... Dallas and Collin County

HAPPY 1ST DAY of SPRING!!!  

It's time to get our yards back to beautiful, which if you're thinking of SELLING your house is a must to maximize your home's Curb Appeal! One way to do that is to add MULCH to your planters, trees and flower beds. According to Menards Garden Center, the many benefits of MULCH include:




• Completes the look of your yard or flower bed
• Acts as a natural weed control
• Maintains moisture levels in your soil, protecting from over and under watering
• Acts as a barrier to fluctuating temperatures that can cause damage or death to your plants
• Plant-based mulch adds nutrients back into the soil as it decomposes
• Helps cool plant roots 

Speaking of MULCH, did you know the City of Garland's Hinton Regional Landfill and Wood Recycling Facility, offers FREE MULCH to anybody who'd like some?!? You read that right!

The Hinton Landfill has a Recycling Center that does "Wood Recycling" which consists of cut brush and trees that the Residents of the City of Garland & City of Rowlett have picked up from their residence. The Wood Recycling shreds/chips the collected Brush and Trees into MULCH.

So how much MULCH can you get, as much as you want! It's a self-serve area, meaning you need to bring your own tools to collect the MULCH and the container for it, which typically is the bed of a truck.

The MULCH is located at the Recycling Center inside the Hinton Regional Landfill. At the gate, turn right and it's at the end of building sitting in a trailer. 



Now before going all MULCH crazy in your yards, here are a few tips I learned from the Menards Gardening Center ...
  • Remove as much of the old layers of MULCH as possible before you add more.
  • Your MULCH should never be more than three inches thick in a planting bed.
  • You should also apply MULCH in the winter, after the 1st freeze, to keep the ground uniformly cold to keep plants dormant and to keep the soil temperature from fluctuating when we have those random winter warm spells. 

Happy Spring everyone and thank you very MULCH City of Garland Environmental Services!  (Pun intended) 

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Let me know if I can help you or your family/friends with any Real Estate needs. Please know that I am never too busy for you or your referral & I would honor the chance to earn the business!

If there's a neighborhood that you'd like more information on in Rowlett, Heath, Rockwall, Garland, Mesquite, Fate, Royse City, Wylie, Sachse, or Murphy, simply Email me or go to my Website to request a personal Home Search.   If you're thinking about Selling your home and would like to find out how much your home is worth in the current market, simply go to my Website to fill out the form.

Thursday, January 3, 2019

New Home Owners: Apply for Your Homestead Exemption - Save Money on Property Taxes

If you bought a house last year, it's time to make your New Year even better by Saving Money!!! 

That's right, save some money! Between January 1st - April 30th, you can apply for your Homestead Exemption! You might remember hearing about this exemption at your closing. The Homestead Exemption can help you save money on your property taxes by reducing the taxable value of your property! In order to qualify for the Residential Homestead Exemption, you must be occupying the property as your homestead on January 1st of the tax year in which the exemption is granted. 

The process of filing the Homestead Exemption is FREE and very easy - just visit the (see list below) where you can print off a form to fill out. It doesn't take much time at all. Be sure that when you apply for exemptions that the address on your Driver's License or ID Card matches the property on the application or your application/request will be denied.

***Beware ... there are "companies" out there that will solicit you and tell you that they'll file the exemption on your behalf and of course there'll be a charge for it! But remember that YOU can do it for FREE. If you ever have any questions as to the validity of one of these solicitations just give me a call.
In addition to the Homestead Exemption, you might also qualify for: Disabled Individual Exemption, Agricultural Land Exemption, Disabled Veteran Exemption and/or the Over 65 Exemption.

Have a blessed 2019 and don't forget...I'm never too busy for any of your referrals!


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Let me know if I can help you or your family/friends with any Real Estate needs. Please know that I am never too busy for you or your referral & I would honor the chance to earn the business!

If there's a neighborhood that you'd like more information on simply Email me EMAIL me or go to my Website to request a personal Home Search.   If you're thinking about Selling your home and would like to find out how much your home is worth in the current market, simply go to my Website to fill out the form. 

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

New Year's Resolution ... Be a Better Earthly Neighbor

Happy New Year everyone! Well, with the holidays now behind us, it's time to start tackling our "Resolutions".
This year, I'm making a consented effort to do more to lessen my families "Foot Print" on our 1 and only Earth. In my end of year reflection, I realized that what I do to the Earth affect all of you and vice versa, and I can do more to be a better Earthly neighbor. My family's small lifestyle changes can have a big impact on the planet. So with that being said, here's some ways I found on how to be kinder to our Earth that might be helpful to you as well.

I'm committing to the three “R’s”: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
  • Reduce ... I'm going to try to Reduce the items we purchase
  • Reuse ... I'm going to try to Reuse items that we have for as long as we can and even try to "Upcycle" items or Refurbish them into other items
  • Recycle ... I'm going to work to recycle more than I do. The following items are able to be thrown into your Recycle Bin:


In researching the Recycling programs that are around Lake Ray Hubbard, I'm happy & thankful that the Cities of Garland, Rowlett, Rockwall, Wylie, Sachse and Murphy have a recycling programs and "Curb-Side" pick up for recycling. If you're in "aGREENment" (as the City of Rockwall says), click on the following links to find out more about your cities Recycling Program.
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Let me know if I can help you or your family/friends with any Real Estate needs. Please know that I am never too busy for you or your referral & I would honor the chance to earn the business!

If there's a neighborhood that you'd like more information on in Rowlett, Heath, Rockwall, Garland, Mesquite, Fate, Royse City, Wylie, Sachse, or Murphy, simply Email me or go to my Website to request a personal Home Search.   If you're thinking about Selling your home and would like to find out how much your home is worth in the current market, simply go to my Website to fill out the form.

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Early Voting 2018 - DFW Information

Get ready TEXAS ... It's time to VOTE! 

Yes, "Election Day" is November 6th but did you know that EARLY VOTING in Texas and in 36 other states actually starts tomorrow, October 22nd?!? Any qualified voter may cast a ballot in person during a designated period prior to Election Day and doesn't need to provide an excuse or justification as to why they are Early Voting.

So why do 37 states have Early Voting? It's really a Win - Win for both the voters and the polling places!  By spreading voting over a longer time period, Early Voting shortens the wait times and stress for both on the days leading up to Election Day and on Election Day itself.

In Texas, registered voters have 12 days and 2 are actually on a Saturday and Sunday! The dates for Early Voting are: Monday, October 22, 2018 through November 2, 2018. The hours for Early Voting varies per the location. 

To find out your Voting Location and the hours for Early Voting, click on the link below for your specific County in the DFW Metroplex.


If you have any questions about Early Voting or Voting on Election Day, visit VoteTexas.gov 


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Let me know if I can help you or your family/friends with any Real Estate needs. Please know that I am never too busy for you or your referral & I would honor the chance to earn the business!

If there's a neighborhood that you'd like more information on simply Email me EMAIL me or go to my Website to request a personal Home Search.   If you're thinking about Selling your home and would like to find out how much your home is worth in the current market, simply go to my Website to fill out the form. 

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Texas State Fair - 2018

It's that wonderful time of year again ... Texas State Fair!!! But you better hurry because it all ends on October 21st! Here's a quick glance of all the wonderful things you'll find there



To help you find your way around the Texas State Fair Grounds, here's a State Fair of Texas Map that you can print off before you go.

Speaking of going, of course you can drive to the Texas State Fair or you can travel via:

  • UBER ... The Uber pick-up/drop-off area is conveniently located at the intersection of Pacific and Gurley, just outside Gate 1. When you’re ready to head home, exit the grounds before you request your ride. Head north towards Haskell to get to the designated Uber pickup area and meet your driver.

Now ya'll go have yourself a BIG TEX of a time!!!



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Let me know if I can help you or your family/friends with any Real Estate needs. Please know that I am never too busy for you or your referral & I would honor the chance to earn the business!


If there's a neighborhood that you'd like more information on simply Email me EMAIL me or go to my Website to request a personal Home Search.   If you're thinking about Selling your home and would like to find out how much your home is worth in the current market, simply go to my Website to fill out the form. 

Monday, October 8, 2018

Fall Events in Collin County for 2018

It's officially FALL ... even though our weather here in Central Texas hasn't gotten that memo, it's starting to roll in. FALL means it's time for some Fun Family Events!!! Here's a list of various Fall Events that are in Collin County from Fall Festivals to Pumpkin Patches to even some Spooky and not so Spooky Halloween events.



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Let me know if I can help you or your family/friends with any Real Estate needs. Please know that I am never too busy for you or your referral & I would honor the chance to earn the business!

If there's a neighborhood that you'd like more information on simply Email me EMAIL me or go to my Website to request a personal Home Search.   If you're thinking about Selling your home and would like to find out how much your home is worth in the current market, simply go to my Website to fill out the form. 

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

3 Steps to Get You Ready to Become a Home Owner

Are you a 1st Time Home Buyer and not really sure as to what you should do to prepare yourself to buy your first home? Below are 3 Steps that will help get you ready ... 


Let me know if I can help you or your family/friends with any Real Estate needs. Please know that I am never too busy for you or your referral & I would honor the chance to earn the business!

If there's a neighborhood that you'd like more information on in Rowlett, Heath, Rockwall, Garland, Mesquite, Fate, Royse City, Wylie, Sachse, or Murphy, simply Email me or go to my Website to request a personal Home Search.   If you're thinking about Selling your home and would like to find out how much your home is worth in the current market, simply go to my Website to fill out the form.