Cute Allen Texas Home on a Quiet, Wooded Lot!  Greengate, Allen Texas 75002 1545 Evergreen Drive  Allen Texas  75002  Click to search more Allen Texas homes.   This Allen Texas home is found on a landscaped, wooded, cul-de-sac lot with lots to offer!  Listed for sale by Bill Kulka 972-381-6121 of Bill Kulka Realty, this Allen Texas home really has all the country-like charm you’re looking for in Allen Texas!   As soon as you see this Allen Texas home, you’ll be wishing you were relaxing on the great covered front porch!  The front yard of this Allen Texas home is covered in large shade trees, perfect for the neighborhood kids to gather and have fun!  In the backyard of this Allen Texas home is a new 15’x12’ studio!  You could have your own private studio or play house for the kids in th... 08/10/2011

We had a nice conversion with Toni Petty with Ashton Woods yesterday about The Preserve in Allen.   The project is slightly ahead of schedule and presales should begin in November 2011. In an earlier blog, we wrote that there was some discussion about The Preserve in Allen being part of Twin Creeks. That decision has been made and The Preserve will not be part of Twin Creeks. Ashton Woods has designed seven new floor plans for The Preserve ranging from 2000 to 4000 square feet. Some plans will be available with 3 car tandem garages, bonus rooms, and media rooms. Note the plans have not been finalized and are subject to change. We should have copies of the floor plans in late August and we’ll post them as soon as they are available. We should have another update at the end of August and... 08/03/2011

If you're wondering what kind of firewood should I buy to get the most heat with the least amount of creosote you're among many. Every year fireplace owners try out different types of wood, often with mixed results. When you use a wood burning stove as a source of heat you want to get the most out of it. Fuel efficiency extends beyond the reach of cars and furnaces.   The question isn't really what kind of firewood should I buy? It's more along the lines of how well seasoned is the wood? How old is the wood? This is what makes the difference between warm fire with lots of smoke and a hot fire than burns clean. If you're trying to use fresh wood you will find that the overall effect is somewhat grim. There is no real heat that comes off of fresh wood. Fresh wood is defined as wood that h... 08/02/2011

Every year you need to clean your chimney before you use it. This is an essential rule of thumb that a frightening number of fireplace owners ignore. Every single year before the very first use you need to make sure that the chimney gets clean. If you neglect this step it may not be long before you find much more than your fireplace ablaze. Unclean chimneys are a fire hazard and can be very dangerous.   Why should clean your chimney before you use it every single year? During the warmer months and those early fall days you really don't know what has been crawling in your chimney, nesting there, and leaving behind flammable dried brush and twigs. Even at the top of the chimney you can light an old dried out nest. If you're lucky it will fall straight down into the fireplace. Most of the ... 08/02/2011

The end of summer party ideas that you might have could very well be exactly the right ideas. It's not unusual to intuit a great event only to question oneself later on. There are all kinds of great events that you can host and celebrate the end of the season with a great big bang. All of your friends will appreciate the effort you go through to make the last party of the summer a big hit.   Other end of summer party ideas can vary depending on your audience. If it's all adults often great classics like a wine and cheese party, a festive themed pot luck, or even a bring your favorite summer jams party can turn into a great time. A book trading party can go over well for the right crowd, as can a beach bum party that has you digging in your heels unwilling to give up the last days of war... 08/02/2011

Putting your home on the market means that you're going to allow many different strangers go through your home while you're not there. Most often the first thought is that you want to make the entire house look as good as possible and to stage it so that it looks like just about anyone can move right in.   You may go through each room and declutter, create better spaces, and clean everything from top to bottom. Yet the one thing you may not think of is storing anything that is valuable. In most cases the items that are valuable add some character or a signature to your home that you really like. Yet you're not selling your home to you. You're selling it to people you've never met before. You're inviting them in, letting them open cabinets and peering into the places where you normally d... 08/01/2011

In order to understand whether or not you have a stake in mineral rights you have to know what are mineral rights? The term is often applied to the meaning of mineral interest. This is a tricky term because it doesn't necessarily apply only to minerals and it can be difficult to determine who actually ends up with the rights once the minerals or other substances are discovered.   The idea is that if you own property that houses minerals you apply for the mineral rights and then you would be the sole individual permitted to engage in mining. Natural gas also falls under this category. Of course, something that simple can't stay that simple. Property owners are often not permitted to keep their rights if a mining company or other large entity wants to sever the rights.   If the minerals o... 08/01/2011

We hear it all the time but really, what is a buyer's market? Essentially the housing market is divided up into simplified terms to express the current value of property and homes. When we say it's a seller's market we are really saying that people are paying top dollar for homes and that the sellers are making out better than the buyers. A buyer's market means that the homes that are selling are not pulling in top dollar and in fact may even be selling for much less than they are worth.   A buyer's market is tied directly into the health or lack thereof of the economy. When the economy struggles a bit, and loans aren't flying out the banks and other lending offices at top speed, the value of the local housing drops a bit. When this happens nationally, it is said that the country is hea... 08/01/2011

If you've ever wanted to learn how to plant a fall garden your very first step is to consider the available land and how you're going to get the landscaping done. If you have hills, are you going to flatten them? If you have just the right walkway to highlight with strip gardens, are you going to add more along the house? Planning is one of the most important steps because it helps guide you when you're making decisions.   Once you have a rough sketch the next step is to lay out your tilling patterns with white, non-toxic powder. Some people have used confectioner's sugar (although that can draw bugs) while others have used baking powder. Just make sure that it's nothing that will be harmful to the wild and domesticated animals that live around you. Gardening shops sell material made ju... 08/01/2011

Learning how to host a cookout isn't really all that complicated if you throw in a little bit of planning and some flexibility. Overall, the entire ordeal is mostly about friends, food, family, and coming together to share in all that each has to offer. Regardless, you're naturally going to want yours to stand out a little in the sea of potential cook outs that crop up throughout the warmer months.   If you ask your friends how to host a cookout you will probably get as many responses as you have friends. Some people will tell you it's the food that matters most. Others will tell you it's the atmosphere. You can end up not knowing what to focus on and what's really important but spinning around until you get dizzy. Fortunately, if you just take it one step at a time you will find your w... 08/01/2011

Everybody hates to move - and it's always a challenge to find a reliable mover. The big guys are fine for large, long distance moves, but when you have a local relocation, especially with office furniture, you need a "large enough to serve you - small enough to know you" kind of company. Enter General Relocations Office Installations. After three projects with this local family-owned business I can certainly recommend and give them high marks for taking the pain out of the process. For my dreaded move they showed up early, were well organized, had good tools and (even in this relentless Dallas heatwave) were focused on the end result.  As an added bonus they were polite.  They respected the building restrictions and did not disrupt the neighbors.  All my furniture, accessories, computer... 07/29/2011

If you've purchased any kind of new appliance your next step is to learn how to keep stainless steel looking good. In reality, stainless is one of the more attractive materials that appliances are made from. The appliances are radiantly shiny, deep with that new steel appearance, and wonderfully brilliant in just about any home. Yet there are plenty of people that have found after awhile their stainless doesn't resemble the appliances that they brought home.   The first step in the How to Keep Stainless Steel Looking Good manual is relatively simple in theory. Hand prints and finger prints are the first thing to start smudging that beautiful shine. The oil from hands has a way of sticking to and then penetrating the ridges of the steel. Your appliances have handles and it's important th... 07/28/2011

 When you buy a home you need to seal the grout, granite, and stone. While it seems like you should be able to just move right into your new home and simply unpack, there are some last minute jobs that need to be done. Most builders do not seal. Whether you're talking about a granite counter top, stone floors, or the bathroom grout these details are often left unattended to.   It's always best to clarify with the builder what has been completed and what hasn't been touched when you buy a brand new home. There are a lot of little details that may have been skipped simply because the builder doesn't consider it their responsibility to do so. Living with unsealed grout, granite, and stone can lead to problems along the way. Often mold, mildew, and staining will take over the area and it's ... 07/28/2011

In order to beat the heat you're definitely going to need some cool ideas. While the AC runs hard at home it can be maddening to have to stay inside as the temperatures outside drive up into the upper 90s or worse. For those living without air conditioning the heat seems to linger well into the late night hours like an ugly troll sucking the life out of you. But summertime heat doesn't have to be excruciating.   One of the first ways to beat the heat is to find ways to limit heat building in your home through the use of many appliances. Cooking can heat up a home very fast, and it can leave the family feeling too hot and irritable to eat, anyway. Try making some creative cold dishes that don't require any cooking. If some of your ingredients must be cooked, tend to them at night when th... 07/26/2011

Today there is a high focus on online security because it is so essential to every user's wellbeing. Yet most of the focus remains on the cautious use of websites, credit card charges, and entering personal information on any given website. At the same time, social networks continuously make changes in their policy to allow high visibility of things like your phone number, your address, and your email address.   Online security is about being safe and secure on every single website. Just because a website is well used, has a lot of press, or seems to be a beneficial marketing tool doesn't mean that it's completely secure. Often the settings that you choose to protect your identity and your personal contact information are automatically changed or reset with every policy change.   That m... 07/26/2011

Weep holes are essentially drainage holes that are built into brick buildings. Their purpose is to allow the moisture that gets trapped inside the masonry to have an exit route. Without an exit route, the water would sit inside the building's foundation, the outer walls, and where joints come together and would eventually do quite a bit of damage. There are different laws that manage the use of these holes and they will vary from one state to the next. Basically seeing them is a good thing. Not seeing them should send up a few red flags.   During the construction of a home weep holes are added because regardless of the quality of construction water will get in. You can barely see a crack along the masonry that is 1/100th of an inch in thickness. Yet if just those tiny hairline cracks ca... 07/26/2011

An anaerobic septic system is generally what most people who have septic system already have installed. It's been the most popular type partly because there has been so little to compete with it. They don't cost that much to install, they are relatively simple to maintain, and it's been accepted that this is the standard for residential systems. While the private sector has certainly embraced the anaerobic system, municipalities do not use these at all.   An anaerobic septic system breaks down waste product at a rather slow and inefficient rate. When considering the residential use of a septic system this could be found to be acceptable. By the consistent standard use and the fact that one household would have to work pretty hard to fill up the system there has been little question as t... 07/26/2011

While there are numerous benefits of LED lighting the most influential one is the longevity and the efficiency which these bulbs burn. There are many reasons for the increased popularity of these lights. Their use is proving to be an energy wise decision that has led to significant savings for those who do.   The money that can be saved stems from their lower energy burn. Cool light, which is what LED lights burn, are consistent in function as well as in temperature. Incandescent light bulbs heat up relatively quickly and can create additional energy costs because of their use of warm light.   LED lights can be made into nearly any size. This creates an additional convenience when you want a smaller flashlight or you are trying to light a walkway. The size of an incandescent light bulb ... 07/25/2011

Rainwater harvesting is a method of collecting and using rain as a source of useable water. This is done in outlying areas around the world just as it is done in the US. The use of rain as a water source is certainly not a new idea. The harvesting process is relatively simple. It is imperative that you collect and use the rain in a way that is sanitary in order to make sure that you don't end up drinking or cooking with contaminated water. Many households practice harvesting as a method of reducing their water use rather than for drinking. In other parts of the world rain is the primary source of drinking water and can be collected in a way that avoids health hazards.   The rain that falls from the rooftops is not used for drinking, cooking, or any other purpose of consumption. The cont... 07/25/2011

Every single day each of us uses energy. We all use water. We all create a certain amount of waste. There are many simple things that each and every one of us can do in order to cut down on the waste, use less energy, and have a smaller impact on the environment. Whether you live a conservative lifestyle or you tend to live without thinking much about your impact on the environment, you can cut down on your footprint.   Some of the steps toward a cleaner life are very easy. Using a thermostat that allows you to program the temperature setting for day time and night time helps to keep your energy use down. Heating and cooling temperatures don't need to be as prevalent at night. Turning the heat cooler at night and the air conditioning warmer at night helps to conserve a great deal of ene... 07/25/2011