Kim Daugherty, McKinney REALTOR, TX Broker

McKinney Spotlight On Dentist, Dr. James Barnes, DDS

I have a confession...

I lived in McKinney for quite some time (won't confess to how long) before I finally sought out a local dentist.

I'm guessing that like many of you reading this, a trip to the dentist does not rank too highly on the list of enjoyable ways to spend your time. I know few people who really love the sound of drills, smell of...well, I don't really know what that smell is, but you know what I'm talking about - floss, or flouride and latex gloves and sterile cleaning solutions. I don't know. Anyhow, back on track...

I finally ponyed up and made an appointment. I knew the receptionist for Dr. Barnes, and she guaranteed that the dental hygenist who cleaned my teeth was gentle and one of the BEST and that Dr. Barnes wouldn't be scary or drill-happy.

Just look at his picture - does he look like a crazed dentist? Not one bit! He's knowledgeable without being cocky, honest and up front without being rude, and all in all a NICE GUY!

The receptionist was right on the money! I had a GREAT experience. Seriously. Short of having my nails done or having a massage done at the same time, it was as good as it could have gone! Well, minus the work that I need to schedule to have done. But that's MY fault.

You can read about this awesome McKinney Dentist on his website.

He provides a full menu of services and his staff was friendly and accomodating. So, if you've just relocated to McKinney or are in the process of moving to McKinney, TX - give Dr. Barnes a call and set up a cleaning. Don't wait like I did!

Dr. Barnes and staff are located at 5080 Virginia Pkwy in McKinney TX. That's at the NW corner of Virginia and Lake Forest Drive.

A great grocery store is always on the list of top ten places to find for every new buyer in a strange new town. OK, it's in the top three. Why? Immediately upon move-in you need to easily find a place that sells these necessities: toilet paper (obvious), cleaning supplies (in case the previous owners were not so tidy upon move out), microwavable kid-friendly meals (cause face it, McDonald's is getting old and you're not about to cook in a dirty kitchen) and for the hubby: cold beer (because between the moving of the heavy stuff, the drive to the new city and the wife stressing about where things will go - it is indeed a necessity).

Of course you can always stop by the big discount superstores - yes, McKinney has THREE Super Walmarts - but for something more you have to check out Market Street!

Here's 10 Reasons WHY I go to McKinney Market Street:

• The BEST seafood and meat department - hands down!
• I like some organic foods, and Market Street offers organic choices side-by-side the Lucky Charms and Doritos.
• FRESH Sushi made daily! (I can just HEAR you west coast transplants sighing some relief.)
• An awesome Olive Bar
• They offer pre-made dinner items that I can take home, heat up, throw in some pretty serving dishes and call it homemade gourmet for all my dinner guests :).
• Incredible wine selection.
• An in-store Cafe, offering: brick oven pizzas, comfort food galore, fresh caesar salads made to order in front of your eyes, a gorgeous salad bar with some yummy premade salads and fruit, and sandwich/burger shop.
  
  • I often take the family here for dinner because everyone can get what they like. I head to the salad bar, hubby grabs some chicken fried steak plus all the southern fixin's, my oldest goes straight to the make your own pasta bar and the baby, well, he eats off all our plates! He's not picky (thank you God!).
• Cooking Classes! Upstairs next to the gift shop is the classroom used for a variety of culinary classes! They offer classes for beginners, advanced and even mommy-n-me classes.
• The Customer Service!!!!! Sorry about all the exclamation marks, but if you visit you'll understand why. They even INSIST on taking your groceries out to your car for you.
• One of the few stores that still offer Maternity Parking Spaces/Stork Spaces. All you pregnant mommas out there know just how valuable these are. Especially when you're trucking up to the store in 110 degree heat to get that gallon of Chunkey Monkey ice cream for the 3rd time that week day.

Market Street is located at 6100 W Eldorado Pkwy in McKinney, TX

Born and raised up North, in blustery Minnesota, Kym Jackson knew that when she grew up she wanted to do two things: be a mommy and run her own photography business. After she married her highschool sweetheart, Brad, he was able to convince her to leave the land of 10,000 lakes (and 10 million mosquitos!) to settle down near his childhood hometown in North Dallas. However, Kym left a strong following of loyal photography clients and began making plans for her business in McKinney, TX.

Soon after purchasing a home in McKinney, TX Kym was able to fulfill her other dream of becoming a mom - and had two beautiful kids. Not leaving behind her dream of continuing her career as a photographer, she transformed a room of her house into a working studio. Taking advantage of her two new beautiful subjects, and many nephews, nieces and friends' children, she incorporated her passion for photography and the joys of motherhood into one.

Kym's children's and baby portraits are by far some of the most unique and emotion filled pieces that you can find. She has a knack for capturing each child's personality on film and mastering the difficult task of snapping a shot at just the right moment before a happy grin turns into a sad grimace.

If you've just moved to McKinney, TX or surrounding cities (Allen, Plano, Frisco or Prosper) and are looking for a photographer, I would encourage you to book a session with Kym. Sure, you could seek out the standard big-chain photography studios, where everyone under the sun has the same backdrops, OR you could schedule a personal session at a location of your choice, your own home, or in Kym's very own studio.

In addition to Children's photography, Kym also specializes in the following: Wedding Photography, Maternity sessions, Newborns, Families, Senior Portraits, Business/Professional Headshots and sittings, Holiday Card designs, Custom Birth Announcements, Business Card design, Real Estate photography and product shots.

As a personal note: Kym has done over two dozen sittings for our family - yearly Christmas card pictures (AND Christmas card design), maternity sessions, newborn sessions INCLUDING designing a birth announcement that features one of her photos) and yearly children's birthday photos. Professionally, Kym shoots pictures for all of my real estate listings and has done my business card headshot and design. I have never met someone so dedicated to their profession and whose passion is evident in each piece of work she puts herself into.

Find Kym online at www.PortraitsbyKym.com, or become a "fan" on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/McKinneyPhotographer.

Call Kym direct at 214-280-2122. Tell her that the "other" Kim referred you, and she'll take great care of you!

Relocating to McKinney, TX 101 - What will my new McKinney home be like?

We've all heard that a large portion of fear, is fear of the UNKNOWN. When moving or relocating to a new city, there may be lots of fears and LOTS of unknowns! Especially if you have kids, like I do.

BUT WHERE WILL MY TOYS GO?

True story: When my husband and I were moving up from our McKinney townhouse in master-planned Stonebridge Ranch to a larger McKinney single-story detached home just a few miles away, my then 3 year old son was quite confused. He accompanied us on our house showings and would weigh-in afterwards about what he liked or didn't like. His comments were usually, "I like the house with the big trampoline", or "I LOVE the house with all the Star Wars toys!" and "Can we get the house with the Lego table in the boys room that is painted like outer space?".

I didn't put it all together until later that what HE was worried about were the FURNISHINGS TOYS in the home. He was scared to move to a place that didn't have cool TOYS. So, when we were standing in the house that we eventually bought, and said, "Yep - this is our new house - go pick out your room" he was scared. You see, the sellers had GIRL bedrooms. Pink. We finally put 2 and 2 together and explained to him that his things would be coming WITH us and the sellers things would going with them. We were fine and dandy after that point, but he didn't have any expectations of what moving would be like, he didn't have an idea of what kind of house we would move in to and these fears were sewn out of the UNKNOWN.

"MOM, WHAT'S OUR NEW HOUSE GONNA BE LIKE?"

While most adults are beyond a 3 year old's understanding of the moving process, that doesn't mean there aren't UNKNOWN'S. So, in an effort to educate those of you moving to our popular "Reloville", I'd like to present you with a list of 6 differences in what the homes in McKinney and surrounding areas are like, versus where you may be moving from! Share these with your kids too! Knowledge is power, and kids really like power.

1. With the exception of ONE community that comes to mind (Mallard Lakes), McKinney TX Homes do NOT have BASEMENTS. Welcome to North Texas, home of the clay soil! Clay soil + basements = cracking, bad mess of a house.

2. A large percentage of homes for sale in McKinney are brick. A popular trend is to incorporate natural stone in the elevations of homes, contributing to the very natural, country vibe that McKinney gives off.

3. Compared to many Northern and Midwestern states, our back yards are SMALL (average subdivision lot size is 60 by 120). Unless you are looking in the $500K+ price range where you might get a third of an acre up to 1 acre.

4. ...and speaking of back yards, many subdivisions use shared wooden fences. Other fences you might see if living on a golf course are the wrought iron fences that allow the views to be seen from the property.

5. It's HOT in Texas, therefore Community Pools are almost as necessary as air conditioning. Many of McKinney's subdivisions (large and small) offer small pools up to large beach club sized community pools sandy lagoons with splash pads! (Hint: the kids will LOVE this!)

6. One of the biggest befefits of moving to McKinney, TX is the fact that you can get a newer home at a reasonable price! Can I get an AMEN?

• 165 homes SOLD in McKinney (according to NTREIS MLS) from 6/29/09-7/29/09.
• Average price per square foot was $82.22
• Average AGE of home was 1998 - ONLY 11 YEARS OLD!
• Sellers received an average of 97% of sales price. Average list price was $231,558 and average sold price was $223,779.
• It took home sellers an average of 94 days on the market to get their McKinney, TX home SOLD!
• The average home that sold was a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home with 2681 square feet

We're looking forward to having you as our new neighbors here in McKinney, TX. If you have any other questions, or UNKNOWNS, no matter how silly you think they may be - ASK AWAY! That's what we're here for! My McKinney TX Homes blog just might have your answers. And if it doesn't, I'll make a blog post out of it! You have my word on it.

Moving to a North Dallas suburb can sometimes mean chosing between seemingly identical cities. They all have a Starbucks on every corner, several big chain restaurants, a Walmart (or three), a sprinking of unique dining options, great public and private schools across the board, impressive parks & rec and a broad range of real estate price ranges for every buyer. I love the 'burbs!

But many times it comes down not to the tangible traits of each city, rather the unseen "feel" that a city exudes. The "It" Factor. I've seen it happen time and time again. A buyer will just naturally gravitate toward a certain city or neighborhood. They can't really tell me why, but they feel drawn to it.

For me, and many others, what sets McKinney TX apart from the crowd is our Historic Downtown Main Street. Our Historic Square beats all others around... HANDS DOWN! We've GOT the "it" factor!

In case you didn't know, McKinney has one of THE oldest authentic historic downtowns in Texas. McKinney's Square was once the center of ALL commercial and social activity for Collin County (we are the county seat), and our city is STILL serving as a thriving, happening, energized retail, dining, entertainment and business center.

"The Square" offers over 100 boutiques and specialty shops, plus more than a dozen unique (no chains here!) restaurants. (Ladies, I'll spell it out for you = GIRLS WEEKEND DESTINATION!) You'll find award-winning chefs, sandwich shops, cafes (Spoons is my fave), outdoor patio dining (hang out at Poppy's) and neighborhood pubs with live music (check out Cadillac Pizza Pub). Don't miss the art galleries featuring the works of local artists, furniture stores, exquisite antique collections, numerous gift shops, spas and sought-after clothing boutiques (ladies - run to "Pumps"!).

Earlier this year (2009), the city announced the "Friends of McKinney Main Street" program. This allows anyone with a passion for McKinney's historic district an opportunity to donate and keep all of the Main Street programs alive! What programs? Just about every month you can find a festival or family event - Scare on the Square, Oktoberfest, Dickens of a Christmas, Red, White & Boom and Krewe of Barkus. The list goes on...

For more information on how to donate you can check out www.downtownmckinney.com.

**d + b real estate is proud to be a new business on the square! We love where we live and where we work. For more information about what makes McKinney "Unique by Nature", call or email one of our agents. We love working with relocating families to our area!

For a list of historic homes for sale in McKinney, TX email us at Realtor@RealFamilyRealEstate.com and visit our website to search the McKinney, TX MLS.