Mark Hitz

The Texas No Cell Phone Use in School Zones Law went into effect over a year ago so the police are no longer giving out warnings. They simply write a ticket for a $200 fine.

So put the cell phone down before you get to the school zone. "Sorry, I need to go, there's a school zone ahead."

In addition, individual Texas cities are adopting stricter laws as technology changes and attorneys look for loop holes. This includes No Motorist Handheld Devices in School Zones. So yes, driving in a school zone while using an I Pad is going to cost you $200.

Others cities simply expand the No Cell Phone Use to include No Texting and No Apps. So you can't use the excuse "Honest Officer, I wasn't using my cell phone while driving, I was only surfing Facebook".

Others provide exemptions: If you are parked in a school car line or in a parking space.

Handsfree devices seem to be excluded but don't take my word for it.

Texas cell phone rules for school zones will continue to change. The best way to avoid the $200 fine is to just put down the cell phone.

Related Speeding Issue: I recently learned that an Allstate Insurance survey says the average Texas fine for speeding in a school zone is $211.

If you speed through a school zone with a phone stuck to your ear expect to pay an average of $211 + $200 fine = "ouch".

$411 each ticket is a great way for cities to put money into their tight budget.

Of course the reasoning behind the rules make perfect sense. Studies show that people on cell phones are distracted.

We don't want distracted drivers hitting our children. Stiff fines help protect our kids and save lives.

Can you imagine the ongoing mental anguish of both the driver and family of a school zone fatality?

What if the driver was you?

Let's be safe out there.

Mark Hitz, Realtor

The Colony TX Real Estate and Homes For Sale Report

PS - I got the idea to write this blog post this morning as I was driving the kids to school. I drive through 3 other school zones. Some woman in an Escalade blew past me in a school zone. I pull up next to her at a stoplight and she has a cell phone stuck to her ear and she is doing hand gestures with her "free hand". The light turns green and away she goes. Where's a cop when you want one?

The Fire Investigator determined the cause of the fire was a faulty lawn sprinkler system control panel in the garage. The home was monitored for burglary & fire but the smoke detectors were located in the bedrooms and halllways. The fire had to burn through the garage & utility room before smoke finally reached the smoke detector outside the master bedroom. Half of the home was in flames before the fire department arrived.

I sold this 5 year old home to some good friends after the home was rebuilt / repaired from the fire.

Here's what I want you to think about. You pay ADT to send help quickly in an emergency. Yet so many fire detection systems only conver half the house. Fires that occur in the garage, laundry room, utility room and attic are not being monitored by smoke detectors. Rarely do I see Heat Detectors monitoring the other areas. This doesn't make sense to me.

Smoke detectors are used in the bedrooms and adjacent hallways. Smoke detectors save lives.

Heat Detectors are used in the other areas like the attic, garage and utility room. Heat detectors sense the heat generated from a fire and alert the monitoring company to send help.

You wouldn't have half of your windows and doors monitored for burglary so why do you want only half of your home monitored for fire? Fire detectors are not expensive and require NO batteries. So have your monitoring company install heat detectors.

I had my home upgraded with Heat Detectors for $200 and no additional costs to monitor or maintain.

I hope you found this blog post motivating.

Mark Hitz, Realtor.

The Colony TX Real Estate and Homes For Sale

Co-Serv homeowners in The Colony Texas can have a free home energy audit. Co-Serv has an Energy Management team who conducts free energy audits on Co-Serv members' homes.

Every Colony TX Homeowner wants lower utility bills. Everybody likes free. Get a free home energy audit and lower your utility bills. There is only one "catch". This is only for Co-Serv members.

Many homes in The Colony Texas are serviced by Co-Serv. If Co-Serv provides electricity to your home, send their energy mgmt team an e-mail energyaudits@coserv.com requesting a free home energy audit.

The auditor will inspect your home's windows, doors, attics, appliances, heating and cooling units. They want to pinpoint where energy dollars are being wasted. They use a variety of monitors and tools, including infrared cameras.

You get a detailed report. What you do with that knowledge is up to you.

Ok - It might not be free. If you schedule an audit, they show up and you are not there, they will charge you $50 on your next electric bill. If you are there, it's free. If you want them do an additional Door Blower test, they charge $75. Plus you only get one free audit every 12 months. If you want more, they will charge you $100. Basically they have created some costs to keep people from abusing the system.

So send them an e-mail and get your energy audit scheduled. I would like to hear from you afterwards to know how it turned out.

Mark Hitz, Local Colony TX Realtor

The Colony TX Real Estate and Homes For Sale

Today Labor Day 2010 was the last day at Hawaiian Falls Adventure Park in The Colony Texas. As you can see from the photos it was a gorgeous cloudy 93 degrees. Perfect water temps and not too crowded.

Breaker Bay wave making pool is always a fun place to relax when you don't feel so adventerous.

The Hawaiian Falls Kona Cooler Lazy River is a enjoyable for all ages!

Tubes provided. Float down river as long as you want. The hard part is deciding when it's time to leave.

There are plenty of water slides and rides to keep your heart pumping at Hawaiian Falls The Colony TX

Next year buy your family season passes and enjoy The Colony Texas summer!

Mark Hitz The Colony TX Realtor

178 light bulbs can create a large electric bill depending on the kind of bulbs you use. I recently sold the home pictured below that has 178 light bulbs. It was vacant, I was doing a photo shoot and I kept flipping on light switches. I wondered how many light bulbs are in this place? 1, 2, 3... 178 bulbs and only 6 are energy saving CFL compact florescent lights (or as my 5 yr old says: ice cream cone bulbs). I didn't count low voltage yard lights, oven lights, under counter lights, pool lights or bulbs in the attic.

I went outside and looked at the meter. It was spinning fast enough to make me cringe.

If I was buying this home what would I do? What makes sense? Time to blog.

I don't want to spend my life on a ladder changing light bulbs. I don't like looking up and seeing a bulb burn out either. 178 light bulbs means there is always 1 burn out if they are the old kind.

Time to go to Lowes and use that 10% Realtor Benefits client coupon.

How long do bulbs last and how much do they cost:

Old incandescent bulbs costs $1 and last 700 to 1,500 hours.

CFL Compact Florescent Light bulbs are getting cheaper - multipacks - $3 each. 8,000 to 10,000 hours (6 to 7 years of average use). However some CFL bulbs fail within a year.

LED Light Emitting Diode bulbs are still expensive. $20 - $40 each, depending on how many LED's are in the bulb. LED bulbs last 50,000+ hours which is longer than you will own the home.

First pick the low hanging fruit. Easiest to reach and most used bulbs in the house.

Install CFL bulbs in all the Bathroom Light Bars starting with the Master...

Now the kitchen ...

Next are the 9 ceiling fans. In Texas we use ceiling fans year round.

The major manufacturers are now making reliable CFL ceiling fan light bulbs. They handle the vibration well and are rated for 6 years. 11 watt bulbs give off the same amount of light as the old 40 watt incandescent.

Since ceiling fans require a step ladder, I want to change all of them at the same time.

Perhaps I will never have to change a ceiling fan bulb again.

Now for the can lights and spot lights.

Replace the old 65 watt bulbs with 15 watt CFL bulbs. Same amount of light but last 6 years and at a fraction of the electricity.

Done with the "No Brainer" upgrades. Now it's time to make some decisions.

I don't use the dining room light often and frankly I like the look of the current chandelier bulbs. Leave them "as-is".

I am also leaving the garage bulbs unchanged. In the winter the CFL bulbs need time to warm up and when I'm in the garage I need light.

10 Outside floodlights. Change to CFL Floods. I considered LED Floodlights but at $30 each that is $300.

The entry is the biggest challenge. The ceiling is vaulted to at least 25 feet. There are 7 can lights that are not accessible by ladder. When one of those burns out, I will have to hire a handyman with a scaffold and a telescopic pole to change out all the can lights.

CFL or go with the more expensive LED lights?

CFL bulbs do fail sometimes in a under a year. Due to the labor cost of the handyman I only want to do this once.

So I choose 7 LED floodlight bulbs x $30 = $210.

The chandelier is 18 feet off the ground and has 12 torpedo bulbs. 12 LED x $30 = $360. A tall stepladder may reach it. I will replace with $3 CFL bulbs that I can afford when the handlyman is changing out the floods.

I hope you found this blog about the 178 light bulbs useful as you think about your home's energy efficiency.

Enjoy home ownership ~ Mark Hitz, The Colony TX Realtor serving all far north Dallas suburbs.