Join the Conversation! Connect with Monte Hewett Homes through Social Networking sites!

Don't forget - you can keep up with Monte Hewett Homes in more ways that just our newsletter and website! If you haven't visited our blog, be sure to do so - we're always posting great articles about maintaining your home, the homebuilding industry as well as community events in your neighbohood. Visit our blog at blogs.montehewetthomes.com - and if you have any upcoming events you know of that might interest other homeowners, send us an email and we may post it for you!

MHH is also on Facebook! Visit our Facebook page and become a fan! We'll be starting some neat contests JUST for our Facebook fans in the near future - be part of the conversation! We are also working on individual Facebook pages for our most recent communities. If you are a homeowner or have sold a home in one of these MHH neighborhoods (or if you simply LOVE the homes), be a fan! If you have a page for YOUR MHH community, let us know and we'll be sure to become a fan too!

Facebook pages are live for:

• Heatherton - Roswell
• West VIllage - Smyrna/Vinings
• Stonehaven at Vinings - Smyrna
• The Park at East Paces - Buckhead

You can also follow MHH on Twitter! @MonteHewett

An you can connect with us and on Linked In and Active Rain

News from the govenor’s office! On Wednesday, June 10th, the Govenor announced that the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has issued a non-drought schedule for outdoor water use for the first time since June 2006. This is BIG news! Now they warn that this is NOT a license to leave the hoses running 24/7, but there has been enough rainfall to improve our water supplies.

Now onto the schedule… What does “non-drought schedule" mean? We’re back to the “good old days” of watering 3 days a week using the odd and even-numbered address system:

• Odd-numbered addresses can water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.
• Even-numbered and unnumbered addresses are allowed to water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• Water use may occur at any time of the day on the assigned days, however landscape watering is discouraged between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m because of its limited effectiveness.

So dust off the cobwebs on those irrigation system boxes in your garage and get your days and times set - watering between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is the most effective time for your yard and landscaping.

Overall, north Georgians averaged monthly water savings of about 15 percent since November 2007. These reductions come from citizens and Georgia businesses implementing a variety of conservation measures, including waterSmart landscape principles and selecting more efficient indoor fixtures and devices.

To get more information on "WaterSmart" landscape principles and the Georgia WCIP, visit www.conservewatergeorgia.net.

For official watering schedule, visit the Georgia EPD website.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development announced in late May that first-time homebuyers can now obtain short term loans that will allow them to tap into the $8,000 tax credit before closing. Under this new initiative, buyers can apply their anticipated credit to their downpayment or toward closing costs.

Under the original stimulus plan signed into law in mid-February, buyers had to wait until after tax season NEXT year to get their hands on the cash.

If you or a friend or family member is looking for their first home, take a tour of our popular West Village - Town Park II community - with new construction specials at $299,000! The $8,000 tax credit can be used to help with closing costs or as part of the downpayment. Visit www.mhhomes.com/wv for more information on this great Monte Hewett Homes community.

For more details on the new tax credit plan, here are 5 things you need to know.

Yes! You read that right! If you are the proud owner of a new home, and with it, a brand new gas fireplace, then NOW is a great time to break it in! All new gas fireplaces need to be "broken in" when used for the first time. Most often, on the first use, the fireplace can give off a strong odor that will need a few hours to burn away. So since the weather is nice, now is a great time to "break in" your new fireplace when you can open windows and let the fresh air in (without freezing!) to circulate.

Follow the steps outlined here to break in your gas fireplace now, so it will be ready to go (with no smell!) on the first chilly day this winter.

Everyone is trying to pinch pennies where we can, especially with the cost of foods on the rise. Choosing lower cost food items doesn’t have to mean packaged or low quality choices only. In fact, some of the most inexpensive things you can buy are the best things for you. The trick is shopping on the periphery of the store near the fruits and veggies, the meat and dairy, and the bulk grains, while avoiding the more expensive interior isles. By doing so, not only will your kitchen be stocked with excellent foods, your wallet won’t be empty.

Here some of the most inexpensive, yet healthiest, foods you can buy. For the full list, visit our blog article.

• Oats
• Eggs
• Kale
• Potatoes
• Apples
• Nuts
• Bananas
• Broccoli
• Garbonzo beans... and more!