Do you have your tickets for the Dallas Modern Expo? It runs from today to Sunday at Victory Park and features some of the hottest galleries and artists, as well as designers and decor.

We’re talking high-caliber people, folks. For example, Austin-based award-winning designer and artist Wells Mason of Ironwood Industries will have his unique work for sale at the expo. This guy is so legit!

Here’s a little bit about Mason from Allison Week:

Located in Coupland, Texas, Mason’s studio specializes in custom furniture, contemporary sculpture, and site-specific installation for residential and commercial environments. Notable clients include The Austin Children’s Museum and Steven Holl Architects in New York City.

From furniture to sculpture, from his signature designs to his commission-based projects, Mason’s range is impressive. Through 2013, he has residential and commercial projects lined up, plus an exhibition schedule for his furniture and sculpture that keeps him busy in his down time.

Mason’s work has been on display in galleries and museums around the country, including the Jones Center for Contemporary Art in Austin, the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, and Gensler in New York City. He has shipped his work to clients in Canada and Korea.

Both Mason and his work have been featured in a variety of publications over the years, from Architectural Digest to Fine Furnishings International to Forbes.

Sound like your bag of chips? Head over the Dallas Modern Expo today.

Happy Friday! It’s wedding season, so I know a lot of you are headed out of town. I’ll keep things short and sweet: This house is amazing, you’re going to love it, and someone is going to buy it before you can get your checkbook out.

This gorgeous German contemporary at 7210 La Vista is listed by Scott Carlson for $549,000. It has four bedrooms, three full baths, more than 2,700 square feet indoors, and it is the ideal home for preschool-aged kids considering the ample playroom and the schools (Lakewood/DISD).

Built in 1949, this home looks like its a traditional on the outside, but indoors is another story entirely. Everything is sleek and modern, including the gorgeous floors and brand-spanking-new windows. The walls are fresh and white, making the whole first floor light up.

The kitchen is amazing, too. It has European-style cabinetry, stainless appliances, and plenty of room for preparation. There’s a breakfast bar, too, and while it’s a galley style with no island, this commissary is anything but cramped.

The master suite is large and light, and you’ll absolutely love the tile in the bathroom. Another great feature of this home is the fantastic outdoor space, which includes a balcony upstairs with room to move around, and a patio downstairs with a fabulous modern trellis.

Need plenty of covered parking? There is an attached two-car garage and a second, detached garage. I say used the detached one for storage and keep the attached one clutter-free! Great idea!

Love this home, too? Act fast!

I even think it smiles!

Bob and Meaghan asked about staging, which I usually recommend but honestly, this home did not need any staging. It was darn near perfect!

Here’s the deal: Bob wanted to advertise to sell the house right then right here on CandysDirt.com.

Last year, last summer in fact, I wasn’t so sure that was the way to go. I explained that we’d be missing out on listing the home in the MLS, where it would have so much exposure to other agents and eyes from Realtor.com and all that. We get a lot of eyeballs here at CandysDirt, thousands in fact, but I wanted to be perfectly fair to Bob and Meaghan. I also wanted them to have a destination first before they signed on the dotted, because I didn’t want them homeless or living upstairs. (Kidding. it would be fine! Just bring wine.) I really wanted them to see their options in University Park, and other parts of North Dallas. They have a child and they wanted more, and there’s was the classic Dallas dilemma: either buy a bigger house in Dallas and use private schools, or a swing a shack in UP to use the school district.

Bob and Meaghan looked, and decided Park Cities would be nirvana. So now, they are ready! Now it’s OK to let go of the Royal Crest baby.

The white brick home on Royal Crest is 2518 square feet, and good news: you will love the kitchen. They remodeled the kitchen as job one when they moved there in 2006 from the northeast. In fact, the entire home has a very north-east, preppy feel. The garage was converted into a wonderful media room behind the kitchen, and there is a huge laundry room that doubles as great storage for strollers or even bicycles. A bathroom can be added to that area very easily, creating a guest wing or nanny’s quarters. The storage in this house is tremendous. There is the kitchen with breakfast nook,  attached family room with wet bar, a huge deck outside the glass doors, formal dining and living and three bedrooms on the east wing off the hallway. It’s just your classic 1954-built ranch with great moldings, light, hardwoods, 8ft. high ceilings and spaciousness. Built like a rock.

It is also verdant green, with huge, huggable trees, and situated on an elegant part of Royal Crest ACROSS from the homes that skirt the power lines. Plenty of room for a pool and spa. Another plus here, too, is the new Northaven Trail a hop, skip and a jump away.

Price? A mere $639,000. It’s available, it’s hot, and it’s not in MLS. NOT YET. So hurry — if you like, get with Ryan Streiff at Dave Perry-Miller fast because we have a bet going on this one: drinks on the house if it sells before hitting MLS next week. And we are talking Preston Hollow lot-sized glasses!

Of course there’s no minimum bid in place for this gorgeous 14,000-square-foot mansion in Plano’s Kings Gate community. Originally purchased for $6.5 million, 6508 Old Gate Roadis an incredible property on more than two gorgeous acres could go for sky-high prices considering our brisk luxury market.

It’s definitely a runner-up in my book to the three properties Candy featured in her CultureMap Dallas column on Gatsby-esque mansions Daisy Buchanan would die for. With five bedrooms and five and one half baths, this room is great for large families who want room to move around and plenty of privacy, too. This house has tons of fabulous wood and stone trim, and a backyard that is amazingly opulent. Perfect for a flap in the Roaring ’20s.

While it’s no Champ d’Or, this auction could fetch a pretty penny and some interesting buyer, I’m sure. How much do you think this Plano mansion will go for?

Talk about a house that can charm the pants off of you! This gorgeous Midcentury Modern offered by Susan Griffin of Bill Griffin Real Estate Brokerage is just what the doctor ordered. Trust me, you’ll just die when you see the insides of 7306 Walling!

Set on almost a quarter acre in the East Dallas neighborhood of University Manor, this 1958 Palm Springs style contemporary is remodeled like Baby Bear’s porridge — just right! There are two bedrooms, two baths, and more than 1,500 square feet in this single-story home. It’s priced at $350,000, which isn’t outside the realm of reality considering our market.

The windows everywhere are just spectacular, and considering that this home backs up to a greenbelt that includes a DART rail right-of-way, you’ll never have to worry about neighbors peeking over your back fence or other things that would intrude on your view. Curtains? Blinds? Who needs them?!

There is plenty of character with this house, including the hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling fireplace in the living room. There is a also wonderful little cantilevered deck just off of the living area from which you can climb down to the pool and patio. The lush landscaping will make you forget you’re in a dry prairie area, too!

The bedrooms and baths, well, they haven’t gotten the same treatment as the public areas of the house, but they’re well maintained and sparkling in their own right, which is fine by me.

Don’t you just love this house? It is just unique and a breath of fresh air!

The first source cited in this report from Bloomberg Businessweek is Dallas Realtor Mary Beth Harrison, who has turned to poring over tax records to find homeowners who might be motivated to sell if they knew how much money they could make.

“That’s how hot things are now,” Harrison said.

I haven’t heard reports of this happening yet, but maybe that’s because no one wants to admit to cold calling for a potential client. So tell me, do you know of a Realtor who is using this strategy, too?

I bet it would be pretty painstaking and monotonous to filter through page after page of appraisal records and compare them against market appraisals. I mean, how on earth would you even go about that considering the immense number of single-family homes in Dallas! Crazy talk!

If your name is Edward Hunt, then yes, you just won two tickets to this weekend’s Dallas Modern Expo, where he can check out works from amazing galleries such as Cohn Drennan Contemporary (pictured)

If you didn’t win, there’s still time to buy passes to this three-day event (May 17-19) celebrating everything modern at Victory Park. There’ll be tons of modern and contemporary galleries showing off great work, and plenty of decor vendors.

To kick things off, there’s a benefit and preview party tonight that you shouldn’t miss! Food from Jo-Jos and beer from Brooklyn Brewery will be served, and tickets are just $25 benefiting the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Find out more about this weekend’s event, as well as a complete list of exhibitors, right here.

For many, a home is their biggest single investment. So why NOT do what the big boys do and scrutinize every expense on your home, from repairs and maintenance to property taxes? We reached out to Rob Wheelock for a sneak peak at how the pros keep those taxes down.

CD: Rob, are you telling me that owners of commercial properties look at their appraisals every year?

Rob:Yes, at least the biggest majority of them do. Commercial is different from residential, in that there are no exemptions or caps, which leads to some potentially large swings in value. I work with Alliance Tax Advisors in business development and every once in a while, I’ll speak to an owner that hasn’t used a consultant, but for the most part, all the big boys use someone. It’s just smart business. Remember the three methods of appraisal the Appraisal Districts use:

1. Sales Approach (the price at which a property would transfer for cash or its equivalent under prevailing market conditions).

2. Cost Approach (Preferred method for special use properties, new construction, limited sales data, or limited income data).

3. Income Approach (Capitalization rates based off net operating income).

Licensed Property Tax Consultants look at all three approaches and work the one that produces the lowest valuation. Let’s say you own a small strip center with three tenants and one tenant moved out and their space has been sitting empty for 6 months. A Tax Consultant would probably look at the income approach because income would be down for the year, which leads to a lower valuation.

CD: Smart. But at what cost point in a residential property is this cost-effective?

Rob: I say there’s no amount too small to save, so I would have my valuation looked at every year, regardless of the value. Property Tax Managers works on a contingency basis and looks at every opportunity to find savings. We have a client that lives behind the Pink Wall in a small condo that was valued at $79,450 last year that we were able to reduce to $36,320 saving her $998 in property taxes. Not bad. And the good news is, they left her alone this year, so she’ll save another $998. Since she has a Homestead Exemption, the most they can increase her value in any year is 10%, so she will be saving for a minimum of 8 more years. Bottom line is, why pay more than your fair share, if someone like us will do all the work for you? Our service shouldn’t be viewed as a cost; we save our clients’ money. It only cost them money if they don’t use our services. Maybe I’m cheap (OK, I know I’m cheap), but I’d rather save money than pay more than my fair share.

CD: I concur! Don’t get me started! What are some other tricks we can learn from the commercial guys?

Realize there are others who knows more about the property tax code, appraisals and valuations than a typical developer/investor. Utilize the professional services available that help bring value and savings to your bottom line. Realize that you are not a licensed property tax consultant, and that a trained team, that works billions of dollars in property values, will always out perform an individual, and save you time and money in the process.

I have to give a plug to Alliance Tax Advisors where I work in business development. This year they will review over $24,000,000,000 (yes Billion) in assets, saving developers and commercial property owners millions of dollars. If commercial property owners leave it to the pros, why shouldn’t a home owner?

Our hearts go out to the folks in Cleburne and Granbury, who were really walloped with tornados Wednesday night. I think everyone needs a tornado room or shelter if you live in North Texas — agree? My cousin is a meteorologist at the University of Hawaii, and he tells me we are in for more wild weather patterns. So be prepared!

Which reminds me: would you pay extra for a home that had a tornado shelter?

Sometimes I wish I was living in a townhome. They are great if you want more space but not so much maintenance. Some are semi-detached, some are fully detached, but the big upside to them is that you get the convenience of condo living without neighbors above and below, plus many townhomes come with tidy yards and balconies that make outdoor parties a breeze.

This townhome at 4830 Cedar Springs is just perfect for someone wanting to take a step up from a condo but not ready for the work of a fully detached single-family home. With two bedrooms, two and a half baths, and plenty of living space downstairs, this three-story townhome will give you room to spread out!

It’s available for $1,900 a month — a good price considering its prime location and 1,500-plus square feet. It’s located in the heart of the buzzing Oak Lawn area, which has tons of great restaurants and shopping within walking distance. And since pets are allowed, you can put one foot in front of the other with fido and do some people watching, too!

If you’re not keen on walking everywhere, there’s a two-car garage with this property. Other amenities include hardwood floors, washer/dryer hookups, stainless steel appliances, and huge closets.

Find out more about leasing this property from Jason Lucas at Local Dwelling.