Tag: Barksdale

The Bedroom Updates You Need To Make Before Selling Your Home

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

Before you list your home, you’ll want to tackle any updates, changes, or improvements that will help your home sell faster and for a higher profit—and that includes in the bedroom.

But when it comes to making your bedrooms more appealing to buyers, what updates should you make?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined bedroom improvements that can help your home sell more quickly and profitably, including:

  • Clean out your closets. Closet space can be a huge selling point for buyers. But the more clothing, shoes, and other items you have in your bedroom closet, the more cluttered they’ll look—and the less attractive the space will be to prospective buyers. Before you start showing your home, take the time to declutter, clean, and organize your closet.
  • Switch bold colors for a more neutral palette. Bold colors can be polarizing; while you may love your fuschia accent wall, it could turn off potential buyers that aren’t big fans of bright pink. If you have any bold walls in your bedroom, take the time to repaint before you sell—and repaint with a more neutral, universally appealing color (for example, off-white or gray).
  • Remove personal touches. When you’re living in your bedroom, it makes sense to surround yourself with personal touches, like wedding photos, a banner from your alma mater, or pictures of your kids. But personal effects can make it hard for potential buyers to envision themselves in the space—so before you start showing your home, make sure to remove any personal photos or effects and replace them with more neutral alternatives (for example, a landscape painting).

**Ryan Wheeler is an expert real estate agent and military veteran serving buyers and sellers of homes in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.  Connect With Me Here

Selling Your Home? Make Sure to Do These Living Room Upgrades First

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

When you’re preparing to sell your home, taking the time to make a few simple, quick, and affordable improvements can make a big difference—and may help you fetch a higher price.

And when it comes to value-adding upgrades, your living room is a great place to start.

A recent article from realtor.com outlined living room improvements that may help your home sell for more money, including:

  • Paint the walls a neutral shade. You might love your purple accent wall—but bold, bright, or unexpected colors can be polarizing for buyers. Neutral shades (like white, off-white, or light gray) will give your living room a more universal appeal—so before you list, make sure to add a fresh coat of neutral paint to your living room walls.
  • Get rid of carpets. Old carpeting can be a major turnoff for buyers. So, if your living room carpet has seen better days, rip up the carpet and replace it with tile or vinyl flooring—which is affordable, easy to maintain, and can make the space feel more modern.
  • Declutter the space. The more open and spacious your living room feels, the better—so paring down your furniture and decor is a must. Keep decorations simple and pare down furniture to a few key focal pieces.

**Ryan Wheeler is an expert real estate agent and military veteran serving buyers and sellers of homes in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.  Connect With Me Here

Bossier home house photo Shreveport Bossier Expert Real Estate Agent Realtor Military veteran buy home sell house Ryan Wheeler

Are We in a Buyer or Seller’s Market?

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

I hear this all the time when working with my buyers and sellers.  “So who has the advantage in the Shreveport/Bossier area market?  The buyer or the seller?”  And that is such a fantastic question but it is more complicated than that.  At least it used to be.

First, we need to define terms.  A Seller’s Market is one where the supply of homes for sale is low as compared to the available buyers … so the demand is higher than what is actually available.  A Buyer’s Market is the inverse of that.  It is one where the supply of homes for sale is high compared to the available buyers … so the supply of property is higher than demand.  Got that?  Good!!  🙂

Since 2021 all throughout the country most markets are collectively classified as “Sellers’ Markets”.  Certain places of the country that traditionally have a lot of turn-over and influx include: Layton, Utah; Frisco, Texas; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Lakeland, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia to name a few.  These places have become Hyper-Competitive where the Seller absolutely has the advantage.

So what about the Shreveport/Bossier City area?  Well, as each city (whether small or large) can attest, there are sub-groups or microcosms that exist in all area.  While a metropolitan area as a whole might be classified as a “buyer or seller’s market” there are always pockets within a city that defy the statistics.

Our area is no different.

Overall the Shreveport/Bossier area has been very stable for many, many years.  The economy is doing very well which is anchored by Barksdale AFB, Industry and Gaming with more of the same coming to our location annually.  Inventory and supply here has followed the National trend and our market is no doubt a “Sellers Market”.  Inventory has fluctuated between .5 and 2 months supply of homes on the market whereas the norm is 6-8 months supply.

There will always be pockets of places that more people want to live in which demand outweighs supply and there will always be places people don’t want to live which keeps supply high but demand low.  The better schools, some land, gated neighborhoods and better roads.  These tend to be the locations that are doing very well.  And why is that?  Because this is a free country and people want to live where they are financially capable of living.

In our market sellers are generally getting full asking price and, some even higher, for their homes.  Why?  Because the market allows for it.  The days of making a full price offer and getting the buyer to pay all closing costs is somewhat in the past until the market settles back down.

**Ryan Wheeler is an expert real estate agent and military veteran serving buyers and sellers of homes in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.  Connect With Me Here

Shreveport Bossier Expert Real Estate Agent Realtor Military veteran buy home sell house Ryan Wheeler

Are You a Hoarder?

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

What Are You Afraid to Throw Away?

So how many of you are scared to throw things away?  Or maybe your spouse might be (no don’t throw your spouse away!)

This is a serious questions because many of us struggle with not being able to dispose of items for various reasons.  Either sentimental in value, an emotional, physical or even nostalgic reasons.  Whatever the reason have you recently taken an inventory into what you hold on to?

You probably should!

I was looking through some clutter and thought “how long has this been here?”  It really needed to go, but the emotional pull wouldn’t allow me to take the next step I needed and throw it away.  I’m sure I will when my wife yells at me loud enough but not quite yet!

My favorite item are all the 25 year food items I keep “just in case” because lets face it anything can happen at ANY time, right?  (Just 23 years to go, Honey!)

Recently, I was with clients showing them a run-down property they wanted to fix up and restore but that all came to a screeching halt when we walked in and the place was a hoarders nightmare.  I had never seen a place so terrible before!  It ended up being sold but only for the value of the land.

Now, that’s a very rare example but it does beg the question:  When you are trying to sell your home are following your agent’s advice and minimizing clutter?  Are you boxing up those items you just can’t seem to part with but no one else wants to see?

If you are serious about selling your home that’s exactly what you better be doing.  A potential buyer always envisions themselves in the home they are looking at.

So make sure when the time comes to sell you clear out the clutter, open up the blinds and drapes, and get the house smelling nice.

You’ll be surprised at how much a difference that will make!

**Ryan Wheeler is an expert real estate agent and military veteran serving buyers and sellers of homes in the Shreveport-Bossier City area.  Connect With Me Here

Lawn Care Tips For the Summer!

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

Ahhh, summer is here.  It’s time to kick-back and relax in the backyard.

Unfortunately this is also when a lot of “unwanted guests” show up as well:  bugs, mosquitos and weeds.  By taking proper care of your lawn, however, you can get the most of it, and get the most out of your summer.

So keep your lawn lush, green and bug free this summer by practicing proper lawn care with these helpful tips.  And remember, for the bast lawn care, look into hiring a professional company which will allow you even more time in the hammock with a cold drink in your hand!

The Tips:

  • Water your lawn. Well, of course right?  But there is an art to it.  Be sure to practice proper watering and water conservation techniques.  The early morning hours are the best time to water your lawn because the air is cooler.  In the middle of the day water evaporates too quickly and doing it at night is even worse.  Water can cling to blades of grass overnight and as it sits there it promotes fungus and lawn disease over time.
  • Water long enough to moisten the soil about 6 inches down but don’t water more than that. The first time you water this summer check the soil every 15 minutes to see how moist it is.  When the water reaches six inches in depth then record the time and how long it took and us that as your baseline result going forward.
  • Check your lawn for any signs of discoloration or poor texture. Browner, more brittle grass can be signs of damage.
  • Hire (or DIY it) a professional pest-control service to spray around the foundation of your home to help keep the bugs on the outside. You can also reduce bugs’ presence by properly treating your lawn.
  • Make sure to poor out any standing water as it collects to prevent mosquitos from breeding
  • While your lawn is normally the focus point of the yard, make sure not to forget about trees, shrubs and other outdoor plants. Mulch beds are important too.  Keeping your yards properly maintained will increase your home’s value and appeal as well.

When you are the one working outdoors on these projects make sure you stay hydrated with water.  Working in the summer heat it can be tempting to wear shorts and flip flops, but it’s important to wear long pants and closed toe shoes for safety purposes.

And if working out in the elements doesn’t appeal to you consider hiring a professional.  They will make sure everything you need gets done and they might even find things you overlooked!

**Ryan Wheeler is an expert real estate agent and military veteran serving buyers and sellers of homes in the Shreveport Bossier City area.  Find me on Facebook and also Connect With Me Here!