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Bossier City Skyline

What First Time Home Buyers Need to Know: #4- Picking the Right House

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

Are you a first time home buyer? With so many choices to make and so much at stake, it’s essential that you prepare. For advice, check out the First Time Home Buyer Guide from realtor.com® to learn the 10 steps to purchasing your first home without a hitch.

See the complete article Find out more here

Click Here to See if I Should Be Your Agent 

Have a long talk with your agent

Here’s something to consider: Only you will know which home is just right for you; but, a great agent will have a better handle on the local market. Not only is your agent keeping a constant eye out for newly listed homes you might love, but he/she can also quickly go through your wish list and help you understand what is (and what isn’t) realistic.

So be sure to tell your agent not only what you’re looking for, but why you’re moving, too.  The more your agent can understand you and your needs to better in synch they will be with your wants and needs.

Are you downsizing or perhaps you are moving closer to work? Accommodating a growing family?  The reason it all matters: A savvy Realtor will point out things you might not have considered—such as the importance of a one-story home if you’re near retirement and planning to stick around for the long haul.

Don’t worry about timing

Patience can be difficult. You want your new home right away. Waiting for something to fall into place can feel like endless purgatory. But that doesn’t mean you should rush the hunt.

“I’ve had clients who spend years in house-hunting mode,” says Gretchen Koitz, a Realtor with The Koitz Group in Bethesda, MD. Not that this is necessarily a good thing either.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with finding a great home right away. But it’s best not to prioritize timing above all else unless it’s absolutely necessary. Koitz says the idea of purchasing one of the first homes they see can be “very unsettling” for buyers. “They somehow think they’re not doing their due diligence if they don’t look for a predetermined amount of time,” she says. “Since we never know what’s coming on the market, we also never know when ‘your’ house will show up.”

See beyond the decor

Most people are not very good decorators, so it’s ok to be turned off by an ugly home. But you shouldn’t let stylistic choices of another affect your judgment of what a home could be. As Koitz puts it, “‘I hate the red paint in the dining room’ is not a valid concern.” Look beyond those garish drapes to the bones beneath. Is the picture window hidden behind them stunning? Is the hardwood floor good quality, despite the stained rugs layered on top? Think of the long term. Remember, the current owners’ raggedy stuff will leave with them.

Bring a camera

When you’re our home shopping, remembering which one had the dark flooring and which one had the bright pink bedroom can get more confusing than you might think. Even after looking at 5 homes, recalling exactly what bothered you so much about the bathroom of one home requires an impeccable memory and keen attention to detail. A great way to counter that is by snapping a few pics of every room you see. If you want to go above and beyond, consider categorizing them on a computer by house and room.

Tune in to your emotions

Not to get too woo-woo spiritual about it, but house hunting isn’t just about what you see. It’s also about how you feel.

“A big part of home buying is pure emotion,” says Koitz. And this swirl of feelings may surprise you, drawing you toward homes you never thought you’d love and away from ones that hit every box on your checklist.

“Agents have a secret saying, which is that ‘Buyers are liars,’ says Koitz. “We don’t mean that buyers really mean to lie, but that what they think they want in a home often goes out the window when emotion kicks in.”

Don’t forget your must-have list, but don’t feel bad about skipping something you thought you wanted. A wonderful house without a his-and-her bathroom is still a wonderful house—you just might have to shuffle your expectations.

“It’s important for buyers to keep in mind that there is no such thing as the perfect house,” Dart says. “At the end of the day, you’ll find some place that hits the high notes and that includes the things that were most important to you.”

Found a home that feels just right? Next comes the essential art of making an offer that will be accepted.

A Few Ways to Know You Found the Right House

1) You Want to Go Inside the House

Part of the excitement of looking at homes is not knowing which could be your new home when you pull up to the curb. Is it the one on the left, or does the house on the right strike your fancy? If it is the house on the right, and you like it better than the house on the left, that could be a sign. It means there is something about this house that appeals to you. Curb appeal is talking.

2) The House Welcomes You the Moment You Enter

Within a few seconds of entering the house, you will know whether it feels warm and comforting. Does it seem to speak to you? Does the house invite you to explore? Does it feel, well . . . right? Like home? Then it probably is.

3) You Start to Picture Furniture Arrangements

If you walk into the master bedroom and immediately can envision your bed against a particular wall, this might be your house. If you find yourself thinking that the living room window is a perfect spot to put a tree come Christmas, you’re already hooked.

4) You Can See Yourself Painting a Wall Your Favorite Color

Perhaps deep purple is not your favorite color. Maybe it’s blue. Maybe you’re thinking those purple walls in the kid’s room would look better in a pale blue jean color. In fact, you might even know the name of the paint color you plan to use because you’ve been thumbing through Pottery Barn catalogs and this home looks just like those.

5) You Want to Stop Looking at Other Homes

All of the other homes you’ve been looking at no longer appeal to you. The homes on that list you’ve been carrying around seem insignificant. Moreover, the homes you had previously rated a #8 have now fallen to a #2 rating. The homes you have seen pale in comparison. You would feel like a traitor to this home if you went to visit other homes. This is it. I’m telling you.

**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

Bossier City Skyline

What First Time Home Buyers Need to Know: #3 -Your Realtor®

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

Are you a first time home buyer? With so many choices to make and so much at stake, it’s essential that you prepare. For advice, check out the First Time Home Buyer Guide from realtor.com® to learn the 10 steps to purchasing your first home without a hitch.

When you’re buying or selling a house, you’ll likely reach out for professional help from a real estate agent. But how to choose? There are Realtors and just plain real estate agents, part-time and full-time agents, family friends who are in the business, maybe even neighbors down the street. Which one is right for you?

See the complete article Find out more here

How to choose a Realtor®

The first thing you might notice while trying to find home-buying help is all the different titles: agent, broker, Realtor®, etc. Are they all the same thing? Not exactly.

A Realtor® is either an agent or broker who is a member of the National Association of Realtors®. Realtors adhere to a detailed code of ethics to treat their clients honestly and fairly. Consider it added insurance that they’re committed to your cause.

A real estate agent is anyone who’s earned a license to sell property, which typically entails taking 100+ hours of course work and then passing a state exam. A broker is someone who’s continued his studies and can hire agents to work under him.

Conduct a preliminary search online

We shop online for everything these days, and finding a real estate agent is no different. Make sure to check out their Facebook page Reviews as well which will give you useful information.  Also, feel free to ask the Agent about the  number of years of job experience, number of homes sold, and the price of homes typically dealt with. Take note of a Realtor’s track record, because this can tip you off to superstar agents nearby and whether they’re a fit for your needs.

Work with a professional agent

Devin and Karen Carroll of Texarkana, Texas, found what they thought was the perfect house. So they reached out to a convenient real estate connection.

“I called a family friend who is a part-time real estate agent,” Devin Carroll says. “She showed us the house and we submitted an offer. It was at this point the fireworks began.”

Carroll says the seller’s agent was an experienced negotiator “ready to go to war for her clients.” His agent was immediately intimidated. It took only one phone call for the veteran agent to stand her ground on price, and “from that point on, my agent was scared to negotiate.”

Lesson learned. Carroll says the next time around, he’ll look for a professional agent, one who’s not scared to negotiate and who is more concerned with getting a great deal than with sealing just any deal.

Finding the right agent for home sellers

“The days are gone where a real estate broker simply places a sign in the yard, enters it into (the Multiple Listing Service) and sits around their office waiting for it to sell,” says Damian D. Hall, a real estate broker in Greenville, South Carolina.

For sellers, that means searching for a proactive, technology-savvy agent, Hall says. Because buyers start with the internet, he says “photos must be professional, magazine quality, and the description has to be detailed and really sizzle.”

Also, look for an agent who has some social-media marketing muscle. “It’s scary how much Facebook alone knows about its users, but at the same time it’s pure gold for those looking to put a product — or in our case, a listing — in front of the consumer most likely to buy the house,” he says.

Finding the right agent for home buyers

On the other side of the transaction, Scott Durham, a Realtor in Reno, Nevada, says there’s something to be said for a buyer’s agent with a solid track record of closing deals.

“The average real estate agent sold only four homes last year,” Durham says. “Think about if you are purchasing a home and you represent 25% of that person’s income for the entire year. Do you really think they have your best interest at heart, or will they do just about anything to get the deal closed?”

He says a typical buyer’s agent will simply search the MLS for homes, but great agents will hunt down homes that aren’t even on the market yet. They’ll contact homeowners in the desired neighborhood or launch a direct mail campaign in the desired area with specifics on the buyers and their family.

Ask questions

Ask all of these questions. This is no time for being shy:

  • How long have you been in real estate? You’re looking for a seasoned agent and while she doesn’t need decades of experience under her belt, less than a year of experience can be concerning.
  • How long have you lived in this area? One noteworthy exception to the previous question is if she’s lived in the area for a long time. A newly licensed agent shouldn’t be automatically removed from consideration,” says Mindy Jensen, a Realtor with Equity Colorado Real Estate. If they’ve lived in the area their entire life, they likely know more about it than an agent who has been in the business for years but only recently moved to the region.” Weigh overall experience against local experience when making your decision.
  • Do you have a team, or do you work alone? Many standalone agents are excellent, but don’t ignore the value of a team. Working with a team is important,” says Angelo Puma, a real estate agent in Keller, TX. It increases response time and availability. Often, solo-run agents are double-booked when you need their attention, and you may lose that perfect property.”  
  • What is your schedule? If they’re not a full-time agent, you need to know when they’ll be available. If the only time you can see houses is in direct conflict with times they have to be working their other jobs, you could miss out on a lot of properties,” says Jensen.
  • Do you have any vacations planned? If they’re heading out of the city anytime soon, make sure they have a back-up in case you find the perfect home while they’re out of the country. Murphy’s Law rules Realtor vacations,” says Jensen.

**Ryan Wheeler is an expert real estate agent and military veteran serving buyers and sellers of homes in the Shreveport Bossier City area.  Click Here to See if I Should Be Your Agent 

Bossier City Skyline

What First Time Home Buyers Need to Know: #1- Improve Your Credit Score

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

Are you a first time home buyer? With so many choices to make and so much at stake, it’s essential that you prepare. For advice, check out the First Time Home Buyer Guide from realtor.com® to learn the 10 steps to purchasing your first home without a hitch.

See the complete article Find out more here

Connect With Me

Step 1: How to Improve Your Credit Score

Pull your credit report

Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion are the three major U.S. credit bureaus and each releases its own credit scores and reports (a more detailed history that’s used to determine your score).  Although they do pull from different sources their scores should be about the same.  For example, Experian considers on-time rent payments while TransUnion has detailed information about previous employers.

To access these scores and reports, financial planner Bob Forrest of Mutual of Omaha recommends using AnnualCreditReport.com, where you can get a free copy of your report every 12 months from each credit-reporting company. It doesn’t include your credit score, though—you’ll have to go to each company for that, and pay a small fee. Fee’s tend to range in the $25-$40 range.

Or you can check with your credit card company: Some, Capital One and Discover offer free scores and reports.  Once you’ve got your report, make sure to review it carefully, particularly the “adverse accounts” section that details late payments and other slip-ups.

Assess where you stand

Remember the better your credit history, the higher your score will likely be which means the better your ability to get a home loan. The Federal Housing Administration requires a minimum credit score of 580 to permit a 3.5% down payment, and most lenders will require at least a 620, if not higher, credit score. So what can you do if your credit report is in less than tip-top shape? Don’t worry, there are ways to clean it up.

How to improve your credit score with error disputes

A Federal Trade Commission study in 2013 found that 5% of credit reports contain errors that can negatively impact your score. So if you see anything, you can start by sending a dispute letter to the bureau, providing as much documentation as possible, per FTC guidelines. You’ll also need to contact the organization that provided the bad information, such as a bank or medical provider, and ask them to update the corrected data with the bureau. This may take a while, and you may need documentation to make your case. But once the bad info is removed, you should see your score bump up.

Eliminate one-time mistakes

Ok, so you’ve made a late payment or two—who hasn’t? Call the company that registered the late payment and ask that it be removed from your record. “If you had an oopsy and missed just a payment or two, most companies will indeed tell their reporting division to remove this from your credit report,” says Forrest. Granted, this won’t work if you have a history of late payments, but for accidents and small errors, it’s an easy way to improve your credit score.

Eliminate credit card balances

“A good way to improve your credit score is to eliminate nuisance balances,” says John Ulzheimer, a nationally recognized credit expert formerly of FICO and Equifax. Those are the small balances you have on a number of credit cards.

The reason this strategy can boost your score: One of the items your score considers is just how many of your cards have balances, Ulzheimer says. That’s why charging $50 on one card and $30 on another instead of using the same card (preferably one with a good interest rate) can hurt your credit score.

The solution to improve your credit score is to gather up all those credit cards with small balances and pay them off, Ulzheimer says. Then select one or two go-to cards that you can use for everything.

“That way, you’re not polluting your credit report with a lot of balances,” he says.

Increase your limits

One no-brainer way to increase your credit score is to simply pay off your debt. Not an option right now?  Here’s a cool loophole: Ask your credit card companies to increase your credit limit instead. This improves your debt-to-credit ratio, which compares how much you owe to how much you can borrow.

“Having $1,000 of credit card debt is bad if you have a limit of $1,500. It isn’t nearly as bad if your limit is $5,000,” Forrest says. The simple math: Although you owe the same amount, you’re using a much smaller percentage of your available credit, which shines well on your borrowing practices.

Leave old debt on your report

Some people erroneously believe that old debt on their credit report is bad.  The minute they get their home or car paid off, they’re on the phone trying to get it removed from their credit report. Negative items are bad for your credit score, and most of them will disappear from your report after seven years. However, “arguing to get old accounts off your credit report just because they’re paid is a bad idea,” Ulzheimer says.  Good debt — debt that you’ve handled well and paid as agreed — is good for your credit. The longer your history of good debt is, the better it is for your score.  One of the ways to improve your credit score: Leave old debt and good accounts on as long as possible. This is also a good reason not to close old accounts where you’ve had a solid repayment record.Trying to get rid of old good debt “is like making straight A’s in high school and trying to expunge the record 20 years later,” Ulzheimer says. “You never want that stuff to come off your history.”

Pay on time

If you’re often late with payments, now’s the time to change that. You do have the power to improve your credit score yourself. Commit to always paying your bills on time and consider signing up for automatic payments so it’s guaranteed to get done.  With all of life’s distractions having one less thing to worry about that is already setup, processed and ready to go is an excellent way to go.

Give yourself time

Unfortunately, negative items (such as those habitually late or nonexistent payments) can stay on your report for up to seven years. The good news? Changing your habits makes a big difference in the “payment history” segment of your report, which accounts for 35% of your score. That’s why it’s essential to start early so that you’re sitting pretty once you’re shopping for homes and find one that meets your needs.

Once you’ve set your credit on a better path, it’s time to tackle the next major hurdle: saving for a down payment.

**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

Bossier City Skyline

What Are VA Loan Closing Costs?

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

Are you a military veteran who needs to buy a house in Shreveport Bossier City?

Closing costs are those costs and fees associate with buying a home.  However, if you are active military or a veteran you may be exempt from some costs or may be able to negotiate others if you use your VA loan benefit.

Most military members are not independently wealthy and have not saved for years and years to buy a home.  Many are cash-strapped and are forced to rent, stay on base (which is also renting) or buy a home.  Not because they want to so much as because the service has forced them to make that decision.

Given a forced decision being able to use one’s VA benefit to get a mortgage to buy your own home can be the best answer to prayer.  Eligible military borrowers who use this option can buy a new home with no down payment and no Private Mortgage Insurance payment.  However, the VA does charge a funding fee of up to 3.3% which gets rolled into the loan itself.

But borrowers of any type will still face the dreaded obstacle which is closing costs.  Like death and taxes there’s really no way out of them.  Someone will need to pay (either the buyer, seller or mixture of both).  More on that in a minute …

Closing costs are those costs outside of the mortgage that just for the business of buying or selling a house and in the Shreveport Bossier City area, can equate to about 2.5% of a $225,000 loan.  These costs include lender’s fees, taxes, insurance, and other items needed to transfer the property to the new owner.  Payment of such is required at the time when you sign the papers at the Title company.   The good news is that as a military member using their VA loan benefit you are exempt from some closing costs and have ways to manage some of the others.

How are VA closing costs different?

Like all other loans, VA loans are all issues by private lenders.  However, the loan is insured by the Department of Veteran Affairs.  Closing costs on a VA home isn’t too much different from that of other mortgages — with a few exceptions, which can help a VA borrower reduce the cash required to bring to closing.
Uniquely to the VA:
Prohibits some fees:  Lenders are not allowed to charge certain costs on VA loans.  Among them are lenders fees for attorney services, mortgage broker commissions, settlement charges and prepayment penalties.
Limits a lenders origination charge:  A lender may not charge a VA borrower more than 1% of the loan as an origination fee.

How much are VA closing costs?

As previously stated closing costs on VA loans are not much different than others.  And everything you are responsible for paying will be sent to the borrower three-days after you apply for the loan in the form of a Loan Estimate document.  The finalized form is called the Closing Disclosure which will be the exact numbers to expect and should be send to you with three days of the closing date.

Closing costs for a VA loan can include:
The Loan Origination Fee:  This fee is the lenders charge for preparing the loan.  It isn’t always applied (and many good lenders waive it for military!)  But if it is applied it can be no more than 1% of the loan amount.

Other fees: These other fees include the appriasal, credit report, title insurance, taxes, homeowners and flood insurance as applicable, surveys, government recording fees and insurance.  Also included are any “discount points” which is essentially a way to “buy down” your interest rate.

How to Limit These Out-of-Pocket Costs

So who is responsible to pay all these fees?

Well, real estate is a negotiable business.  That’s where having an experience real estate agent comes in handy!  In Louisiana, negotiating these expenses best happens before the home goes under contract and it is certianly possible to get a seller to pay all of your closing costs.  But a seller is limited to 4% of the loan amount.  But, again, here in our market 4% will likely always be more than enough to cover all closing costs should that agreement be made between the buyer and seller.

In the Shreveport Barksdale Bossier market offering a seller full asking price to buy their home is a great way to increase your chances of the seller paying all closing costs for you.  This can be a savings of $6,000 – $8,000 dollars on average that can remain in your bank account.  Of course this all depends on the ability of the seller to do that but given this military friendly community your odds are quite good!

Who Can I Trust to Help?

Here in this area there are many great local lenders who specialize in VA loan mortgages.  I can provide you with a short list of lenders … just reach out to me and ask!  And I absolutely recommend using local experts instead of national, insurance companies or big-bank lenders.  As your agent, my job is to stay in constant communication with all players in the process and it’s nearly impossible to do that with those national chains who only work Monday thru Friday 8a-5pm.  And if I am lucky enough to reach them I have to go through an extension number and likely wait for them to call back.  These types of business practices are not helpful when it’s your home on the line.  #VAloans

 

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

Bossier City Skyline

Brand New Construction, Legacy, North Bossier City

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

Brand New Construction in Legacy Subdivision: 857 Abita Chase, Bossier City, LA

If you are looking to buy a new residential, single family home in Shreveport or Bossier City then this could be the home for you!  This is a 3 bedroom home with 2 baths, new construction home for sale in North Bossier’s premiere subdivisions, Legacy! #expert_bossier_agent

OPEN HOUSE August 05, Sunday 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

$ Click for current price
3 BEDROOMS | 2 (2 full ) BATHROOMS | 1,749 SQUARE FEET

New Construction 3-bedroom 2-bath Home features Upgraded crown in Master secondary living area with cased windows in main living area and a tray ceiling with LED Lighting. Granite counters in kitchen with upgraded cabinet hardware and White cabinets. Window blinds throughout. Community features a pool walking trails, playground and fishing pond.

Presented By:

Ryan Wheeler

Realtor
RE/MAX Real Estate Services
318-572-6498
Licensed In: LA
License #: 0995693439

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Licensed in the state of Louisiana. Each office independently owned and operated.

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