Tag: realtor

Gorgeous Home in Shreveport, Bossier City, Ryan Wheeler, Best agent, Barksdale AFB

These Are the Housing Trends to Watch Out for in 2022

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

But what, exactly, will those trends be in 2022?

A recent article from realtor.com outlined their team’s predictions for 2022’s major housing trends, including:

  • Continued demand for suburban housing. 2020 and 2021 saw many people opting out of city life for more space and privacy in the suburbs—a trend the team at realtor.com expect will continue into 2022.
  • Challenges for first-time homebuyers. In 2021, low inventory and high prices have made it hard for many first-time homebuyers to get into the market. And while available inventory is expected to increase in 2022, prices are expected to stay high—and, when paired with rising mortgage rates, it may present challenges for many potential buyers hoping to purchase a home for the first time.
  • A rise in demand for smaller homes. While many buyers want to buy large homes, affordability challenges may make some of those buyers rethink their strategy in 2022, increasing the demand for smaller homes—particularly for first-time buyers.

**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

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These Kitchen Renovations Will Add Major Value to Your Home

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

When you renovate your home, you want to know that those renovations will actually add value to your property. But when it comes to kitchen renovations, which upgrades will provide the best ROI—and can help you fetch a higher price if you decide to sell your home down the line?

A recent video from realtor.com outlined the kitchen renovations that add the most value in the long term, including:

  • Upgrading appliances. New appliances can have a major impact on potential buyers—so even though appliances can be pricey, swapping out old, outdated appliances for new, modern ones will pay off in the long run.
  • Refreshing cabinets. Refreshing your cabinets can add major value to your home—and you don’t even need to completely replace them to generate that value! If your cabinets are in good shape, a fresh coat of paint and new hardware can be all you need to transform your kitchen.
  • Replacing countertops. Replacing your countertops may be pricey, but new countertops can completely change the look and feel of your kitchen, making it feel more modern and fresh—which can be a major draw for prospective buyers.

**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

Barksdale AFB Spouses Movers Group | Facebook

Should You Buy or Sell a House in 2022? Don’t Base Your Decision on Headlines Alone

Shreveport-Bossier City Homes and Lifestyle

Whether you’re at a party, family get-together, work, or just talking to a neighbor, there’s a good chance you’ll hear people talking about how crazy the real estate market’s been. And you’ll probably hear people’s opinions on whether it’s a good time to buy or sell a house.

But what are they basing their opinion on?

Sometimes it’s just based on what they’ve heard second (or third) hand from a friend or family member. But a lot of times it’s “backed up” by what they’ve read or heard in the news, which is often just from a headline like, “Home Price Growth Is Finally Decelerating—and It’s Just the Start”, which Fortune recently published.

Someone who only read that headline could easily take that as a sign that prices aren’t going to go up as much in 2022, and that’s just the start! So, it’s an easy leap to think that must mean prices may even go down next year. That could easily cause a homeowner to sell in a hurry before prices drop. Or, it could cause a buyer to wait for prices to come down and miss out on a house that would’ve been perfect for them, only to find nothing changed, or (worse!) prices went up even higher.

If you actually read the Fortune article, it doesn’t entirely prove out the headline, or at least how most people would interpret it. In fact, the “deceleration” they refer to in the headline is a 0.3% dip in home prices between September 2020 and September 2021. It went from an all-time high of 19.8% year-over-year gain, down to a 19.5% gain. Okay, to be fair, that is a “start” as they said in the headline…but how much more deceleration should we expect if that’s just the beginning?!

Well, the predictions they cite in the article are all over the place for the next year:

  • Zillow predicts prices will rise 13.6%
  • Goldman Sachs predicts a rise of 13.5%
  • Fannie Mae expects a 7.9% increase
  • Freddie Mac thinks it’ll be a 7% bump up
  • Redfin is predicting price growth will only be 3%
  • CoreLogic sees it slowing to 1.9%
  • And the Mortgage Bankers Association is the only one cited with any amount of a decrease at 2.5%

To sum it up, according to the sources they cite, sure there may very well be a deceleration in prices, but that doesn’t mean prices will fall. Other than one source, they all predict that prices will continue to go up. More than half of them anticipate the growth rate to be higher than average…

…not quite what you may have thought if you just read the headline alone.

The Takeaway:

That’s just one example of a headline that could be misleading and cause you to judge whether it’s a good time for you to buy or sell a house. Much of what you see, hear, or read about the market tends to be too broad to make an informed decision, and the headlines can often be misleading. If you want a true read on the market and advice on whether it makes sense for you to buy or sell, your best bet is to speak to an agent who knows the local market.

**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