Tag: shreveport

Whether you’re preparing to move or planning to stay put for the foreseeable future, any time is the right time to get your home in order. Streamlining your spaces not only saves you time, but it can also make you feel happier and more relaxed in your environment.

That said, organizing and decluttering can seem overwhelming initially. Rather than give up before you’ve even begun, consider breaking it down room by room to help you maintain your momentum. While each space presents a different set of challenges, there are some common strategies you can employ as you approach these areas.

For example, in each room you’ll likely find items that you want to keep, donate, or toss. With that in mind, before you start, have clearly-marked bags or boxes at the ready so you aren’t tempted to leave the room (and not return to the task at hand). Separate your things by category and keep only what you truly need or want.

The following is a room-by-room guide that’ll help you get your house in order.

The Bedroom

If you face a daily struggle with finding your belt or that one shoe that always goes missing, straightening up your bedroom (including that cluttered closet and those overflowing drawers) can help you save precious minutes in the morning and look your best at the same time.

Start by going through your clothing and accessories and decide what you want to keep, donate, or ditch. This is easier than it sounds. Keep it simple and straight-forward—get rid of anything you haven’t worn in the past year or two. If you haven’t worn it in that long, what’s the chances you’re going to in the next year or two?

If you have your heart set on saving something you haven’t worn in a while, make sure it still fits. Once you’ve thinned out your wardrobe, buying new hangers in one solid color and style diminishes the visual clutter and presents a pleasing, tidy look.

Next, put things in order… Arrange your clothing from light to dark colors, so it’s easy to find that white blouse without having to dig through the contents of your closet.

Then, get things like your purses, hats, tote bags, and belts off the floor by installing hooks, which also makes it easy to find what you need at first glance.

The Bathroom

If you have an under-the-sink vanity or medicine cabinet, these are great places to begin. Take everything out and you’ll be able to quickly determine which items you still use and which are well-beyond their expiration dates. If you have old medications, dispose of them properly. Discard old cosmetics and skincare products you no longer use.

Next, take stock of the shower and tub. It’s not uncommon for people, especially kids, to leave empty shampoo bottles lining the rim of the tub. But, don’t just get rid of the empty bottles—try and keep only the products used on a daily (or at least regular basis) in the tub or shower.

If you have kids, and it looks more like a playroom than a bathroom, gather the toys into a storage basket that offers proper drainage, and try and find some room in a linen closet to stow it away.

The Kitchen

Keeping the kitchen organized is a high priority since it’s probably the busiest room in your home. If you’re short on space, you may want to remove items like breakfast and granola bars from their cardboard boxes and stack them or place them in clear tubs where hungry snackers on the go can find them in a hurry. You’ll be amazed at how much space boxes were taking up. (This also eliminates the issue of people putting empty boxes back in the cupboard.)

While you’re going through your pantry, this is another great opportunity to check expiration dates, and remove items that are outdated or have gone stale, or simply never get eaten by anyone.

If you have space, install a turntable that grants easy access to an array of items in a single spin. A spice rack can also help you save space and make cooking a bit more efficient.

Take a look at the pots and pans you have. Are there any that you never use? How about all of the cooking utensils crammed in the hard-to-open drawer? There’s bound to be some things in the drawers and cabinets that you can get rid of if you just take a little inventory.

The kitchen, particularly an island or countertop, is a notorious depository for junk mail. Keep a recycling bin nearby so you can eliminate all that paper immediately, rather than just keeping an ever-growing pile of it out in the open. Just doing this will make your kitchen look tidier!

The Living Room

Whether you’re entertaining or hanging out alone, you still want this room to look its best. Baskets are a great way to “hide” the clutter in plain sight. From storing magazines and books, to kids’ toys and games, baskets come in all shapes, sizes, and styles, making them as decorative as they are functional. And, they make the stuff you have just laying around look like it should be there.

But, just as you did with your other spaces, sort through your items before you stash them in a basket or end table drawer. There’s no sense in holding on to pieces that you don’t use or need. Is anyone really going to read the magazines that’ve been piling up on the end table for months (or years!)?

Unless you’re Marie Kondo, decluttering may not “spark joy” at first. But even if this isn’t your favorite way to spend a day, once everything is in order, you’ll be glad you did it.

**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

If you are a home buyer or seller, or pay any attention whatsoever to the housing market, you have probably heard about “Fannie” and “Freddie.” Fannie stands for Fannie Mae but is really the acronym – FNMA – For Federal National Mortgage Association. Freddie is for Freddie Mac, or FHLMC, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. These two companies keep money for mortgages flowing. Here is how they do it and why they are important.

Both Fannie and Freddie are backed by the federal government, so the U.S. has a vested interest in helping them provide money. These two companies buy the mortgages that have already been made by banks, and are often referred to as “the secondary market.” Then, they pay themselves back by packaging big bunches of existing mortgages and selling them to big investors, such as pension funds, insurance companies, etc. who are looking to collect the interest. Fannie and Freddie have also created guidelines – and forms — that just about every lending institution uses for just about every loan.

You are probably wondering why banks cannot just fund loans, keep them, and earn the interest. If you live in a largely populated area, the big banks probably do have plenty of cash to lend. But let us say you live in a smaller area, such as Flagstaff, Arizona or Joplin, Missouri. Your local lending institutions may simply not have enough money to continually make home loans. So, they make you a loan according to certain common guidelines, and then they turn around and sell it to either Fannie or Freddie. Now, the local lending institutions have more cash to continue making more home loans. The truth is, without Fannie and Freddie, the mortgage market and housing market would dry up in many parts of the country. Not good. This is another reason why the government gets behind these two entities – homeownership is generally seen as good for the country.

Another thing that these entities have done is create the 30 year loan. If we had to pay off our homes in, say, five years, home ownership would be pretty unaffordable in large parts of the country. And the longer the loan term, the more interest is charged and the more profit is made by the large investors. Win-win, right?

Some economists and politicians want to privatize Fannie and Freddie and stop the government from backing them. They argue that there is too much risk if the government, and an endless flow of money from taxes, is involved. It is thought that this may have contributed to the 2008 economic crash. There are lots of views on this issue, but the majority agree that maintaining the status quo is a good thing. If you would like to know more, please check out the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac websites.

Why would someone write an article on buying versus renting a home?

What’s in it for the author of the article?

Why would you read one?

What is it you want to hear? Do you just want confirmation and justification for what you already believe and want to do? Or, are you looking to be convinced otherwise?

These are all good questions to ask yourself if you find yourself reading an article on whether it makes more sense to buy a home, or rent a house.

There are “reasons” to buy, and “reasons” to rent.

People want to make choices based upon reason. So, if you start reading about whether to buy versus rent a home, you’ll certainly be given “reasons”, like:

• When renting you’re just paying someone else’s mortgage.
• You’re throwing your money away when you rent. You have nothing to show for it. If you buy, you’re building equity.
• Many of the richest people built their wealth through real estate.
• Real estate is a great long-term investment. Values always go up in the long-term.

Certainly all valid to some degree.

But if you start reading articles bent on renting a home, versus buying, you’ll be given opposing “reasons”, like:

• When you rent, you aren’t tied down to an area. You have freedom.
• You aren’t responsible for the upkeep and maintenance when things break.
• Real estate values are not guaranteed to always go up.
• Your house could be less than you bought it for at times.

Again, all valid “reasons” to some degree.

Regardless of whether the article is pro-buying or pro-renting, the “reasons” cited tend to be the same, decade after decade, regardless of the market. They are overused, and pretty useless to anyone in particular.

There is no absolute answer that is right for everyone.

It shouldn’t be a DIY diagnosis

You can find plenty of “sources” to formulate your opinion on what makes sense for you.

There are online calculators to help you figure out if renting or buying makes more sense for you.

But that’s kind of like looking up health information online…

It’s good to get some thoughts and perspective. Educate yourself. But it’s not necessarily proper for you to diagnose and treat yourself.

Same when it comes to financial and real estate decisions.

Certainly educate yourself. Become informed. But truly assessing whether or not it makes more sense for you to buy a home or rent a house warrants getting some professional help.

Professional help can cost less than self-help. (At least in real estate…)

While you can certainly sift through all the information you want for free, and come to your own conclusion, you can also get the advice of someone who is a real estate expert for free.

All you have to do is reach out to a real estate agent. A good real estate agent will help you figure out if buying or renting makes better sense for you. They’ll help you assess your situation lend you their thoughts and insight based upon their knowledge and experience.

And most of them will do this for free. They get paid if and when you end up buying or renting a place.

Now, certainly, you might question their motives…

Will they push you to buy versus rent to make more money? Will they push you to rent because it’s quicker, easier money? Why would they help me for free? There’s got to be a catch…

Sure, there are some agents who are in it just to make money. But most real estate agents are more caring and concerned about their clients’ best interests, than their own self-interest.
That doesn’t mean every real estate agent will necessarily be able to give you the best advice, even if they are caring, concerned, and not pushy.

So, make sure you find a great agent when you ask for an agent’s advice.

(If they’re all offering their advice for free, you might as well choose the best, right?)

Who’s the best agent to talk to?

Considering this is my article, of course it makes sense that I feel like I’m the best agent for you to talk to.

The best way to find out is for us to have a quick chat. Maybe I’m the best agent for you to talk to… Maybe not. But if I’m not, I probably know another agent who may suit your situation better.

So why not give me a call, or send me an email, and let’s schedule a time to talk. No obligation.

I never push people to do one thing over another. If buying makes more sense for you, we’ll figure that out. If renting does, we’ll figure that out.

I just want to make sure you’re able to make the best and most objective decision possible.

**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

When you buy a home, you want to buy at a time when you can get the best home at the best price. And that time is right now—in the month of October.

According to a recent analysis from ATTOM Data Solutions (which analyzed 33 million home sales over the past eight years), if you’re planning on buying a home, October is the best time of year to score a deal. While you’ll still pay a premium above market value, that premium is far less than what you’d pay in prime spring home buying months—2.9 percent in October compared to a whopping 11.5 percent in May.

The Takeaway:

So, what does that mean for you? By buying a home in October, you could pay 8.6 percent less of a premium for your property than you would if you purchased that same home in May—so if you’ve been thinking about buying a home, now is the time to make a move.