Shreveport, LA

Being hailed as the fourth largest natural gas deposit in the world, by now everybody living in the Shreveport/Bossier area has heard about what is called the Haynesville Shale formation. Everybody and his brother has been offered a contract to lease their mineral rights which is throwing a nice little kink into the listing and selling of real estate.

With some property leasing at $20,000 an acre or more, many neighborhoods have organized to negotiate with the landmen as a group. This is a smart thing to do to protect your property value and, let's be honest, to have more negotiating power when it comes to the money. But we don't have to reinvent the wheel. Ft. Worth has experienced with the Barnett Shale just what we are in the beginning stages of, and they are eager to share their experiences and what worked for them.

As far as real estate in Shreveport goes, the fact of the matter is that most people want to buy a house with the mineral rights intact, and some savvy sellers are using this as a negotiating tool. More than likely these days, if you look at a listing, somewhere in the paperwork, it's going to say that mineral rights are reserved. If mineral rights aren't mentioned in the listing, it would be wise to find out if the seller has already leased them.

Another twist is that if production from the Hayneville Shale is as huge as the drilling companies think it will be, there will be "urban" drilling. This conjures up the image of buying a nice little house that happens to be next to a vacant lot, and next thing you know, you've got a well with a compressor attached next door. Yikes! It has happened in Ft. Worth, so don't laugh.

In fact, Tom Dark, Shreveport's Chief Administrative Officer, has addressed this in interviews with the press. There have been several town hall meetings to discuss just what this is going to mean to those of us living within the city limits. We all want a check, but we all want to protect the value of our property and minimize the noise and aggravation as well. I guess we want to have our cake and eat it, too.

While all these lease and royalty payments and production of all this natural gas will be a real boon to the economy, it has given us Shreveport real estate agents another facet of our business to become educated about, and quickly:

Who owns the mineral rights?
How do you make sure they own the mineral rights?
Is a land title search the same as a sub-surface title search?
How much are the mineral rights really worth?

That last question is a big unknown. Since drilling is in the early stages, it's hard to tell what future royalty payments will be, but a well in south Bossier Parish is currently producing 17 million cubic feet per day. That translates into $6 million dollars a day! I'm not sure what the trickle down affect will be to the homeowner on a 1/4 acre lot, but I'll bet he'll want to keep every cent!

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You're at Home with Heather
Shreveport and Bossier City, Louisiana Real Estate

Shreveport Home Connection
Coldwell Banker J. Wesley Dowling & Assoc. LLC

Serving your real estate needs in Shreveport, Bossier City, Benton, Haughton, Keithville, Stonewall, Blanchard, and Barksdale AFB

Licensed in Louisiana

We were recently invited to a Tuesday morning Realtor's meeting to discuss Virtual Tours. This Brokerage is pretty new to utilizing the internet. We covered some of the following points.

1. All the realtors needed to have and utilize a working email account. Although it is understood that a phone call is only second to meeting a perspective buyer/seller in person, the email is the most commonly preferred and used form of communication of most internet users.

2. The brokerage and possibly the individual realtors should have a functional and easy to use web site. The web site should be able incorporate a virtual tour link for properties that have one.

3. ALL PRINT MEDIA that is utilized should state "See the Virtual at www.....website.com". At a minimum the web site address should be listed. With the amount of properties listed these days, photos, virtual tours, and the internet are the best ways to generate interest not only for the property but the realtor and brokerage as a whole. For example, if the Real Estate Book is used, a virtual tour icon can be placed on the add, and the web site, email address, and phone number should be listed.

4. We recommended photos from a good camera and/or the utilization of a professional photographer and virtual tour provider. Listings that have a poorly shot photo or no photo at all on sites like Realtor.com or the local real estate board, are generally passed right by. Listings with multiple photos and a virtual tour get the highest hit stats (number of viewings). Utilizing Postlets, Craigslist, and other internet sites only enhance the property and realtor's exposure.

5. We lastly recommended using PanoRiders and single property websites to grab the drive-bys traffic and direct them online. Utilizing the street address on the PanoRider and single property websites make it easier remember. Even if the PanoRider isn't used, the realtors sign should have some form of contact information.

Our goal at Ark-La-Tex Virtual Tours is to enable, empower, and assist our realtor and business clients' ability to get their product out to the public. We have seen great results when our clients utilize the above strategies.

Movies and Moonbeams Outdoor Cinema is presenting "The Legend of Bagger Vance" at Querbes Park Golf Course on April 18. This is a free event for the public. If you are in the Broadmoor area, come out and join in this unique movie going experience.

With over 84% of homebuyers shopping online, internet marketing has become essential to selling real estate in the Shreveport and Bossier City area. Homebuyers are demanding quick, digestible information at their fingertips. If this information is not there for the buyer to see, then the home is getting overlooked. In the frenzy to acquired these shoppers' attention, virtual tours have become indispensible. The buyers and sellers in today's market are demanding virtual tours, for many reasons, but foremost because virtual tours are a quick source of a large quantity of information. In competing for these buyers' attention (and phone calls) it is important to consider what is being placed in front of them.

The term "virtual tour" is a murky one. It seems to include everything from pictures on the internet to slide shows to 360° interactive tours. The real estate agent who is willing to go the extra mile and put a quality product in front of the market is the one people remember. In looking for a quality tour there are several things to consider.

Pictures of a home placed online are important, but do not constitute a tour. The purpose of the virtual tour is to provide the viewer with additional information about the home and to actively engage them in the listing. The phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" rings very true here. It is essential that the virtual tour have high quality, viewable photographs that encourage rather than discourage the viewer. The virtual tour needs to be 360° if the viewer is to obtain real information about the room and the layout of the home. Still shots can't tell the viewer what's behind them, only a 360° panoramic photo can do that. Also, a virtual tour needs to be interactive. Engaging the buyer in actively touring the real estate listing keeps them on the listing longer and provides them the information they are seeking. It is this kind of interaction that generates high interest leads for the listing agent. To set a real estate listing apart from every other listing in the Shreveport / Bossier City area, Ark-La-Tex Virtual Tours offers add-ons to customize their 360° interactive virtual tours. Additions such as narrative audio or scene specific text will engage the viewer further and provide a memorable impression for the seller. An impression that says, "I go the extra mile for my client".

Lastly, Ark-La-Tex Virtual Tours aides in syndicating the virtual tour listing. Internet marketing is the key to exposure of the virtual tour and the listing. Without exposure, the virtual tour is not doing its job. And if the tour is not working on behalf of the listing real estate agent, then it is time to reconsider your tours. A virtual tour which just sits on the listing and collects dust is ineffective, but that is another blog...

Ark-La-Tex Virtual Tours is happy to announce that our new PanoRider service has arrived in the Shreveport/Bossier City area to a very warm welcome. Many people have been very excited to try out this new service designed to complement our 360° interactive virtual tours.

The PanoRider offers a full color panoramic photograph of the interior of the home along with a dedicated, single property website. This combination allows real estate agents and For Sale By Owners to harness the power of the two most popular forms of real estate marketing today, the internet and the yard sign.

The dedicated, single property website address appears across the top of the rider, making it easy for drive-by viewers to see and remember. The drive-by viewer can then tour the interior of the home from their computer and view the MLS information and contact information for the listing real estate agent. The viewer is also provided a link to the listing agent's website. The end result is high interest leads for the listing agent.

Ark-La-Tex Virtual Tours, in conjunction with Real Tour Vision, is happy to provide new and innovative ways for real estate agents to gain exposure for their listings utilizing the most powerful marketing options available. Ark-La-Tex Virtual Tours offers a wide range of services including 360° interactive virtual tours, real estate photography, website design, 3D animated walk throughs, and PanoRiders. Contact us today to enhance your marketing reach.

Ark-La-Tex Virtual Tours

318-572-1779