House to House: Personal photos may be distraction for home’s prospective buyers

The following article printed in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and numerous papers throughout Arkansas is the sole product and property of the Arkansas Realtors Association. The photo is by www.ARSportsPhoto.com

Using personal photos to decorate the walls and tables is common in homes. It certainly is in the Glover Bryant house. However, if I were trying to sell my home, those personal photos of my dogs, my kids, my parents — basically my life — may be a turnoff to potential homebuyers. Plus, if you think about it, people looking at my home are going to learn an awful lot about me, and I’m not so sure what I think about that.

As with any issue, opinions differ. My opinion is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

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House to House: Bees in residence cause danger to homeowners, neighbors

This week’s column was co-written by Little Rock Realtor Michelle Honea Dyer.

Last fall, neighbors alerted my friend Michelle that they were seeing bees on the far side of her home. They had small children playing in the area and wanted her to be aware so that she might have it investigated. Sure enough, there were lots of bees. Michelle called around and found a local pest control company that specialized in bees.

They came to her house and watched over several days and decided that they should try to “dust” them out. The company applied this dusting process in the late fall, hoping that it would remove them. Winter came and Michelle crossed her fingers that they had either moved on or found a new home. Nope.

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House to House: Now is good time for homeowners to inspect decks

Considering that my deck is nearing the age of 10 years, I was glad to receive a news release reminding me to check my deck for safety concerns that could lead to accidents and injuries. It’s a thought that never occurred to me and probably wouldn’t have until the damage was done. It’s also a great time to do it since we are heading into prime deck-using season and we’ll be serving more meals out there in the months to come.


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