If you want to have a better chance of selling your house in Cardiff, Encinitas, Carlsbad, or Vista this spring, think of staging your house to make it as attractive as possible. Make this as simple as possible. Basically you want to strip the house to its bare essentials and depersonalize it so that potential buyers can imagine themselves and their lifestyle in your house.

Here are some tips:

1. Visit model homes and look through magazines to get some decorating ideas. You are staging for the general public, not for yourself.

2. Start with the outside. Give the house good curb appeal by painting it, adding new landscaping, and replacint the front door hardware if necessary.

3. Declutter each room to make it look larger. Put away family pictures, diplomas, trophies, and knickknacks.

4. Use eco-friendly but bright lights. Open the drapes and turn on all of the lights when showing.

5. Use just a few pieces of furniture with mainstream appeal.

6. Make sure that the primary use of a room or space is obviously. Make a bedroom look like a bedroom.

7. In bedrooms and kitchens, clear everything off the nightstand and hid the laundry basket.  Invest  in clean, matching towels in the bathrooms and kitchens.

8.Minimize any “pet effect.” Remove food bowls and litter boxes to a utility room. Deodorize thoroughly.

9. Organize the utility room and garage. Hang up the bikes and roll up the hose. Renting a storage locker is worth the cost if it helps you sell faster and for a higher price.

10. Once your house is ready, invite your friends or your realtor over to walk through to get a last objective opinion.

Good Luck and Happy Showing!

The Fereal Reserve condicts substantial research on mortgage balances and home-value changes in hundreds of local markets nationwide and reports its findings quarterly. According to the Fed’s most recent flow of funds survey, homeowners’ net equity increased by nearly $1 trillion compared with the recession’s lowest point between the first and third quarters of 2009.  From June 30 to September 30, net equity rose by $418 billion.

According to a report by Zillow.com, the overall negative equity rate among U. S. homeowners remained flat in the fourth quarter at 21.4 percent. This report, combined with other housing factors and studies, may indicate the reduction in home equity is shifting.

Four times a year, Zillow conducts a survey to find out how homeowners perceive the values of their homes and what they think the future will bring. Zillow wants to know how realistic homeowners are about the current values of their homes.

Since we are in such a huge housing recesiion, it’s always interesting to see how it’s perceived by current homeowners. Are they realistic about the current value of their home?  Are they in denial and seeing the value as it was two or three years ago? This quarter’s survey, according to Zillow, says that homeowners are slowly becoming more realistic about the current situation, but are hopeful about values turning around soon.

Just like other quarters, more homeowners agree that the value of their home has declined over the past year. Survey results show that 60% think the value of their home has decreased. According to Zillow, actually 83% of U.S. homes decreased in value over the past year.

Zillow also reports a growing optimism that home values will not continue to decline in the six months ahead. 81% of homeowners think that the value of their home will stay the same or increase.