With this belt tightening economy people are changing the way they?re decorating and building new homes in 2009. One trend is that the economy is taking a toll and homes are smaller and more practical and people are looking at the important things in their homes because they?re spending more time at home.

The average home size had been 2,300 square feet and that is dropping pretty dramatically, by at least 100 square feet. In fact some of the McMansions built in the last decade may not be as desirable to buyers as older, smaller homes.

You?ll also see a lot less luxury around the house, both inside and out. People are no longer concerned with having the high-end everything and are looking for low maintenance, environmentally friendly features to add to their home.

With the cut backs in luxuries the new trend in uber chic is less is more. Look for design trends and home d?cor to pare down and become sleek with a focus on simple lines and multiple functions.
And because people are spending more time at home and focusing on entertaining the family together you?ll see televisions, game systems and living rooms on the rise. These areas will be where more money will be spent and the little luxuries may creep into the fray.

photo credit: Jeremy Levine Design

Aaron Spelling’s Holmby Hills mansion is up on the market for a mere $150 million - that’s right, $150 MILLION. Apparently no one informed the Spelling estate that we’re in a housing slump and homes just aren’t going for what they used to. The $150 million asking prices for the Spelling mansion, known as “The Manor”, makes the property the most expensive home for sale in the United States.

If you’re interested, the home was built in a quaint French chateau style and has 56,500 square feet on 4.6 acres and is the largest home in all of Los Angeles County. Built in 1991 the home is a lavish display of excess with three stories, a winding driveway and some 30 foot high ceilings. There are estimates that there are more than 100 rooms in the home but no official count could be found. Beyond the regular rooms the Spellings home features a bowling alley, wine cellar, wine tasting room, gift-wrapping room, silver storage room, China room, a barber shop and beauty salon, a library, gym, media room and a screening room.

The exterior of the home rivals the interior with tennis courts, fountains, a waterfall, pool, spa, reflection pool, pool house complete with kitchen, 16 car ports, an 18^th Century styled garden, a citrus orchard and a rooftop rose garden.

The home counts as its neighbors the LA Country Club and the Playboy Mansion, which could be part of the reason the price tag is so high.

The housing market has obviously slowed and some landlords are also feeling a pinch but there are some things both homeowners and landlords can do to make their property more attractive to the market.

Make all Repairs

Prospective homeowners and renters alike are looking for a well maintained home, home’s that appear neglected in some way hint at other possible problems that may be deeper rooted. You may have overlooked the little things for so long that you don’t even notice but prospective inhabitants will definitely notice so take the steps to make those repairs.

Staging the Home

There are two thoughts on this, but if the property is furnished you should definitely remove clutter to make it look larger and more comfortable. Some people feel that showing an empty home is best because the future residents can better visualize themselves in the home, others feel that having a professionally staged home is best because it gives them an ideal image of how the home can look. No matter what you decide to do cleaning is the most important part of staging for you, make sure everything is clean and smells good.

Make a Highlight List

In addition to the realtor’s spec list you’ll want to create your own highlight take away page that lists the benefits of the property and the surrounding area. If you have an attractive home or rental unit include pictures, perhaps photos from each season. Photos give shoppers something to reference back to when they’re trying to make their decision.

Not only are people going green but they’re getting smaller, or at least as far as housing they are. Those huge and uninspired McMansions of a few years back are becoming the trend that was as home owners are facing new financial issues and they’re becoming more environmentally conscious at the same time. These two huge factors are leading to more home owners looking for smaller housing so they can be more environmentally sound and leave a smaller footprint on this earth.

While giving up the huge home, people are learning to live with less, spend more time together as a family (rather than spread out throughout the home) and getting creative with ways to go green. From the very get go you’ll instantly reduce your environmental footprint by cutting down on the energy you consume. This can be a drastic reduction and the side benefit is you’ll also be saving money, a scarce commodity in these economic times.

Remarkably some people have taken the small house movement even further, rather than downsizing from a McMansion to a more traditional sized home, these people are looking to create housing for themselves that is less than 1000 square feet and in some cases much less than that. This may not be exactly perfect conditions if you have a young family, but even a modest decrease in your home size may be the economic and environmental change that makes all the difference.