In an effort to get the earliest reading possible on the housing market, economists at the National Association of Realtors are developing a national index that measures foot traffic, or visits to houses for sale.

NAR already has an index for pending home sales, which measures signed contracts. It is a forward-looking indicator that is roughly 30 to 60 days ahead of another key market measurement, existing home sales. A sale is listed as pending when a contract has been signed but the transaction has yet to close.

An index based on the number of showings to prospective buyers could be "an early, early indicator," perhaps preceding signed contracts by as many as 45 days, says Ken Fears, NAR's manager of regional economics.

NAR is able to track foot traffic through SentriLock, an association-owned property access control system. Each lockbox stores the number of times it has been opened to allow visitors to tour the house. Those data are used to build a weighted index that measures the percentage change in showings from one month to the next.

To date, Fears has developed showings indexes for 183 local markets where SentriLock is the prevalent lockbox in use by real estate associations. But he says he needs even more local data before a national standard can be developed. "We're still trying to get used to the interplay with pending sales," he says.

So far, statistical tests show a strong correlation between showings and contracts. An increase in visits in one month tends to predate a jump in signings in the next month or two. Similarly, changes in the showings index tend to precede sales, or closings, "by roughly two to three months," Fears says. Of course, it also follows that if doors are opened fewer times, there are fewer resulting contracts and sales.

The data have some shortcomings. For example, a lack of showings could mean that fewer properties are for sale. "By definition, you can't have a lot of activity if there are fewer homes on the market," the NAR economist says.

Also, a drop in loan rates might cause people who are already under contract to re-enter the market because they can afford a more expensive house. Too much of that kind of activity can lead to false readings.

The other obvious weakness is the geographical coverage. The data sample from SentriLock comes from only a small share of the total number -- some 800 -- of real estate boards nationally, Fears says. Consequently, the measure can provide insight into only a relative handful of individual markets.

But, says Fears, as SentriLock's market coverage expands, the data will become more representative of national trends, and a weekly index of showings could become a leading indicator.

Do you know where the cash is coming from to buy your house?

If you have even the slightest inkling that the money is coming from illicit sources, you have a duty under federal money laundering laws to report your suspicions to the authorities. If you don't, you could be considered a party to the crime.

Money laundering is defined as the process of making the proceeds of unlawful activity appear legal, so their illegal source cannot be traced. With increasing frequency, criminals are using their ill-gotten gains to buy houses and then sell them to convert their money back into cash.

According to Treasury Department officials, converting millions of dollars into a number of smaller transactions -- a process known as "smurfing" -- is the No. 1 ploy for hiding dirty money in the housing market.

Generally, real estate agents and lenders are required to report any misgivings under the Bank Secrecy Act. There could be a big penalty if they don't.

But sellers also can run afoul of the law if they suspect something is amiss and don't tell local law enforcement or the FBI, Michael Rosen, a policy adviser in the Terrorism and Financial Intelligence sector at Treasury, said at a recent real estate conference.

When a transaction varies from the norm, there is an increased chance the deal is subject to anti-money laundering laws. One key red flag for sellers is the source of funds for all-cash deals. But if the buyer asks you to "do me a favor," your antenna should wiggle as well.

In one case that Rosen described, a buyer who said he didn't want his parents to know he was purchasing such an expensive house asked the seller to lower the price and accept the difference in cash under the table from the buyer. Such a scenario needs to be reported, if not by the agent, then by the seller, the Treasury Department official said.

"When there are prominent red flags that signal criminal activity is afoot, a jury may infer that a defendant deliberately ignored facts that should have been obvious to a reasonable person," Rosen said. "It's not whether you know of criminal intent. It's a case of you should have known."

Individual sellers can learn a great deal from mass-market homebuilders.

Take curb appeal, for example. There's a good reason builders skip every other lot when putting up model homes. Or leave out lawn-gobbling driveways. Or build models uphill from the street, never downhill. All these tricks of the trade are designed to make their homes loom as large as possible.

But while you can't rip out your driveway or make the house next door disappear, there are steps you can take to make a good first impression. If you don't try at least a few, you may not get a second chance to wow buyers with the inside of your palace. In other words, all the emphasis on interior home staging -- prepping a home's interior for maximum appeal -- could be for naught if you ignore the exterior. You have only a few key moments to spark someone's drive-up interest, so it pays to put your best facade forward.

Not many buyers will make up their minds from the curb alone. But many have found the outside of a house so unappealing that they didn't bother to go inside.

Fortunately, you can beef up your home's exterior for less than $500 and a weekend's worth of time. Power washing a stained walk or driveway is labor-intensive, but not that expensive. Ditto for trimming the shrubs, mulching the garden and planting colorful flowers.

If you have the time and money to go all out -- say, by replacing discolored siding, replacing worn-out windows or adding shutters -- you should be able to recoup most of your out-of-pocket cost.

According to the latest "Cost vs. Value Report" from Remodeling trade magazine, the projects offering the greatest return on investment involve what could be called "curbscaping." Seven of the 10 top-ranked projects are siding, window or door replacement jobs, with cost-value ratios above the average 71.6 percent.

"The high value of replacements is due partly to their relatively low costs," editor Sal Alfano said, commenting that most "immediately improve curb appeal."

But, again, you don't have to go to that much trouble to make your home's exterior more inviting. All it takes is a critical eye toward detail and the desire to create attractive finishing touches that stand out from the street.

For starters, take a step back. Walk across the street and look at your place the way first-time visitors will see it. Give it a wide view, searching for positive features that can be highlighted and negative elements that can be hidden or even eliminated.

If it will help, take a photograph of your house to use as a basis for the improvements you want to make. Since color can affect your perception of problem areas, stick to black and white film, which shows the greatest contrast -- or the lack thereof.

The most obvious exterior improvement is a fresh coat of paint. Nothing creates impact more than color. Since different people have different tastes, keep it neutral, with earth tones as the main hue and stronger shades to accent the windows and doors. Keep in mind that two or three colors are enough to make a statement.

If painting the entire exterior isn't an option, consider painting at least the doors, shutters or window frames to give your place a little pop. If your front door is made of wood that has been painted, consider stripping off the paint and staining the wood, which is much more inviting.

Your front door should be visible from the street. If it isn't, add an arbor or other landscape element to point visitors in the right direction.

Potential purchasers are just as likely to show up after dark as in the daytime, so replace your front-door light fixture with a brighter, shiny one. Also think about laying down landscape lighting. And remember to keep the lights burning in the evening. You never know when a buyer might be on the prowl.

If you have a front porch or stoop, clean or replace any furniture out there and add new, colorful throw pillows. The idea is to give visitors a place to stop and enjoy the front door.

For a little extra spark, add a polished door knocker. Replacing an old, tarnished lockset and accenting the doorway with decorative pots or planters also are good ways to add vitality.

If you have a garage, especially one that faces the street, treat those doors the same way. If they are in bad shape, replace them. In some houses, garage doors take up half the front or more, so they contribute -- or subtract -- from curb appeal like any other element.

Remember to keep the doors closed at all times so visitors will feel the impact. You want people to see your smile, not be able to peer into your mouth.

Don't neglect the walk and driveway. They need to be clean and free of cracks. Put the kids' toys, the hose and other gardening tools out of sight.

Fresh grass or sod is another cost-effective way to dress up your property. Seeding, of course, is the least expensive way to go, but it takes time for the seed to germinate. Sod is faster but far more costly, especially if you have to hire someone to do the work. But it might be best for curing those bald spots in the lawn.

Either way, make sure you start the process long before the house goes on the market. The last thing you want visitors to see is a bunch of stakes and ropes that cordon off freshly planted areas and signs that warn folks to "Keep Off the Grass."

Chances are you already have shrubs and trees, so you probably won't have to invest in these key design elements. But make sure they are trimmed and tidy. Remove dead leaves, branches and debris, and add fresh mulch to dress up planting beds.

If your place is going on the market in the growing season, adding flowers is a minimal investment with a maximum payout. Fences and gates are far more expensive, but they are an excellent way to frame your entire yard and set it apart from your neighbors.

Millions of borrowers will pay off their mortgages this year. But sending in that last payment is not the end of the line. It's the beginning of the end, perhaps, but not the end itself. So don't burn those mortgage papers just yet.

For starters, call your lender about a month after you've made the final payment to make sure that you have, indeed, satisfied your debt. You may not be as current as you think.

It doesn't happen often, but sometimes a long-ago payment never reached its destination, so you're actually a month behind. Or perhaps a late charge is still outstanding for a payment you forgot to make. Or maybe your escrow account is a little short and there's not enough money for the lender to pay your taxes and insurance one last time.

After your mortgage is paid in full, the lender or the company that services your loan on behalf of the lender will prepare a document known as a "satisfaction of mortgage," to be recorded at the county courthouse.

The satisfaction "piece," as lawyers like to call it, is much like the notice that automobile lenders stamp on the auto titles they return when car loans are paid off. The only difference is that while a lender's rubber-stamp statement is proof enough for most state governments that a car lien has been satisfied, a satisfaction of mortgage is a legal document that must be recorded to be valid and actually release the lien on a property.

Without that last step, title or escrow companies will be unable to verify that a mortgage has been paid off. And if they can't do that, they won't issue a clear title when the owner tries to sell the place, whether that's now or 10 years down the road.

Fortunately, the lien release process usually goes off without a hitch. But once in a while, a release isn't filed or recorded, and a buyer's lender refuses to close. This can hold up a sale for as long as it takes to clear the air, maybe months.

In some cases, the original lender is no longer in business. In others, ownership of a loan has been transferred, sometimes so often that the trail is difficult to trace.

With this in mind, when you call your lender to make sure you've met all your obligations, ask about the procedures regarding the satisfaction document. Most states require lenders to file the release on your behalf, but a few places still allow lenders to hand off this important step to their borrowers.

Either way, the cost usually ranges from $20 to $40, according to Aurora Marsh of Rekon Technologies, a Pasadena, Calif., company that provides lenders with software to electronically create and record lien releases and other documents.

In the do-it-yourself jurisdictions, borrowers sometimes are not told how to proceed, or they simply don't read or understand the instructions. And whether the release is thrown out with that day's mail or filed away for safekeeping, the lien is still there. The loan has been paid in full, but until the release is recorded, the lien is in place.

The process of sending the original release to the county, having it recorded and getting the satisfaction back for your records normally takes 30 days. But it can take up to 60 or even 90 days in jurisdictions that do not accept releases electronically and/or are not otherwise equipped to handle the job.

Marsh says more than 700 of the nation's approximately 3,600 recording districts accept releases electronically from authorized submitters, including title companies. If the process works properly, the submitter should receive electronic confirmation within three business days that the satisfaction has been accepted or rejected.

The most common problem with lien satisfactions is that they don't conform to the recording office's requirements. Perhaps the wording is wrong, the page size is incorrect or the format is not right. Or maybe insufficient fees were submitted with the release.

Another possibility is that the lender's name is incorrect. If the entity signing the release is not the same as the one that put the lien in place, it will be rejected, says Marsh. "Lenders often fail to use the phrase 'formerly known as' when they have acquired the original lender."

If the original lender has been taken over by another institution or has gone out of business, it may become necessary to hire an attorney to create an affidavit on your behalf attesting that the loan has been paid in full to present to a judge.

Or the escrow or title company can create and sign a release when the lender is unable to do so. In California, for example, if the escrow company does not hear back from the lender after 75 days, it is allowed to create a release on its own.

Often, though, the title company has enough internal capabilities to trace your loan's lineage, from one lender to another or one servicer to another. Usually, the history can be found right away, but sometimes it can take weeks or even months.

If your lender was a now-defunct bank or savings institution, you might be able to find your loan's current owner on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. website (www.fdic.gov), which maintains a list of all failed banks and the investors that acquired their assets.