RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—(MCT)—In a new foreclosure crisis that has gone national, attorneys general in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia have launched a sweeping probe of the country's lenders, even as new figures showed banks repossessed a record number of homes

RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—(MCT)—Jodie Mekled is looking forward to cheap utility bills this winter. The retail worker from Sterling Heights, Mich., could pay as little as $40 a month for natural gas thanks to energy-efficient home improvements made through Habitat for Humanity.

RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—The light bulb. Bubble wrap. The Post-It. The iPod. The Snuggie. Facebook. Twitter. These inventions, products, and businesses all started with an idea. An idea that to anyone other than its creator(s) may have seemed like an insane thing to invest much

RISMEDIA, October 14, 2010—RealtyTrac, a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report for the third quarter of 2010, which shows that foreclosure filings—default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions—were reported on

RISMEDIA, October 18, 2010—While today’s economy and real estate market have many real estate professionals and architects closing up shop, it has also provided numerous opportunities for those looking to take advantage of any open doors that pop up along the way.

Maria Patterson: Please provide us with a snapshot of your storied real estate career to date. Dick Schlott: I’m a born entrepreneur. Even as a kid, a friend and I would pick raspberries for a farmer who would pay us 10 cents a pint, then we would buy them from him for 20 cents a pint and go sell them around the neighborhood for 50 cents a pint! I guess you could say I took that same spirit and energy to real estate starting in 1969 as a sales associate in Wyckoff, New Jersey, my hometown. I opened my own office with one salesperson in 1971, and opened two more offices in Bergen County, New Jersey, in 1976.

RISMEDIA, October 14, 2010—Thousands of first-time and move-up buyers who hoped to make a foreclosed property their new home now face uncertainty, anxiety and possibly remorse as they worry that closing on their desired property could be in jeopardy. For many, the dream of homeownership could turn into agony if their home purchase is indefinitely delayed by a moratorium on foreclosures declared by some banks, the National Association of Realtors said. The moratoriums are needed, banks say, to review all of the foreclosures in their portfolios to make sure they're in compliance with the law and that titles are clear.

RISMEDIA, October 14, 2010—The National Association of Realtors' HouseLogic, a free, comprehensive consumer website about all aspects of homeownership recently launched Operation Home Relief, a new Facebook Causes campaign. The campaign aims to increase awareness, rally

RISMEDIA, October 14, 2010—With the recession finally in our rearview mirror (so they say), most companies are finally beginning to pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and at least try to get back to business. But the past year has left its mark: employees are in a funk.

RISMEDIA, October 15, 2010—(MCT)—Ken and Linda Bolsch put their five-bedroom, five-year-old Mahwah, N.J., colonial on the market in January, sure that buyers would appreciate its low taxes, wooded lot, and impeccable decor and landscaping. But after nine months—and a price cut from $925,000 to $749,000—the house is still on the market, with the couple looking at a substantial loss at that price. "We fell in love with the house from the moment we saw it, and we don't know why other people aren't doing the same," Ken Bolsch said.

RISMEDIA, October 13, 2010—It would be unrealistic to say that the real estate market is utterly rosy right now, but neither is it thorn-filled by any means. In fact, things are decidedly looking up: July got some good news, when the National Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales rose 5.2% from downwardly revised June levels, beating economists’ expectations. This is good news for both buyers and sellers.

RISMEDIA, October 13, 2010—This week’s headlines from the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® include: a free field guide to electronic signatures from NAR’s Right Tools, Right Now initiative; REALTOR® and industry veteran joins REALTORS® Federal Credit Union

RISMEDIA, October 13, 2010—When talking with real estate leaders and managers around the country, the most common question I get asked is, “How do I get my agents to...?” You have probably already started to fill in the blank with your own ending to that question, but here are the most

RISMEDIA, October 13, 2010—When was the last time you did business with someone you didn’t like? Now granted, sometimes we don’t have a choice—like at the license branch, or maybe the checkout clerk we happen to get stuck with. But the truth is, when we have a choice, we deal with

RISMEDIA, October 13, 2010—Leading real estate website Zillow.com has partnered with VScreen, Inc. to incorporate online video into its marketing program for real estate professionals. As part of this agreement, Zillow’s Premier Agents attending the National Association of Realtors