Proper communication improves efficiency and boosts your reputation—which, in turn, helps grow more business. Use these steps to make improvements to your connections that will take your career to the next level.

For new agents, it can feel like a personal defeat when a real estate deal falls apart. Here's how one practitioner learned to pick herself up and move on after her first summer in the business was a wash.

Agents and brokers share stories of their most complicated transactions, including sellers who would not vacate and a client with amnesia.

FiveChannels CEO Jason Hall highlights seven examples of creative content marketing that give brands and organizations a competitive edge. Examples include Wayfair's interactive #WayfairAtHome campaign that allows customers to post photos of Wayfair products in their home, ZipRecruiter's podcasts featuring prominent guests and LinkedIn's visual-heavy marketing on social media.

Blog posts that focus on their intended audiences will spark engagement, marketing manager Courtney Washington writes. Washington's 10 tips for engaging readers include using lists, case studies and calls to action.

With the right design, you can expand your home's living space and create a natural flow to the outside.

Agent Ari Wilford collected almost $20,000 as a broker's fee to fill a one-bedroom apartment in New York City's Upper West Side due in part to the rent stabilized unit's $1,725 monthly rate. The unusual fee has drawn attention, though Wilford says it makes sense given the details of the unit.

Low-brightness light fixtures are falling out of fashion among interior designers due to their lack of functionality. The use of white or light-colored paints can also help brighten interior spaces.

Real estate technology companies are among the fastest growing startups in the country, as tracked by the Inc. 5000 list. Ideal Agent, Ribbon, Orchard, ListingSpark, Curbio and HomeLight are among those that made this year's list.

Texas is sending asylum seekers from Mexico to New York City in protest over the national immigration policies, adding thousands of people to the city's homeless rolls. Officials say shelters are already stretched to capacity and there is limited affordable housing for the arriving migrants.

Housing inventory in New York's Hudson Valley has dwindled due to a wave of people leaving New York City in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This shift has left middle-income workers with few housing options, prompting business owners to step in and provide housing.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has announced an expansion of the Maryland Mortgage Program for residents hoping to buy a home while managing their student debt. Program participants may purchase a home with a 5% down payment and take out a 30-year conventional mortgage for the remaining 95% of the house price, and then take out an additional five-year loan for up to 15% of the home price to be used in eliminating an equivalent amount of their student debt, with a cap of $50,000, up from $30,000 previously.