While some practitioners see business challenges as a result of fewer home sales, others see opportunity. See highlights from NAR's newly released 2024 Member Profile.

One of the critical advantages of this agreement is that NAR would be able to pay the settlement amount over time. NAR will determine how to allocate funds as they become due, working closely with its Finance Committee. Get more facts about NAR's proposed settlement agreement at facts.realtor.

Salespeople should be open to talking to anyone, not just high-ranking members of an organization, advises sales expert Colleen Francis. "Every conversation with everybody inside an organization that you're trying to sell to, or who is already a customer, can provide you valuable information if you ask the right questions," Francis writes.

Retaining existing customers shouldn't be an afterthought, writes David Brock, author of "the Sales Manager Survival Guide," recommending a focus on how sales can continue to help customers. Brock advises salespeople to keep looking for opportunities to expand business with existing customers, or risk losing them to competitors.

Home buyers want more inventory. Builders say they have it.

Dillon Staples of Compass is the listing agent for this four-bedroom California mansion owned by Protegrity CEO Paul Mountford. The $7.995 million property is near a home owned by actor Brad Pitt.

HomeKit is essentially Apple's framework for managing smart home devices, allowing users to control various home automation products through a unified interface. It acts as a control center, enabling the management and control of multiple smart home devices.

Be an inclusive leader by publicly committing to diversity, equity and inclusion principles, making sure employees understand the company's DEI efforts, helping employees identify their own goals and encouraging collaboration, writes Shoon Lim, DEI leader for Russell Reynolds Associates, which developed an inclusive leadership model. "Leaders who embrace innovative collaboration constantly seek new insights and challenge both their own and others' conventional thinking patterns," Lim writes.

In Portland, churches and faith communities, as major landowners, are playing a role in addressing homelessness by creating affordable housing. A 2021 state law mandates that cities permit affordable housing on specific nonresidential land.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will testify before Congress this week, facing questions on interest rates and new capital requirements for banks. Powell will testify on today and Wednesday and will likely have to defend holding rates higher for longer than expected. These hearings are Powell's last scheduled public appearance before Congress before the presidential election.