Many buyers who purchased at the height of market competition earlier this year may have skipped the home inspection contingency to sweeten their offer. And now they might regret that decision. If your clients find major property defects after moving in, keep them from pointing the finger at you.

Cynthia Crawford, president of the Metro South Association of REALTORS®, is advising agents to get creative when seeking out new leads amid ongoing market changes. Crawford recently advised a newer agent that when faced with clients skittish about current rates, "he should be approaching those people's parents and asking them if they want to downsize."

The new Netflix reality series "Selling the OC" takes viewers inside the lives of top performing California real estate professionals. Fans can also find the agents on social media.

Brands are increasing their spend on influencer marketing as the role evolves toward "content creators," according to a report from Impact.com and WARC, which along with a study by Aspire, provides marketers with a range of insights to help plan strategies. Among those insights are that Instagram and TikTok are the most popular influencer platforms, the highest engagement rates are achieved by nano-influencers and flat fees are the most popular payment method.

LinkedIn can be difficult to navigate for marketing purposes, but can be more beneficial for small businesses than other social media platforms, writes Jim Katzaman on his Get Out of Debt blog. LinkedIn accounted for 80% of business-to-business leads, while Twitter brought in 13% and Facebook 7%, says digital marketer Neil Patel.

As the average for a 30-year loan rises again, an NAR researcher says higher borrowing costs have triple the impact on monthly mortgage payments.

A slowdown in the housing market could prompt some real estate professionals to leave the industry, as companies such as Redfin and Re/Max reduce staff. "If the market continues to slow down, we will see a slowdown in new members, because there will be people quitting because there's not enough activity to justify sticking around," said Rob Higgins, executive officer of the Spokane Association of REALTORS® in Washington.

David Wluka has brought back to life the history of Nowy Dwor, a Polish village that was decimated by Nazis in World War II. Now he's helping to teach local schoolchildren to honor the Jewish legacy of their area—which they never knew about.

A LendingTree analysis finds that Black mortgage applicants are denied at double the rate of the overall population. "Though discrimination against a homebuyer on the basis of their race is illegal, it still happens," says Jacob Channel, a senior economist with LendingTree.

The inability of banks to seize property on tribal land has left Native American veterans unable to access home loan benefits offered by the GI bill. The Native American Direct Loan program, meanwhile, has issued only 89 loans in the past decade.

Legislation to enable more home construction on commercial land is gaining traction among California lawmakers as a way to address a shortfall in housing. One bill would reduce approvals needed for developments that include affordable housing.