Every state has at least two license levels for its real estate agents: salesperson and broker. (Briefly, a real estate broker is someone authorized by the state to perform certain activities such as ...

More than a year after Knoxville, Tenn.-based Terminus Real Estate announced its plans for the long-vacant Highland Building in East Liberty, the project could be jump-started with an injection of capital from a local developer.

Congress passed a law that makes mortgage insurance tax deductible. This will make paying mortgage insurance more favorable than getting a piggyback loan for a lot of borrowers.

When Yelena Takhtamanova, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco economist, began her 2007 forecast for the East Bay chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers, she said she hoped the audience could help her - she's in the market for a house.

Question: My fianc and I bought a home to be constructed by a builder. He offered financing from construction to the permanent mortgage. I now regret that I'm locked in before the house has even been completed. The builder is paying the interest on the construction loan during the one-year building period. We will refinance after the house is completed. What do you think of this arrangement?

Someone who refuses to refinance a mortgage, even though rates have fallen and anyone with half a brain knows that it makes financial sense to refi, is known as a woodhead.

Question: Why did my adjustable rate mortgage go from 6.5% to 8.5% interest last month? It is tied to the 11th District cost of funds index. I will soon be 76 and owe only $74,500 on a house worth about $700,000. I doubt I would qualify to refinance because my income is only Social Security benefits and some small rental income. What should I do?

Tapping equity to refinance a mortgage will wipe out credit card and student loan debt, but it creates new problems if you keep on spending, says the Debt Adviser.

A second mortgage recorded by the credit bureaus as unsecured debt could hurt your credit score, so get it fixed, says Dr. Don.

Stephen Goldstein, a 34-year fixture at commercial real estate services firm Studley who works out of its D.C. office, is moving up the company ladder.