A licensed real estate assistant will add additional abilities, as most real estate licensing boards limit what an un-licensed assistant can do. These include document preparation, advice and interpretation, delivery of financial and title documents. attending closings and telephone marketing.

Take care in assigning duties to an unlicensed real estate assistant, or if you are one, make sure you know what you are allowed to do according to your state's regulations. In most states, an un-licensed assistant cannot discuss property specifics, advise clients, or draft documents.

With email such a major force in our personal and business lives, it's important that we understand how to use it to our benefit. When you receive real estate emails from buyer or seller prospects, are you dealing with them in a way that will end up with a commission?

When an open house is appropriate for a residential property, learn the steps to properly plan, market and hold it.

Colorado's minimum wage will increase from $6.85 per hour to $7.02 per hour on Jan. 1. In addition, the minimum wage for tipped employees, such as servers in restaurants, will increase from $3.83 per hour to $4 per hour plus any tips.

Lightstone Value Plus Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. acquired an apartment complex in Tampa, as well as four other apartment communities in North Carolina, from Camden Property Trust, a release said. Houston-based Camden sold the properties last week, but the buyer was not released at that time.

Stifel Nicolaus executive Spencer G. Levy has been tapped by CB Richard Ellis Inc. to head up the Los Angeles real estate firm's regional division specializing in investment sales and debt equity financing efforts across the eastern U.S.