As an immigrant herself, DeLeon made it her goal to help immigrant families reach their homeownership dreams. Through community seminars, a newspaper column, and a radio show, she educates prospective buyers on everything from creating and fixing credit to finding low-interest home loans and downpayment assistance programs.

White convinced area practitioners and the local government to take part in a citywide open house day: Salespeople would hold simultaneous open houses and the city would waive the transfer tax for buyers and sellers on any homes put under contract within 45 days of open house day.

Back in the nascent years of the Fair Housing Act, Mary Hudson Glazer put the law to work. She’s continued to set an example over the past 30 years, teaching practitioners and potential homebuyers about fair housing issues.

Jackie Simon had been a fair housing advocate for more than 10 years, when, in 1988, her son was paralyzed from the neck down in a bicycle accident. Suddenly fair housing had become a personal issue.

Goldstein identified a major problem in Florida's smart growth efforts: Environmentalists, developers, city council members, and others weren’t sharing solutions. So she put together a symposium on growth issues and invited all the players.

Diane Carroll’s not a know-it-all. But buyers and sellers in her Franklin Lakes, N.J., market might think she knows everything about real estate.

Laura Harris knows sales ebbs—and how to make them flow to her advantage.

The Altishins, sales associates with Realty Executives of Nevada, thought they were doing fine financially. Turns out they we were one step away from financial ruin. So, they created a budget that allowed them to save 10 percent of their combined income for an emergency fund while paying off bills.

Natasha Motev has no fear of saying goodbye to sellers who want to overprice their homes. If Motev sounds like the embodiment of self-assurance, that’s no surprise. She learned early in life to adapt to challenging situations.

Doug Bridges says the lessons he learned about losing on the basketball court, and in subsequent years as a coach, helped him become a winner in real estate sales.

The worlds of high tech and country living meet up each week in Elyse Harney’s Country Journal, an e-mail newsletter she sends to past customers, clients, and city folk longing to visit—and possibly move to—the countryside.

If there’s a way to save time or money with technology, Edwin Ordubegian has figured it out. With a mere four years of real estate sales experience, Ordubegian has used technology to help him net $26 million in sales while working 50 hours or less a week.