Minnetonka Realty owner Brian Meagher didn’t create the Minnetonka area real estate boom, but he did create the plan to expand his company in a hurry from four sales associates to 40, and had fun doing it.

Mexico lies just a few miles away, yet it’s worlds apart from the Texas border town of McAllen, where Adrian A. Arriaga runs his real estate business. He's learned why deals with foreign investors take time: They have to trust you first.

With 1999 revenues of more than $170 million, The DeWolfe Cos. Inc. in Lexington, Mass., is a New England powerhouse that encompasses real estate brokerage, mortgage, insurance, relocation, and moving services.

Frustrated by shriveling profits, Chuck Padgett, broker-president of Coldwell Banker–Buckner Real Estate, set about reinventing himself and his company. Seeing his bottom line attacked by escalating overhead and salespeople who didn’t pull their weight, Padgett whittled down his sales staff and threw his own hat into the ring.

When Mark L. Levine, president of Levine Ltd., REALTORS®, Englewood, Colo., started a real estate business back in the 1960s, he sought to avoid the school of hard knocks. One way, he figured, was to get as much education as he could. He ended up with eight REALTOR® family professional designations.

Rose & Kreuth Realty Corp. created Celebrating You--Co-Op '95, which allowed salespeople both at Rose & Kreuth and at cooperating companies to win prizes for selling the company's listings.