There's a terrible new threat to our friends and neighbors in the legal profession: More and more of us are using quick and low-cost arbitration to resolve disputes.

Mortgage rate shopping use to mean talking to brokers, checking the newspapers, and calling lots of lenders. Today, with perhaps half of all households online, instantaneous comparison shopping (and thousands of loan originators) is here--and with it commodity pricing for any borrower with enough skill to click a mouse.

Is the industry's pricing structure changing? Is full-priced brokerage as we know it dead? Probably. We just haven't buried the corpse.

Paying attention, being present, living in the moment, listening. What a difference it would make in our life to practice these skills so that they become our regular mode of operation.

If you tend to focus on real estate as your primary investment, start with these basics and build an investment portfolio that achieves long-term financial security.

Let's face it, there's still a them-against-us mentality in the agency arena. Although industry pundits and state legislatures wrangle over procedures and legalities, proponents of all forms of agency should retreat from their confrontational postures and refocus on the business at hand---serving the client.

When was the last time you stepped back, looked at your life and profession, and said it's time to make a change? Here are four elements that are fundamental to recognizing the need for change and to effecting and assuring beneficial change.

Is consolidation of real estate companies good for the industry?