Real Estate, like many businesses today, is changing rapidly with the power of the Internet. The time of the Realtor making calls from her office and scouring listings in the MLS Book is rapidly disappearing. Today a Realtor can sit on a park bench with a laptop computer and a cell phone and conduct business as usual. The Real Estate Data Base for the entire U.S. is available over the Internet to both Realtors and prospective buyers. Many clients show up with their list of homes in hand. So much for the good old days.

It's a fact: the real estate market is cooling a bit and sellers are returning to the basic fundamentals when selling their homes. Gone are the days of listing a residence and having an offer the next day. Instead, the old scenario where you have to actually put in extra effort to get the job done will be here for some time.

Still the market remains positive mostly due to the boomers. Most have recognized real estate as a smart investment and stats tell us that in 2004, 35% of all sales were these boomers buying second homes. This should be telling us that they will remain active even into their senior years.

In addition let's not forget the new generation these baby boomers have given us; if the boomers themselves were the largest population bulge of the century, then what of their offspring generation? This promises to to be the second largest -- now approaching thirty-something. We will see them enter the real estate market as buyers... often borrowing the down payment from Daddy!

Buying or selling a home is quite frustrating and complex. Most of us only do this a few times in our lives. Can we become more skilled with the process? Yes. Should we? Yes again. Can we be educated enough to do it all ourselves? Maybe -- but is the time and effort worth your while? That's the question only you can answer.

On the following pages, we have covered most of your questions with guidelines and tips.