Top-notch products for designing a high-quality home theater.

The first minutes with a client set a pattern for the relationship that follows. Unrealistic expectations at the outset lead to customer dissatisfaction down the road.

Old school: Leave a box of leaflets outside for interested buyers who drive by when your models or spec homes are closed. New school: Broadcast messages to car radios.

Third-party monitoring of sales performance is not new. First came paper-and-pen reports, then audio and, in recent years, secret shoppers equipped with tiny cameras and camcorders.

Given the close link between job creation and housing demand, it can't hurt builders in these 10 markets that Forbes magazine's Web site ranks their towns as the best places for business and careers.

Toll Brothers Inc. bucked up for Web technology it hopes will address one of the most bothersome traits associated with real estate Web sites.

Sophisticated San Franciscans don't often venture to Colma, Calif., just south of the city.

Young, on the move and 38.8 million strong, the surging Hispanic population is the nation's largest minority group, the Census Bureau reported last month.

Sales consultant Bob Schultz of New Home Specialists in Boca Raton, Fla., is a longtime advocate of the full demonstration. He estimates that only 5% to 10% of all new home sales people offer a detailed demo and not many more could offer one if asked.