When Fore gave up the jet-setting life of an international runway model in 2002 to return home and help care for her three younger siblings, her grandfather, and her father, who’d been diagnosed with cancer, “I knew I needed a career that used my marketing degree and allowed me to work from home,” she says. Real estate was the answer. Now the top sales associate at her company, Fore closed 43 transactions and $9 million in sales in 2006.

Willkommen, Benvenuto: Although she said “ciao” to the runways of New York and Milan, Fore’s international experience has given her unique insights into the needs of buyers relocating from out of the country. She hosts an annual cultural festival to celebrate her clients’ countries and introduce new Kentuckians to one another. To answer common relocation questions, she wrote a book, How to Buy a Home in Louisville, Kentucky, which is sold by local booksellers and on Amazon.com.

High-touch: Live online chats, videos on her Web site, and virtual walk-throughs of homes, which she burns to a DVD, help her stay in touch with far-flung prospects. Fore coined the term “techno-facing,” to describe her strategy, which merges high-tech service with a high degree of personal interaction.