A local real estate agent who specializes in short sales is hoping to share her knowledge to help homeowners and the local real estate market recover. "Part of the problem is: people feel so helpless in their situation.” Marcia Hilber, a principal broker at Coldwell Banker in Bend says our housing market will be challenging until most of the distressed properties are out of the inventory. She is offering a free forum to help people better understand short sales and foreclosures. She says the Internet is a source of a lot of misleading and bad information. “And I think a big part of the reason why people feel they are un-empowered or feel like they don't have the "right" to converse with their bank or have some control over the situation is because they feel like they don't have enough information." The free forum also features a local attorney to give information and answer questions. It will be on Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Coldwell Banker Morris Real Estate on SW Bluff Drive. You need to RSVP for the event.