Amy Biegelsen

Historic tax credits are the hot topic in Missouri where Gov. Jay Nixon is pushing to shrink the state's program in the waning days before the state legislature adjourns.

Missouri's program is the country's largest, but the state's offer to assist developers rehabbing historic properties cost the state $186 million last year, more than double the second largest program in Virginia. (Developers used historic tax credits to renovate Richmond's Carpenter Center.) The Missouri Business Journal reports that the latest figures "for the tax credit caps circulating Jefferson City include $75 million a year for historic tax credits, half of the current $140 million cap."

While the Show Me State works to cap the amount they dole out in credits, other states are rolling out new and revamped programs and touting them as the cause du jour: a job engine, of course.

Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin caught some flack last month when he voted to approve a developer's plan to dig up bodies buried in a cemetery in Atlanta's tony Buckhead neighborhood. The developer claimed that when he bought the lot, he was unaware that it was a burial ground, but now the bones were in the way of his plans for the property. The other 11 council members voted against the measure, leaving the dead to rest in peace, but developers versus the deceased is a more persistent problem than one might think.

John Bezik and his wife Cyndee own a home, but for now they're living in a $2.8 million, 6,500-square-foot home outside Scottsdale, Ariz., that has been on the market for more than a year.

It's not their house, but they sleep there at night. By day, they keep the pool sparkling, the plants trimmed and the interior showroom-quality immaculate in case a real estate agent wants to bring a buyer through at a moment's notice.

They decided to rent out their home and act as interim caretakers of another until the market improves. But John Bezik is not, as the saying goes, just a member, he's also the president.

The owner of San Francisco's most famous "painted lady" Victorian has put it on the market for $4 million. Michael Shannon's four-story, corner property punctuates the end of one of the city's most photogenic blocks, known as Postcard Row. The sale has drummed up some attention, but he's used to that.

Left-coast Scientologist and musician Beck sold his Malibu rancher at a loss this month, but it's a race to the bottom as right-coast Fox News personality Glenn Beck also tries to offload his Connecticut mansion for six figures less than he bought it. Which Beck will win -- or, uh -- lose?