Inman News has opened the conversation on a list of reforms for the real estate industry (see "Reforming real estate").

The release of the list has ignited a range of commentary, and we welcome continued discussions with you in refining this list.

Already, we've heard comments ranging from, "This is insane" and "would be the demise of our industry" to "we have been given some very important dialogue that needs to be evaluated in the future to find a successful model that might help to bring our industry back to where it needs to be."

This is a collaborative work -- tell us where you see fatal flaws and suggest additions and subtractions.

Send us your own version of the "10 Points List" or related commentary to future@inman.com.

Flickr photo by yoppy.

A few months ago, the National Association of REALTORS announced that it had begun the search to find a Social Media Manger for what is America's largest trade organization. 

The search has come to an end. Today, NAR announced that they have hired Todd Carpenter to the organization's first Social Media Manager.  In a very Web 2.0 manner, the announcement was made by REALTOR.org's Managing Editor, Hilary Marsh, on AgentGenius.  

Todd's first appearance in his new role will be at RE Barcamp Virginia, next week.  I'll be there, and I'll be interviewing Todd live from the event.  

As a community manager, myself, I think I might have an idea of what Todd might be able to expect in his new role.  On the other hand, I am sure that he will be presented with challenges that he never even considered.

Inman News has launched an online survey, "Beyond Brick and Mortar," that seeks your input on the changing real estate brokerage office.

Share your insight on ways in which brokers are finding greater efficiencies in operations and agents are finding greater mobility through technological innovations.

We are offering a $200 Amazon.com gift card as a prize to a survey participant, selected at random.

Our congratulations to Mauricio DeFrancisco, an agent with Fortune International Realty in Weston, Fla., who will receive a $200 gift card for his participation in a previous survey focused on real estate commissions.

During the month of March, Inman News will be publishing stories focused on rethinking the traditional brick-and-mortar brokerage office and technologies enabling virtual brokerage operations.

We are offering a free pass to the upcoming Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco (Aug. 5-7) to the author of each essay that we publish in full (essays should be 500-1,000 words and should not promote a particular company) that is focused on the reshaping of the traditional brokerage office and the role that the office plays in agents' daily work. Click here for details.

Flickr photo by zenobia_joy.

A post that Phoenix-based broker-owner Jay Thompson wrote for his blog, "The Phoenix Real Estate Guy," is turning up on page one of Google search results for "home buyers tax credit" -- higher than the IRS, Realtor.org and mainstream news, he Tweets.

The tax credit is a hot topic right now because the new stimulus bill expands the existing $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers (anyone who hasn't owned a primary residence in the last three years) to $8,000, eliminates a requirement to repay the credit, and extends the previous July 1 sunset to Dec. 1.

That's not quite as much as the $15,000 credit for all homebuyers that was in the Senate version of the bill, but the news is generating lots of interest on the Net. Thompson demonstrates how to capitalize on such news events: with a thorough, accurate table comparing the existing tax break to the new one.

Thompson doesn't rank as high if you use the more formal search term, "home buyer tax credit" (with no s after buyer -- both searches conducted without quotation marks). Nevertheless, an impressive accomplishment for a blog to land on page 1 of Google search results.

Another facet of massive stimulus bill that you can capitalize on in your blog because it's getting lost or buried in many news stories: The legislation reinstates the higher $729,750 loan limit in high-cost areas in place for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA during much of 2008 (see Inman News story).

Get more tips on blogging from Thompson and more than 380 other members of Inman.com Real Estate Bloggers group.

This month, Inman News is focusing coverage on the issue of percentage-based real estate commissions and other industry compensation practices.

We value your views and insight. Tell us about pressing problems in real estate compensation practices; what is working or isn't working about commission-based services; compensation trends in your market area; and alternative compensation models -- or pick your own topic related to compensation.

We are awarding one free pass to the upcoming Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco (for new registrations only) to the author of every guest contribution that is published in full at Inman News.

We are looking for contributions in the range of 500 to 1,000 words, though we will consider entries with more or fewer words. Please do not use these essays as a marketing tool to promote your company or product -- such entries will be disqualified.

Some questions to consider:

1. What, if anything, is broken or dysfunctional about compensation practices in the industry? What changes or fixes would you like to see in compensation practices? What are the major barriers to change?

2. What trends do you see in compensation splits between agents and brokers?

3.Are percentage-based commission rates rising, falling, or remaining steady in your market area, and what is driving these trends?

4. What should consumers know about industry compensation practices, and why? What do consumers think they know about compensation practices but are wrong about?

5. What have been the least successful alternative compensation models and why? What have been the most successful alternative compensation models and why?

6. Has technology had any impact on industry practices? Explain.

Please join in the discussion: Click here to share your views and insight with Inman News readers, or send us e-mail.

Flickr photo by ralphunden.

Congratulations to Alisha Alway Braatz, a real estate professional in Bend, Oregon, who submitted the winning Roadmap to Recovery essay "Revolutionary thinking for real estate."

Alisha walks away with the $500 check for her efforts.

Licensed in 2006, Alisha Alway Braatz is a sales associate with Cushman & Tebbs Sotheby's International Realty in Bend.

Formerly with Sun River Realty, Alway Braatz briefly worked for a small boutique real estate firm before joining Sotheby's.

To read Alway Braatz's essay along with the other nine finalists, download the Roadmap to Recovery Top 10 special report; which available for free to Inman News Premium Members.

If you're not already an Inman News Premium Member, upgrade your account today!

In another casualty of the housing bust, The Shire, a Lord of the Rings-themed development in Bend, Oregon, has fallen into bank hands, according to the The Bend Bulletin.

The 6-acre property, which only has one-partially completed home and 14 vacant lots, is now on sale for $1.3 million. A public auction in December resulted in no bids which forced lender Umpqua Bank to foreclose in mid-January.

Umpqua had originally loaned developers $3.4 million in 2004 to build out their fantasy "village".

The Shire was conceived as a place where Lord of the Rings enthusiasts could congregate and, as such, the codes, covenants and restrictions of the project reflected this goal.

The CC&Rs promoted the use of English architecture, including unique stonework, artificial thatched roofs, terraced gardens and a network of streams and ponds with a pathway leading to what was called The Ring Bearer’s Court.

In all likelihood however, this vision will never be realized, according to the listing agent.

“The bank is trying to sell it to a single developer,” he said. “The CC&Rs could, in most probability, change.”

Say it ain't so, Bilbo!

(h/t re: PDX)

We are going to be taking a look at the real estate commission model all month long here at Inman News.  You'll find columns and guest perspectives about the future of real estate commissions, and Premium Members can look forward to receiving an Inman special report, "Is 6 Percent Dead."  We will also offer for purchase a special Inman Research Report, "The Future of Real Estate Commissions" later in the month (Feb. 12th and 26th, respectively) - Inman Premium Members receive an exclusive discount off the purchase of this report.

 The commission-based compensation model that dominates the real estate industry is something that always garners plenty of debate and discussion.  We'll be your source for much of that discussion and debate during February, but some of it has already started. . .

Real estate agent and AgentGenius contributor, Jonathan Dalton, wrote a post yesterday opening the debate on real estate commissions.  The comment discussion that followed is spirited, and well worth a read.  It is the perfect warm-up for what is to come here at Inman News.