Photo by JERRY KALMAN

"SWAMPED. Real estate is swamped and once wonderful homes, even lakefront properties, slowly sink in value."

Jerry Kalman, a Realtor with RE/MAX United in Bonsall, Calif., submitted this photo and caption for the Inman News Photo Contest. Click here to view a larger version of this photo.

Click here: "A picture is worth 1,000 words (and $200)" for more details about the photo contest.

Deadline for entries is March 31. View some of the contest entries here.

Send us your best single photo that captures the state of the residential real estate market for a chance to win a $200 gift card from Amazon.com. Your photo submission should be in digital form and must be sent via e-mail (to future@inman.com) or available for viewing on the Web. The photo can be color or black and white.

The photo should tell a story about the housing market and it should not be a marketing or promotional photo for a particular property, company, business model or individual. Click here to view some entries already submitted.

The contest deadline is March 31, 2009.

Details here: "A picture is worth 1,000 words (and $200)."

Flickr photo by bogenfreund.

Inman News reporter Matt Carter delves into the courtship and parting of ways by Realtor.com operator Move Inc. and real estate blogging network ActiveRain in a two-part series.

Move Inc. had eyed an acquisition of ActiveRain but pulled out of the deal. In response, ActiveRain filed a lawsuit.

Read both parts:

Code name 'Waterfall': Move's play for ActiveRain

Why did Move spurn ActiveRain?

Flickr photo by (Bill and Mavis) - B&M Photography.

This latest Inman News research report is based on a comprehensive survey on real estate compensation, conducted from November 2008 to February 2009. It reveals an industry in transition, with some stark contrasts to results from a previous survey conducted in June 2006.

The report includes a comprehensive examination of commission rates, commission splits, gross commission income, various costs of business including marketing costs and broker fees, and analyses of statistics based on location, experience in the industry and hours worked per week, among other factors.

Inman News Research Report - Real Estate Commissions: 2009

We have also made the survey data available to download for an additional $50 with the purchase of the report. Pay $80 more and get the survey data plus the Real Estate Commissions: 2006 Report.

Click here for purchase options.

Last week, the editorial team at Inman News published a list of 10 real estate industry reforms.  The list generated some good discussion, and we know that there are a lot of people out there who still have something to say, but might not have had the chance.

That's why we created the "Reforming Real Estate" group in the Inman Community.  Join the group, and you will find discussion topics having to do with the list and the suggested reforms.  

 For the benefit of those who aren't Inman Premium members and can't access the archive of the full article, here is a summary of the list:

1. Create a more effective regulatory framework for real estate and mortgage professionals.

2. Reform the mortgage origination process.

3. Promote a more efficient real estate industry, reducing costs and promoting services that favor the consumer.

4. Ensure competition and transparency in the way real estate agents are compensated.

5. Consolidate MLS information into a single national database.

6. Real estate professionals should provide buyers and sellers with vastly improved market analytics.

7. Reform the mortgage securitization process.

8. Reduce settlement services costs, regulate bundling of services to prevent price gouging.

9. Ensure affordable housing, smart development.

10. Remove barriers to alternative business models.

If you agree with any or all of the items on the list, tell us why.  If you hated them, tell us that, too.  Heck, if you want to come up with a list all your own, you can even share that with everyone. 

Inman Community membership is open to anyone with an Inman News account.  If you don't have one, simply sign-up.  It's free, and the discussion is sure to be interesting and enlightening . . .

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.