Move Inc.'s makeover of Realtor.com has created a buzz -- our coverage of the rollout of a redesign that's been through months of testing was the most widely read story on the Inman News site this week -- but apparently little enthusiasm.

Judging by reader comments on the story, many Realtors remain unconvinced that their interests are aligned with Move Inc.'s, and question whether Realtor.com (the official site of the National Association of Realtors) works for them.

A comment from Charlottesville, Va. Realtor and blogger Jim Duncan sums up the mood:

"It's time to reclaim [Realtor.com] and give the Realtors access to the data and information rather than keep selling it back to the Realtors themselves - the ones who generate that which gives [the site] the advantage it currently holds."

Phoenix-based Realtor Russell Shaw has created a Web page with links to posts around the 'Net dedicated, he says, to reclaiming Realtor.com for Realtors.

"When it comes to residential real estate it is still the most recognized and most respected name in the world," he says of the Web's most visited real estate site. "I want the National Association of REALTORS to fully reclaim REALTOR.com. Take it back and make it a member benefit."

One of the links on Shaw's site is to a post by ActiveRain Corp. co-founder Jonathan Washburn, "NAR: It's time to make a move on Move."

In short, Washburn -- who also runs his own brokerage, Brio Realty -- says NAR should just buy Move Inc., because it will be hard to get out of the agreement it made with the company to operate Realtor.com, and Move's stock price has fallen to the point where it's within reach of NAR.

Practical? Necessary? Tell us what you think.

The Inman Special Report, "25 Most Influential Bloggers: 2008," is now available exclusively to Inman News Premium Members as a PDF download! 

 If you're not a Premium Member, now would be a great time to join.  Once you become a Premium Member, you'll not only get access to this special report, but all of the Inman News special reports, premium content, and special features.  

The 2008 edition of the Inman News Special Report, "25 Most Influential Bloggers," will be released tomorrow.  What can you expect from the special report?  Here's a glimpse from the introduction:

"There is a busy field of bloggers in the real estate industry, and some clear standouts that have built a loyal following. This annual list of most influential real estate bloggers recognizes those bloggers who are well-known, well-read and have a knack for stirring up discussion and debate on important, timely and relevant topics for the industry. In addition to this list of 25 bloggers, we provide a handful of notables who are also stirring up the blogosphere."

And that's not all.  The report also names 10 of the most influential blogs that focus on economic and financial issues, along with 10 of the best international real estate blogs.  If you want to know who the movers and shakers are in the real estate blogosphere, this is where you can find them! 

This special report will be available exclusively to Inman News Premium Members as a PDF download.  If you're not a Premium Member, now would be a great time to join.  Once you become a Premium Member, you'll not only get access to this special report, but all of the Inman News special reports, premium content, and special features.  

Last week, I shared with you the thoughts of Stephen Jagger regarding Gary Vaynerchuk and his upcoming keynote presentation at Inman Connect NYC '09.  I wanted to share with you the thoughts of Inman Premium Member Jay Thompson on that very same subject.

Jay recently wrote a post on his website, PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com, that shares his personal thoughts about Vaynerchuk's recent keynote at the Web 2.0 Expo in NYC.  The post includes video of Vaynerchuk's presentation there.  What does Jay think about the fact that Vaynerchuk will be a keynote speaker at Connect NYC '09?

"That alone is worth the price of admission."

I don't think I could have said it any better myself.  If you haven't registered for Connect NYC '09 yet, what are you waiting for?  Register today!  If you are a blogger, ask me about our special "blogger pricing" promotion.  You can send me an email, and I'll give you all the details:  Daniel.Rothamel@Inman.com  

Lenderama's Todd Carpenter says that if he was the National Association of Realtor's social media manager, there are about two dozen things he'd do, including "take a long hard look at NAR’s leadership (and determine) their willingness/competence to participate in social media and evaluate the possible strengths of each member."

Social media guru Dustin Luther says that if HE was NAR's social media manager, he would "listen to the needs of NAR executives and execute on their ideas."

Luther has an insider's perspective. The founder of Rain City Guide (he now blogs at 4realz.net), Luther resigned his position as director of consumer innovations at Move Inc. -- which operates Realtor.com -- in December, after serving in the post for a year.

Why does NAR need a social media manager? The group has blogs, podcasts and "several different things happening on Twitter," Realtor.org's Hillary Marsh told Inman News this week.

Carpenter says he's applied for the job.

Luther says, that "if I was in Todd’s shoes, I’d only give it passing interest until they added some real decision making authority and bumped up the title considerably."

One of the features available to Inman.com users is the ability to have a personalized signature attached to all of your comments on the site.  We enabled this feature so that folks could not only personalize their Inman.com experience, but also as a way of promoting their services to anyone who visits Inman.com. 

I previously wrote a post outlining the guidelines we had in mind for comment signatures.  Recently, we have discovered a need to make the guidelines more specific, so comment signature guidelines have been added to the Community Guldelines page.  Please take a look at them.

Basically, what it boils down to is this:  don't put more than 2 links in your comment signature, and don't link keywords, just URLs.  If your keywords are part of your URL, more power to you.  

We want to keep spam at bay, and we don't want to make the links in comment signatures "no follow."  If everyone could make sure that their comment signatures meet the guidelines, it would help quite a bit.

Also, if you see a comment that has a signature that violates the guidelines, just flag it.  I'll get it in my moderation queue, and I can send a friendly reminder to the user, reminding them of the guidelines, and asking them to comply.

I love reading all of the insightful comments from our users and members.  The discussions that happen here at Inman.com are robust, lively, and interesting.  I really want it to continue that way, just without the keyword links. ;-)

Thanks!

One of the things I love about being the Community Manager here at Inman News is that I get to see first hand the creativity and overall "coolness" of our members.  Just the other day, Stephen Jagger, who I met at Connect San Francisco, and who will be speaking again at Connect NYC '09, sent me a video he made as part of a blog post he wrote about Connect NYC '09.

Stephen is excited not only about being a speaker at Connect NYC this year, but also about seeing one of our Keynote speakers, Gary Vaynerchuk.  Stephen has worked with Gary personally before, and he had some great things to say, so check it out:

Stephen is going to be at Connect NYC '09, and so will a whole bunch of other cool, interesting, intelligent, and insightful professionals.  will You be there?

Inman News today released a late-breaking special report titled The Path to Disaster (PDF Download); which chronicles the demise of the housing market over the last few years.

From the report's introduction:

We dug back in the Inman News archives for some forensic evidence that foretold the catastrophic demise of the boom days, for those clues — some subtle and some now painfully obvious — that this was all bound to happen.

The 10 articles presented here — originally published from 2003 to 2007 — offer discussions of ominous housing-bubble theories, the rise and the risks of subprime lending and unconventional mortgage products, skyrocketing home prices, overbuilding, the potential for a widespread credit crisis, and other contributors to the problems facing the housing and financial markets.

The lessons learned from the latest extreme run-up and burnout phases in the housing market will perhaps guide the industry and its regulators in efforts to reduce the fallout from future cycles.

Inman News Industry Special Reports are available FREE to Inman Members or as a one-time purchase of $79. Join now for instant access to our entire Special Reports library. Other recent reports include 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders.

Become an Inman News Premium Member today!

Earlier today, we were proud to announce that New York Times columnist and report Andrew Sorkin will be giving a keynote presentation at Connect NYC '09.  Andrew will be shedding some light on a question that is, no doubt, on many of our minds, "Wall Street - Where We've Been and Where Are We Going?"  You can read all about Andrew and his writings for the NY Times. 

Andrew is the second of two fabulous keynote speakers at Connect NYC '09.  The other is Gary Vaynerchuk.  I came across a very interesting video post Gary made just a few days ago.  It is particularly relevant to real estate and mortgage professionals, since Gary addresses branding, advertising, marketing, and the ROI of print vs. online.  Take a look:

Andrew and Gary are sure to deliver keynote presentations that you won't want to miss.  So what are you waiting for. . .

Register for Connect NYC '09 today!

Thumb through a series of covers from the Economist's archives.