A guest column published Friday, which suggested that a hybrid salary model could improve the quality of real estate professionals agents, has stirred up a firestorm of commentary from our readers.

I spent three days in Scottsdale last week where I participated in several sessions at Leading Real Estate Companies of the World’s Future Tense 2009 conference. Amid the golden Arizona sunshine and within the Westin Kierland, one distinct sentiment echoed throughout:

The current brokerage model is broken.

People are afraid to buy a home in times like these, with the economy tanking and home prices continuing to fall. But if you're brave enough to stray from the herd, you might be in for the home-buying opportunity of a lifetime.

The unemployment rate is creeping up and home prices keep falling: Two great reasons why it might be best to put your home buying plans on hold.

Existing home sales rose in May, as increasingly affordable home prices and a first-time tax credit attracted hesitant buyers.

Home prices fell sharply in February, but at a slower pace than in January, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's.
Home prices in 20 major cities fell 2.2% in February after a record 2.8% decline in January, S&P reported.

As home values fall, home equity credit lines -- a favorite cash source for entrepreneurs -- are vanishing.

First-time home buyers who purchase a home this year can now take advantage of the stimulus bill's $8,000 tax credit, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a news release on Wednesday.

A huge number of home value appraisals may be wrong, with most of them being much too high. That is causing banks to back away from mortgages. A house that has been appraised for $400,000 might support a $350,000 home loan. If the bank looks a the property and says it is only worth $300,000 the mortgage application gets put into the waste basket.