Curb Your Enthusiasm

In this real estate market, blogs like Curbed SF have changed the rules of engagement.

There’s a new player in the often-cutthroat world of San Francisco real estate. Blowing a healthy gust of wind up the skirts of established realtors and agencies, Curbed SF (sf.curbed.com) goes beyond the marketing spin found on the MLS or in the classifieds to reveal the rumors behind Sunset fixer-uppers and Pacific Heights mansions alike.

In this patch of the blogosphere, investors looking for the best “price chopper” listing mingle with concerned Bernal Heights dog owners and design junkies keeping their eyes on modernist tree houses they can order for their backyards.

Launched in March as a spin-off of successful Curbed real estate blogs in New York and Los Angeles, Curbed SF comes from the keyboard of editor Phil Ferrato, a corporate chef by day and firebrand by night. Ferrato admits his goal is to shock readers with his various postings on everything from architecture to zoning laws.

“I see it as my job to make people spit out their coffee in the morning,” he admits. His addictive pastime is all about satisfying his own curiosities about the local market. It’s also about filling in the blanks.

As opposed to traditional websites maintained by agencies or often-minimalist online listings, Curbed SF—along with a crop of similar blogs such as Socketsite and Zillow—focuses on telling tales. It’s the equivalent of exchanging under-your-breath gossip over the back fence. You can find out the latest on the new development going up in Potrero Hill (neighbors are calling it “haphazard planning”) or the story behind why that picturesque Palladian gem in Clarendon Heights just can’t seem to sell (“It came on the market last year at $6.75M with Zephyr … Their 90 days ended and it wound up in the lap of Hill & Co. ... A drive-by indicates the front door is at the end of a two-story-high flight of stone steps … This can now be had for a mere $4,500,000 ... ”).

Tidbits like these, and the snarky commentary that accompanies them, are fodder for everyone from experienced investors to tenants who are eager to see the bubble pop so they can buy in. These consumers of “realty porn”—a term sprinkled throughout the blog—want the latest insider information, and while they’re at it, they can’t help peeking into the unattainable homes of their rich neighbors.

So far, Curbed has made more friends than enemies. Zephyr Real Estate’s Matt Lanning, who runs his own blog (www.sfhomeblog.com), is one such fan. “Keeping an up-to-date forum on real estate issues creates more-informed buyers and investors,” he says.

Those looking to buy or sell get a better idea of the market and ask better questions. “There is no way to replace the knowledge of an experienced realtor on the street, but the gist of it is that the more people know coming in, the better the deal will run,” says Lanning. And as the saying goes, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. But Ferrato himself warns Curbed SF readers to take the content with a grain of salt. “Information is still missing everywhere,” he points out. “Curbed SF is about humor, gossip, speculation and creating links between people who have information and people who want it.”

email page | print page