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Rants and Raves

Nine real-estate blogs give the inside scoop on everything from sagging home prices to academic scores at local schools.

by Stacy Dale
posted on July 01, 2007

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Credits: Marko Roeper

1. A SAN FRANCISCO REAL ESTATE BLOG (sfhomeblog.com)
Reading SFHomeBlog.com, in which local Realtor Matt Lanning shares his professional musings on the market, is like having an expert for a neighbor—one who likes to spout out random articles you should read and trade shows you should attend. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but it’s an easy and often interesting read.

2. BURBED (burbed.com)
Burbed calls itself the “Bay Area home price insanity blog,” and the posts reflect that attitude, reminding us of what it feels like to live in a place where one-bedroom condos start at half a million bucks. Focused mostly on the Peninsula and South Bay (hence the “suburban” moniker), Burbed can veer toward the cynical, but serves a useful purpose as a place to vent and get some refreshing distance from all the serious talk and seriously high prices.

3. CURBED SF (sf.curbed.com)
This little-bit-of-everything local blog covers up-and-coming properties with unusual features (such as the “bathroom in the middle of the house” post) as well as topics such as new real-estate developments, demolitions and home improvement. Sifting through the mass of posted categories can sometimes overwhelm, but entries are mostly lighthearted, and images and links abound.

4. INMANBLOG (blog.inman.com)
A national real-estate blog with the Bay Area in mind, InmanBlog is an offshoot of Emeryville’s InmanNews. It’s perfect for those who like to be updated on what’s happening outside our bubble—educated editorial interpretation of news stories is the theme instead of the common rants that can run rampant in the blog world.

5. MARIN REAL ESTATE BUBBLE (marinrealestatebubble.blogspot.com)
This is where Marinites gather (virtually, that is) to discuss North Bay real estate. Topical entries are often long, and include articles from the Marin Independent Journal. The blog focuses on issues such as NIMBYism rather than on property listings. People who comment are like-minded and post fairly regularly. Resources are listed in a sidebar, so you know where the author’s information comes from, and can decide whether to trust it.

6. MATRIX (matrix.millersamuel.com)
This blog from NYC real-estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel and its cofounder and CEO, Jonathan Miller, is a place to brush up on your national trends. Miller has been quoted as an expert by The New York Times and the AP, and the blog itself has received national attention. Although it tends to keep its eyes east, it’s a good place for SFers who want to understand the local market in the context of the national one. Posts are in-depth, and the blog’s sidebar has more informative links than you can shake a mouse at.

7. PROPERTY SHARK (propertyshark.com)
This is the most comprehensive national property search engine and research site. To get the full effect, you need to join, but doing so is free and requires only the basics: name, phone number, email and real-estate interests. You’ll have full access to property profiles, including price, property description, general overview, ownership summary, title documents, property-tax history, complaints, neighborhood price history, urban-landscape maps and demographics. It’s enough to make you dizzy—or lead you to the perfect property.

8. TRULIA (trulia.com)
It’s the site all other sites are raving about. This national real-estate search engine, based right here in SF, offers several ways to search for homes. There’s the usual city/neighborhood search, plus a host of real-estate guides offering insider info on area academic performance and average property price. If you’re a junkie for charts and graphs, use the Heat Maps to track the most popular places to live. Lastly, there is Trulia Voices, a forum where anyone can post questions. You don’t need to sign up to use Trulia, but opening a profile can have its benefits, including the ability to save listings you’re interested in and comment on them.

9. SOCKETSITE (socketsite.com)
You can think of SocketSite as a sister to Curbed SF, with a good dose of sibling rivalry: It covers much of the same territory—listings, eye candy and all-around real-estate smut—and fans regularly argue about which site does a better job. Some posts turn into discussions that get lengthy and opinionated, so if you want to comment, get ready to swim with the sharks. If you’re looking for specific topics, you can search for posts based on several categories—but keep in mind that you can’t narrow down by neighborhood.

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