BEST AND WORST real estate blogs

This article will give you some expamples of good and bad real estate blogs.

When it comes to blogging you have to be current and keep your pulse on your target market and what they need and want. Lets take a quick tour of the real estate blogosphere and see who is doing it right and who is miserably failing. Remember I mentioned controversy in my last blog post? This post is likely to generate some serious haters! But so be it. This article will give you some expamples of how other real estate agents are making a name for themselves blogging and how others are just missing the boat.

Best Real Estate Blogs

RainCity
Numero uno in my book are those wild and wacky RainCity guys and gals up in Seattle. Talk about a team of real estate bloggers that write quality content daily! If you are a Realtor, Broker, Buyer, Seller or your everyday grunge bum on the Seattle streets looking to make it big in a musical movement that past you by in the mid 90s (just kidding- I know bums dont have computers) you should be reading this blog. Truth is, I live thousands of miles away from Washington and I read their blog daily! I also like the layout of this blog which is rare in the blogosphere.

San Francisco Real Estate Blog
Im a fan of this site because he is a techie that really connects with visitors through a conversational tone and quality content. He answers hard hitting local market questions while weighing in on how good Realtors and Brokers get bad websites. I love his honesty and of course, his blessed little geeky heart.

Houseblogger
This is another techie guru that connects with the Realtor market very well. He is great at stirring up controversy and giving useful advice. This is a must read blog for Realtors both because it is an example of how to do it right and because you will learn a lot of useful information there. I recommend this blog to every one of our clients once their site is up.

NYHouses4sale
I like that this Realtor is making her blog sensational by covering the Billy Joel home sale. She knows how to draw in traffic and keep it coming back. This is a great example of how to pull in buyers, sellers and general local traffic through quality "sticky" and even gossip-y content. There is education content there as well. I would definitely say this an example of a Realtor doing it right.

Now on to the bad...

Worst Real Estate Blogs

Claudia Ault
Wow, not much to say about this blog other than wow. What a mess. From a content standpoint this blog is a bi-polar wreck. The tone of the whole blog is very corporate and stodgy. And some of the content is plain old ridiculous. I saw an article on there about "How to keep cool in Sedona." I kid you not, it actually listed staying inside an air conditioned house as an option. Theres no better way to sell yourself as an expert than to make people think you are stupid. Absolutely horrible.

Vail Property Search
First, technically its a disaster- there are more than 51 HTML warnings and errors on the homepage of that blog. Secondly, this is an example of a site that is building its content almost primarily through RSS feeds. I like using RSS feeds to build content, but there is a limit. The problem with so many RSS feeds is that you dont have unique copy that search engines will appreciate and frankly, the content is pretty boring and feels like it came right out of the local newspaper. Where there is custom content, it feels very contrived and corporate. Blogging is about having a conversation with an audience of one. You need to make it feel like you are talking directly to your visitors, not like you are giving a state of the union address. This is just a very boring blog.

Southwest Florida Real Estate
Can you say UGLY? Im not sure which is worse- the website or the blog. This Realtor also doesnt know that the key to a blog is FREQUENCY! The blog articles are almost a year apart. You have a blog because it makes it easy for you to add and edit content so can blog daily or at a minimum weekly, not annually. I have nothing else to say about this one.

http://www.rsspieces.com/00015A

http://www.rsspieces.com/best-and-worst-real-estate-blogs

Posted on October 04, 2006 12:08:32

Comment from: Zach [Visitor]

I came here to see what the big fuss was about on ActiveRain. Someone said this site didn't validate and was selling validation services. W3C says it validate. What is up?

Permalink October 15, 2006 19:11:53

Comment from: Mike Elliott [Visitor]

· http://mikeelliottsblog.wordpress.com/

http://mikeelliottsblog.wordpress.com/

Great blog, please check mine out too.

Permalink June 11, 2007 10:42:06

Comment from: Katie Grace [Visitor]

I've gotten a lot out of this blog until now. This was just mean. There is another, more tactful and professional way to show a good blog versus a bad. You've lost a reader in me with this one.

Permalink July 27, 2007 18:34:26

Comment from: Guest [Visitor]

· http://www.rsspieces.com

Katie,

People need to know what makes a bad blog and what makes a good blog. Examples speak louder than words. There are examples of good and bad blogs here. It may be mean but it is also true.

Permalink April 04, 2008 11:38:10

Comment from: bob [Visitor] · http://www.leannahhunt.com/

Leannah Hunt (Leannah Hunt) The worst real estate agent you could ever imagine. She thinks she is so good but is really dreadful she puts you in a contract you can’t get out of that old evil devilish witch. That is all i have to say

Permalink April 16, 2008 20:50:31

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