I hope by now everyone reading this has seen my Top 10 real estate posts of the day which I do 5 days a week. Doing those posts means I need to stay up on hundreds of real estate websites on a daily basis. While I am sure I do not have every great blog in my RSS reader, I am betting most of the great ones are in my list of over 300 blogs which I follow daily.
Maybe you don’t have the sickness I do which requires me to spend 3 hours a day going through other peoples posts like I do, but you want to stay on top of what is going on in the industry. What I have done is select a list of ten blogs I would keep in my RSS reader if I could only have 10. They range from national blogs such as Active Genius to local blogs such as Real Central VA. Also there are paid services sites that would be included in a good Top 10 list, but for this list I am including only ones that are free to everyone.
So here they are, 10 blogs (in no particular order) that should be in your RSS reader.
National blogs
These blogs focus on national issues and national audiences.
Agent Genius
This is the one blog you need to keep your eye on for what is going on with real estate on a daily basis. The blog covers every issue you can think of and is not afraid of controversy. You may not like every post they allow on their site, but they are not afraid to throw stuff out there and see how it goes.
Bigger Pockets
Bigger pockets has a great mix of what is hot in real estate and brings you some of the best information on real estate investment on the net. If you are an investor or work with investors you need to check them out daily. In full disclosure I recently started to write for them on a weekly basis, but anyone who follows my Daily Top 10 knows I have been including their posts several times a week for a long time.
Local Blogs
These blogs focus more on their local market.
Real Central VA
Jim Duncan has his pulse on Charlottesville VA, both the real estate market and community events. Few, if any, do a better job combining both market stats and general community information on their sites. And every now in then he will weigh in on a national real estate topic with a point of view worth listening to.
Miamism
Ines makes you feel like you are living in Miami. Everyone has an impression of what it must be like to live in Miami, and watching her posts makes you feel like you are part of that action. But that is not where Ines really separates herself. In my opinion Ines has the best community pages on the net, not just for Miami, but for any region in America. I must admit, I have been trying to copy what she is doing lately and just wishing I could do it as good as her. Check out her community pages.
Ian Watt
I hear it in my sleep… “Hi this is Ian Watt in downtown Vancouver” and if you want to know what is going on in downtown Vancouver this is where you turn to. Ian is the most consistent video blogger in the real estate industry which is why he was featured in Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It book. If you want ideas on video blogging for your community check him out.
Mix of national and local
Phoenix Real Estate Guy
Everyone seems to know Jay Thompson (full disclosure as of this week he became my broker, but he would have made this list anyways). Jay is one of those guys who just dominates the online market in his area. Why? Because he has been writing good content for a long time. And the key there is “good content.” Just watch the comments section on Jay’s blog. Jay writes both about local events and national issues. If you are looking for good quality content on a regular basis this is a must. And if you are ever looking for the new fun toys for your blog, he probably has them on his site too.
Rain City Guide
Rain City Guide is one of the original real estate blogs everyone turned to, and still puts out amazing content to this day. Whether you want national issues, lending content or local Seattle information Rain City Guide continues to pump out great information from a variety of sources.
Lender Blogs
The Mortgage Reports
Let’s face it, reading about mortgage information is not the most enjoyable thing in the world (besides for a few sickos out there). There are a couple such as Rhonda Porter and Justin McHood who make it somewhat interesting, but Dan Green in my opinion puts out the best content on a regular basis.
Thought Provokers
These final two go in a class by themselves. They make you think. You will not always agree with them, I am sure they wouldn’t want you to because they love the back and forth so much.
1000watt blog
I am trying to remember the last time I read something on 1000watt blog that I thought, nothing interesting here. It just does not happen. Marc, Brian and Joel are all must reads, but I have to admit a little bias here. I cannot think of one person in real estate who really gets challenging my thinking more than Marc Davidson. There are many people who disagree with him on a lot of issues as you will see following him on Twitter. But he always has great back up for his ideas. Brain and Joel are no slouches either and the three of them make an incredible team that I hope I get to meet in person soon.
The Notorious Rob
I consider Rob Hahn in the same class as Marc Davidson. Rob also likes to think big and think outside the box. Rob is always challenging everything and everyone and it makes the discussion better. If you are ever wondering what the hot topic of the week is in RE.net, check out Rob’s site, I can assure you he is writing about it and challenging your thinking.
Before anyone gets upset, there are other great blogs out there that I would not want to miss like Sellsius, Geek Estate, Rhonda Porter, Kris Berg, Bloodhound Blog, Mike Mueller and Theressa Boardman. Those were just some off the top of my head. You could make an argument for any one of them to be in the top 10, but I had to draw the line somewhere. I know there is not one person who will agree with this list 100% and that is ok. This is just my list, let me know what your list is below.
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