The Wall Street Journal delves into the world of real estate blogs this morning, with a focus on their commenting culture, to see how they're faring as the housing crisis continues. "Thanks to the housing crisis, real-estate blogs are blooming not only in number, but in nastiness, as thousands of strangers swap stinging critiques of high-end homes hitting the market." The paper looks at the fallout from the jabs, citing one house seller who tuned in to Brownstoner and saw his property getting the royal treatment, from us and from the commenters, alike. "Readers quickly chimed in, citing overuse of track lighting and black granite and calling the border on the bathtub 'hideous' and the furniture 'cheesy,'" they write. "'They're probably hipsters — people who live really grungy,' counters Dr. Fernandez, noting that the bathroom tiles are handmade and the 'cheesy' furniture cost over $100,000." When another owner wrote in to defend her property, she was welcomed and called brave by, well, you guys. That's right: you can be nice. What the article doesn't say is that we have seen community forged from these pages at events like the commenters' party earlier this month.
Housing Blogs Throw Stones [WSJ]
