Your Favourite Real Estate Website

MORGAN GRAY

Buzzer

24

Your Favourite Real Estate Website

What is your favourite Real Estate site (blog, analytics etc..) other than buzz-buzz of course.

I'm fairly new to the Real Estate industry and would love to compile a list of great sites to visit regularily across all areas of Real Estate to increase my knowledge base.

What sites do you think create the most value for their readers?\

Cheers,
Morgan
Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. Brokerage

56

Canada / General Chit-Chat

BRIAN PERSAUD

BabbleBee

274

12

2 BEST REPLY

there are some great condo websites, and they are totally a response to BuzzBuzzhome raising the standards. Doing research on condo sites across North America, i can tell you first hand, we in Toronto are very spoiled since BBH came into existence

ROY BHANDARI

BabbleBee

467

21

::cough cough:: TalkCondo which can be found at www.talkcondo.com :)

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

Great question... we had a similar forum post a while back, but it would be nice to have a fresh list going...
Of course, www.BuzzBuzzHome.com and http://blog.BuzzBuzzHome.com ...but, otherwise, here are some greats:
RateHub: http://www.ratehub.ca/ - Compare Mortgage Rates
TalkCondo - www.TalkCondo.com - Nice clean interface, good information. Unique concept for a real-estate agent.
Savel Sells - www.savelsells.com and http://savelblogs.com/ - Great and insightful content. The blog also cracks me up at time. Great personality.
Move Smartly - www.realosophy.com and www.movesmartly.com - Really clean and crisp design. And, I love the content on the blog and main website. Totally wicked resource.
Real Experts - http://realexpertsinc.blogspot.com Brian is not a realtor, but dang! His info is wicked.
Properties by Manny - http://propertiesbymanny.com - Looking for some amazing Vancouver information? Check out Manny... not only great project information, but we love his word-of-the-day... always learning something new.
Braun Allison - www.braunallison.com/blog - Again, not a Realtor... but, their blogs always enlighten me regarding real-estate and marketing. Love it.
Toronto Realty Blog - http://www.torontorealtyblog.com/ - So honest. So wonderful!
Benjamin Bach - www.benjaminbach.com
I am missing a lot! Please keep this list going....

CAROL AUSTIN

Buzzer

12

1

Roy said:
::cough cough:: TalkCondo which can be found at www.talkcondo.com :)

Okay Roy - good plug so I'm jumping in...and by the way, I do really like your site ;) I am new to real estate also - only been at it for a couple of years and I think I've been through about 6 different site designs and providers, and I still can't find something I'm happy with. Planning to change once again in late Spring.

However, I am starting to get into blogging and I'm kind of proud of my blog so far even though I'm just using a simple wordpress.com template. I would love any feedback. It's at www.bigcitycondos.com

BENJAMIN BACH

Buzzer

41

1

Thanks for including me - I try to be a source of info on new construction condos, development and other aspects of commercial real estate in Waterloo Region.
@benjaminbach
http://www.benjaminbach.com

RATEHUB.CA

Buzzer

114

2

Thanks for the shout out Matt!
Another great mortgage resource is Canadian Mortgage Trends! Less rate information, but they have a great handle on what's going on in the market!

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

^^Great one... Here is the link: http://www.canadianmortgagetrends.com/

MARCO DIFOTI

BabbleBee

476

12

I have really been enjoying reading BILD's blog. It has some great information.
http://www.bildblogs.ca/

ROY BHANDARI

BabbleBee

467

21

It's almost blasphemous in our business to mention "the competition" but Andrew Lafleur has a kick ass website at www.truecondos.com . Awesome blog with lots of insight.
I also love the Move Smartly blog by Realosophy that was already mentioned (www.movesmartly.com)

MORGAN GRAY

Buzzer

24

Thanks everyone for those great suggestions. I may or may not have lost half a day just reading.

Now i'd be interested to know the best sites that Realtors in particular use as tools.

I know last week on Inside Toronto Real Estate had a guy on who whos site tracked average $ sq.ft for condos in Toroto.

Any shout outs?

Thanks,
Morgan Gray

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

@Morgan: of course, first I am going to plug BuzzBuzzHome! Type any intersection, address, developer, development or neighbourhood into the search bar, and you will get see all the new construction projects in that area... Then click on one of them for the full details.
With regards to Inside Toronto Real Estate, you are referring to Ben Meyers from Urbanaton www.urbanation.ca I am not sure if Realtors use their website, but they have a great Twitter account and are full of amazing condo information and insight. www.twitter.com/urbanation
I am not a Realtor, so can't comment much further.

MARCO DIFOTI

BabbleBee

476

12

1

I have never used Urbanation, but have heard that it is excellent. I also enjoy reading their opinions in the paper. Seems like a great urban Toronto source of information.
RealNet Canada is one website that I have used in the past, and really enjoyed. They not only do condos, but also subdivisions, land deals and commercial, and are not just in the urban Toronto core, but across Ontario and maybe also Calgary.
They have a decent user interface, and really great deailed information. They are a bit pricey, but I think real estate representatives get a deal.
I also see RealNet mentioned in all the papers as a prime source of information. http://www.realnet.ca/
Thinking about it, I need to see if any of my builder friends can give me their access again!

ROY BHANDARI

BabbleBee

467

21

Morgan,
It depends on what area of real estate you want to concentrate on. For pre construction real estate many of the sites have already been mentioned (BuzzBuzzHome, TalkCondo, Urban Toronto, Urbanation etc) but if your focus is on resale or even a niche of resale (such as an area like Cabbagetown for example - Addy Saeed has a great blog about Cabbagetown) there are a number of sites that focus on those.
If you figure out what "area" of real estate you want to focus on, I recommend Twitter as a great tool for information. Many of the sites listed above are very active on Twitter and it's an amazing source of information as you often get the information in real time. Likewise, TREB have a decent twitter account that updates with useful info every now and then - if you follow the right people Twitter is the ultimate tool for information.
Hope that helps!

BRIAN PERSAUD

BabbleBee

274

12

CMHC has the most exhaustive housing research and analysis in the country.

LEONARD THE BEE

Buzzer

160

3

bzzzzz.... Thanks Brian... for anyone not wanting to Google it, their website can be found here: http://www.cmhc.ca/en/index.cfm
Buzz Out.

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

I recently found the most amazing, funny [errrr.... sad] blog around about the Toronto real estate market.
You must check out: http://fmlistings.tumblr.com/

ARA MAMOURIAN

Buzzer

71

10

Couldn't live with myself if I didn't toot my own horn. www.SpringRealty.ca is the main site and what I'm most proud of is our interactive map: http://springrealty.ca/?Toronto+Neighbourhoods+Buildings&page_id=335 with loads of neighbourhood information as well as hundreds of building data that we're constantly adding to but of course it will always be a work in progress.
we're working on integrating the new RETS feed here and should have it up and running in a couple of weeks.

MICHAEL B

Buzzer

51

5

Cool site:
http://skyscraperpage.com/

MICHAEL B

Buzzer

51

5

and http://www.vancouver-real-estate-direct.com/
if it hadn't already been mentioned

ALI MALDOFF

NewBee

1

Hey there, would love to throw the new Chestnut Park Real Estate blog into the mix: www.thechestnutparkblog.com We're a Toronto based real estate brokerage capturing people, design, history, architecture, lifestyle, cultural happenings, schools, and eclectic stories that weave together the vibrant neighbourhoods in which we work. I hope you will visit and enjoy our new blog!

ROY BHANDARI

BabbleBee

467

21

Matthew said:
I recently found the most amazing, funny [errrr.... sad] blog around about the Toronto real estate market.
You must check out: http://fmlistings.tumblr.com/

+1
Whoever runs this site...take a bow, son.

JOHN PHILLIPS

Buzzer

22

OK my turn. www.CondoNewsNetwork.com is my voice out there. BuzzBuzz and Urbantoronto are great sources.

DMOLINA

NewBee

2

Hello y'all, PropertyWire.Ca = insightful for the industry professional, from Sales and Marketing to Mortgage Trends, publications, blogs & also a forum. Check it out... I'm sure you'll enjoy and find a good read ;)

DMOLINA

NewBee

2

www.propertywire.ca

DAVID ALLISON

Buzzer

10

1

Matthew said:
Great question... we had a similar forum post a while back, but it would be nice to have a fresh list going...
Of course, www.BuzzBuzzHome.com and http://blog.BuzzBuzzHome.com ...but, otherwise, here are some greats:
RateHub: http://www.ratehub.ca/ - Compare Mortgage Rates
TalkCondo - www.TalkCondo.com - Nice clean interface, good information. Unique concept for a real-estate agent.
Savel Sells - www.savelsells.com and http://savelblogs.com/ - Great and insightful content. The blog also cracks me up at time. Great personality.
Move Smartly - www.realosophy.com and www.movesmartly.com - Really clean and crisp design. And, I love the content on the blog and main website. Totally wicked resource.
Real Experts - http://realexpertsinc.blogspot.com Brian is not a realtor, but dang! His info is wicked.
Properties by Manny - http://propertiesbymanny.com - Looking for some amazing Vancouver information? Check out Manny... not only great project information, but we love his word-of-the-day... always learning something new.
Braun Allison - www.braunallison.com/blog - Again, not a Realtor... but, their blogs always enlighten me regarding real-estate and marketing. Love it.
Toronto Realty Blog - http://www.torontorealtyblog.com/ - So honest. So wonderful!
Benjamin Bach - www.benjaminbach.com
I am missing a lot! Please keep this list going....

Thanks for including www.BraunAllison.com Matthew! Honoured.
I'd suggest www.RENX.ca too. Awesome aggregation of all CDN real estate news. Different than a blog, but super-informative.
David Allison

AMAR PAL

Buzzer

98

7

www.VancouverPresales.com
Well, might as well push our site into the mix too for Vancouver contingency:
Presale VIP and buyers representation in Greater Vancouver. Focused on only New Developments, and Realtor operated which is our main differentiation to some of the other very solid Vancouver sites already mentioned, and of course Buzz Buzz itself.

ALEKSANDRA OLEKSAK

NewBee

2

Of course it would have to be my new real estate blog, Realty Queen TO....www.realtyqueento.com, best new blog in Toronto LOL. What I will say is, that's it worth checking out as it's not your typical real estate blog, like all the others out there.
I talk about a bit of everything from real estate to design to keeping you up-to-date on my current flip project with lot's of tips and tricks!

MARK MCLEAN

Buzzer

51

1

Not to toot my own horn....but www.realtylaboratory.com Its less about market stuff and more about best practices for agents. I've had over 15000 people check into the site in the last 8 months and I write 3 to 4 posts a week. Check it out when you can.

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

mark said:
Not to toot my own horn....but www.realtylaboratory.com Its less about market stuff and more about best practices for agents. I've had over 15000 people check into the site in the last 8 months and I write 3 to 4 posts a week. Check it out when you can.

+1
LOVE @Mark's blog. Always fantastic original content.

ANONYMOUS

Believe it or not the City of Toronto www.toronto.ca website has some good info especially for neighbourhood demographics etc. Toronto District School Board (or any school board site) for excellent info on schools and the public site for Toronto Real Estate board has excellent market info for consumers. you gotta google them I don't remember the addresses off hand.

ELIZABETH WILSON

NewBee

1

Lots of great resources mentioned here. For the Vancouver & Lower Mainland market I'd like to add Yatter Matters http://www.yattermatters.com/ - great market analysis from a seasoned Realtor. The BC Homeowner Protection site has tons of useful information about building codes and other technical stuff at http://www.bchousing.org/aboutus/HPO. And I'd like to shamelessly promote http://www.rew.ca, the new local portal for both MLS and new development listings in the Lower Mainland.

ERIC SKICKI

NewBee

1

Hey guys, long time reader of buzzbuzz and “officially” newest member. Great website with knowledge people.
I would like to also like to introduce my blog- www.MySquareOneCondo.ca – A real estate blog which focuses on Mississauga condos; more specifically, condos around Square One shopping mall. Discussions topics include: various Mississauga condos for sale, new development projects, condominium features, market conditions and more! We also created a “condo review” section, http://mysquareonecondo.ca/CondoReviews(something which has never been done before in Mississauga), where users can compare various Square One Condos.
As far as I know, this is the only active condo real estate blog for Mississauga, which allows user interaction. Although the blog is still a baby, I encourage you time to time to check it out and see what’s new. We will be adding new exciting features to the website as we go along.
Cheers.

P JUDGE

NewBee

5

I second:
http://skyscraperpage.com/
And for the data hungry types in Toronto, check this one out:... a blog based on RealNet data
http://informedadvantage.wordpress.com/

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

Here is an other awesome blog that has popped up recently, which deals with interesting listings from across Canada (mainly Toronto): THE MASH.
http://themash.ca/
Their slogan: "Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House....the best in Canadian Real Estate Gossip!"

MOO STASH

BabbleBee

277

10

RenderPornStar is a really fun little website, where you can rate renderings weekly. New renderings come out every Monday.
http://renderpornstar.com/
(Canada wide)

JIMMY

NewBee

3

Matthew said:
Here is an other awesome blog that has popped up recently, which deals with interesting listings from across Canada (mainly Toronto): THE MASH.
http://themash.ca/
Their slogan: "Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House....the best in Canadian Real Estate Gossip!"

I love www.themash.ca. It's more about style and unique places than bitching about prices. Super fun.

MICHAEL B

Buzzer

51

5

http://www.zoocasa.com

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

^^Great one. Do you use it over Realtor.ca?

MICHAEL B

Buzzer

51

5

:) I use it (mls.ca) in combination with several others including http://www.realtylink.org/

Matthew said:
^^Great one. Do you use it over Realtor.ca?

BRIAN PERSAUD

BabbleBee

274

12

Michael said:
http://www.zoocasa.com

i posted a listing on zoocasa...very few hits. Craigslist and Kijiji were more effective

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

Brian said:
there are some great condo websites, and they are totally a response to BuzzBuzzhome raising the standards. Doing research on condo sites across North America, i can tell you first hand, we in Toronto are very spoiled since BBH came into existence

Gosh, thanks!! Can we use you on a testimonial page? :)

SERGE YOUNAN

Buzzer

11

5

For new pre-construction condos, toronto real estate & lifestyle in general, visit: www.CondoPromo.com

BEAVIS

NewBee

6

here is a pretty cool web site that instantly estimate house prices in GTA.
http://www.home2price.com

MATTHEW SLUTSKY

BuzzStaff

1969

68

Beavis said:
here is a pretty cool web site that instantly estimate house prices in GTA.
http://www.home2price.com

I just threw in a few addresses, and it is giving me some pretty weak estimates. Does anyone know how this system is trying to work?

JIMMY

NewBee

3

My fav is the Mash - www.themash.ca
So many listings, great comments, strong opinions without being too serious.

LEO TAM

NewBee

1

When it comes to real estate investment in Canada I would use http://www.viproperties.com/ Its got good information about the growth of Alberta and real estate investment opportunities in those areas.

BEAVIS

NewBee

6

Matthew said:
Beavis said:
here is a pretty cool web site that instantly estimate house prices in GTA.
http://www.home2price.com

I just threw in a few addresses, and it is giving me some pretty weak estimates. Does anyone know how this system is trying to work?

the site examine house prices of comparable houses close to the address you search for. and execute an algorithm and estimate the price. However, this site was created only a few weeks ago and it has been tracking prices in the past month or so. since the estimate is based on data of only the past month.
As time passes, the quality of the estimate will improve quickly. Actually given limited data so far the estimate is already shaping up.
Also a few new features have been added to the site in the past week or so.

SIMEON G

NewBee

9

I'm going to have to say www.christiesrealestate.com, simply because of their amazing looking images. Also, http://bluliving.com/, it just has a 'cool' feel. And to be a little bit biased, I'm going to have to say www.allur.com as well ^^

MARCO DIFOTI

BabbleBee

476

12

Simeon said:
...Also, http://bluliving.com/, it just has a 'cool' feel....

Very nice! Good find.

JIMMY

NewBee

3

My favourite is a local site www.themash.ca. Great houses, great info, great commentary and it seems to be updated everyday so lots of new stuff.

http://bit.ly/QFjoQP

JOSIE STERN

Buzzer

92

37

1

I love www.TheRealEstateGuy.ca for great content and its sleek design.

I also like http://halstead.com/ which is a NY based website for really good ideas on marketing properties.

I read http://realtylaboratory.com/ for great insights.

I'm going to suggest http://josiestern.com/ for useful content for sellers, buyers and agents in the resale market. It also has good neighbourhood content for many central TO neighbourhoods. It's only 4 months old and we've had over 25,000 unique visitors.

JULIE BROAD

NewBee

6

1

I may be a tiny bit biased but a great website to help people interested in real estate investing is http://www.revnyou.com ;)

PETER RZAZEWSKI

Buzzer

18

1

I like http://creanews.ca as a source for update stats.

The NAR's Speaking of Real Estate is good too: http://speakingofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org

Stone Home's blog offers some good marketing advice: http://www.stonehomephoto.com/blog/

REM online is ok, but the interface sucks: http://www.remonline.com

SERGE YOUNAN

Buzzer

11

5

@Josie Stern glad you like my site! Any feedback is appreciated!

MONA LISA GREY

NewBee

7

There are only two websites you need to visit if you are Canadian Real Estate investor and or a Canadian Real Estate professional.

www.preigCanada.com/membership
www.WorldWealthBuilders.com/live.html

All the best!

VADIM MARUSIN

NewBee

1

Just would like to invite to our real estate search engine with biggest listings database in Lower Mainland ( MLS + New Construction) and lots of tools and features to find your dream home.

www.rebatespace.com

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