Back in December I ran a series of interviews with the real estate bloggers who most inspired me. Seeing as how I missed a few great bloggers that round, I thought I would revisit this topic and interview a few more great real estate bloggers! As with the previous interviews, I’ll keep my own opinions out and let the bloggers speak for themselves! Keep coming back for a post each day this week featuring an interview with a great real estate blogger!

[photopress:noah.jpg,full,alignright]In less than a year of covering NY real estate, Noah Rosenblatt has turned his blog, UrbanDigs, into a must read for quality real estate content as he tends to leave out the fluff and focus on in depth analysis and advice while still providing plenty of color on his site. Even though his focus is on New York, there’s enough meat in each of his posts that even us west coasters are likely to see a jump in our IQ after a visit to UrbanDigs.

What inspired you to start blogging?

To educate New Yorkers on the most important aspects of profiting from NYC real estate. It’s really targeted to buyers/sellers of this very different market.

Are there any special topics or issues that you enjoy covering?

Yes. I love covering Interest Rate’s and some of the macro signs that the fed looks at when deciding where to go with monetary policy. It’s such an important aspect of the real estate industry, especially in this city where premium existing apartments are selling for over $1,000/ sq. ft..

What have you done to personalize your blog?

I really gave it a facelift to make it visually appeasing to my readers. I also added a Live Chat session every MON – FRI from 10:00 – 12:00PM for anyone to stop by and ask their questions; first time buyers seem to love it.

Do you have any favorite posts?

Sure do. I love my post on Maintenance Charges: The Hidden Devil.

I like the little formula that is at the end of the post that every buyer should look at and calculate the #’s for a property they may be. It allows them to see how the total monthlies should affect the asking price as they review comps and currently active listings in the same building.

I also like my posts on A Buyer Broker and How To Find Good Value In A Sellers Market.

The latter talks about what to pay for and what NOT to pay for when the inventory is tight! Good advice to use in general when looking to buy a new apartment in NYC.

What are some of your favorite blogs (real estate or otherwise)?

Besides RCG? I love:

• http://www.curbed.com/
• http://matrix.millersamuel.com/
• http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/
• http://money.cnn.com/real_estate/

Last one is not a blog but a must in my mind.

What tools/websites do you find most helpful in putting together your blog?

I like Movable Type software and would recommend them to any future blogger. Its very easy to use and pretty advanced. I like Feedburner for feeds, and Technorati for exposure. Also submit to Yahoo Directory and all the major blog search engines; too many to name.

How does blogging fit into the overall marketing of your business?

I devote about 3-4 hours a day to blogging; which includes the 2 hour chat session. Its difficult sometimes to do really in depth analysis and post on it, but overall, I expect my time devoted to UrbanDigs to compliment my residential sales business model that I am building for myself in NYC. Buyers/Sellers here love honesty and passion. UrbanDigs is an expression of me to that respect and my clients love it. I do NOT market my exclusives on UrbanDigs though.

What plans do you have to improve your blog over this next year?

I have plans to introduce a number of virtual calculators with my own formulas (I love math!) that I think will be very useful for buyers/sellers of NYC real estate. They will each have its own focused application; such as a RENT vs. BUY calculator that is far better than bankrate.com’s or any other one I’ve used. These tools are vital for this fast paced market and should be very helpful. A few should be live by the end of March.

What is the one tool or feature that you wish your site had?

I would say Virtual Calculators. Since we don’t have them yet, I wish I had them now! I’m not really interested in putting any sales system into the site as I don’t think that is the point of UrbanDigs.

What do you think real estate blogging will look like 3 years from now?

I think it will be a integral part of buying a home; not so much selling a home. I think there are tons of people out there that use the internet to educate themselves about everything. Real Estate is no different. I think real estate blogging will grow, more brokers will launch sites, topics will be expanded, and that only a few will really make it to their pre-determined goals. On the flip side, the general public will be rewarded with a virtual encyclopedia on many cities real estate markets that offer street level information. Thats pretty useful.