NAR caught in blogger crosshairs

You know you've hit it big on the Web when blogs are built for the sake of analyzing your every move. Just ask President Bush, Silicon Valley and the Housing Bubble.

By these standards, the National Association of Realtors must've hit it big over the weekend as a group of thus far unnamed bloggers launched NAR Wisdom, a blog "created out of frustration with the NAR," according to the site.

NAR Wisdom further explains: "They (NAR) seem almost completely out of touch with today's market, and the needs of real estate agents and real estate consumers alike." And the blog aims to pull together a discussion about NAR among bloggers.

As the national association for real estate professionals, NAR has some 1.2 million members and spends a lot of time and money lobbying for bills in Congress aimed at home ownership and various real estate business issues. NAR also has a relationship with Realtor.com, one of the largest real estate listings sites on the Internet. Agents who belong to NAR must subscribe to a code of ethics and are able to call themselves "Realtors" as well as join varios NAR-affiliated MLSs.

NAR Wisdom blog, though it appears to be just in the beginning stages, doesn't include information about contributing bloggers. The domain registration information at GoDaddy has the site registered to Jay Thompson of Gilbert, Ariz. (Could that be the Phoenix Real Estate Guy?) The site welcomes e-mails from those who wish to contribute.

The blog is still a baby, but has a few posts including one with a clip from a recent NAR commercial for Realtors.

NAR launched its own blog awhile back dubbed, "NAR in the News," which included media clippings and other posts about Realtors in the media. The most recent post at that blog is dated June 22.

NAR's Center for Realtor Technology also pens a blog, which includes tips on technology issues and updates on various projects the Center is leading.

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