Bert Sperling, The Man Behind Real Estates Best Places
Anyone who reads this site for very long knows that I love Top 10 lists. Well the king of the Top 10 lists for real estate, Bert Sperling, was profiled in the New York Times today. Sterling has taken an interest in real estate with a background in technology and accounting and has created an empire of data on real estate that major publications such as Money, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal come flocking to.
Not to mention his site, bestplaces.net, which gets nearly 20,000 hits a day.
“I was born in Brooklyn, lived there for about a year, then in San Diego, then Oslo, Key West, Carmel,” he said. Once he graduated from Oregon State University, though, in 1974, he stayed put in the Portland area.
“I was tired of moving all over,” he said.
In 1984, he founded his own software company, Fast Forward, which he and his wife, Gretchen, still own. USA Today printed a piece about his research and data-collection methods; the editors of Money magazine liked what they saw, and a relationship was born in 1987 that continues to this day — with a few breaks — developing the magazine’s “best cities” lists. via New York Times.
Very funny comparison. However you don't need to pay property tax on Barbies 3 Story Dream House. With the unemployment ...
My wife has actually decided to study for and get her real eatate licence just so we dont ever have ...
I like your analogy in this article. The real estate economy really is like a patient who you cannot ...
Real Estate is hyper-local. Every market is different. Phoenix has already hit bottom and is starting to recover. We have ...
Great to hear that the big boys
are predicting recovery sooner than
most think.
Thanks for the value! 
I agree--good analogy. You have to crawl before you can walk. Right now, at least in Austin, many people would ...
I live in the Philippines and I am glad we are not on the lists... 
I have a few Litograghs of Presidents homes , made by Richard V. Sebring. yr. 1990 Do they have any ...
Comment by Shaun McLane on 7 May 2007:
This has inspired me to try to become the King of Top 9 lists. I will try to do a whole week of Top 9s on my blog this week – starting this evening.