Once more, with feeling, "All is not doom and gloom in real estate," whether you're a buyer, a seller, an onlooker or completely oblivious to most things newsworthy the last 10 months.

I read blogs because they convey ruminations on the news, not just boiler plate dispensed by the five corporations that control media soundbites. Besides, soundbites, like headlines, rarely tell the whole story and quite often insinuate the wrong story–a tale that isn't at all "the" story. I like the idea of someone reading newspapers, listening to the radio and watching television news, thinking about it until conflicting viewpoints blow a head of steam that signals others to look for where the real fire is.

I read real estate blogs for that reason and more. Real estate bloggers not only pontificate about the market–whether interest rates will go up or down, why Ben Bernanke is the way he is, what is the Federal Reserve up to–but also address concerns such as should sellers lower their prices by $50,000 every month (seen in the Arizona Republic), is staging a home really necessary, and why should you use an agent at all in this age an Internet-everything?

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It is just such a plethora of answers that Kris Berg's blog offers. If more buyers and sellers had agents like Kris, we'd be hearing more success stories on the news these days (if the media deigned to offer good news). Judging by her smart use of language, and the creative asides she tosses in like chopped nuts on a sundae, Kris would be a joy to work with whether buying or selling. With an intelligent real estate Sherpa, one could climb the peaks of paperwork, traverse the passes of second thoughts and ultimately enjoy rewarding vistas from a new home and home ownership without the sedition of lenders to mar an otherwise exhilarating experience.

Kris, not to sing her praises to the exclusion of other well-educated and customer-centric Realtors, is one of the Top 12 Women Real Estate Bloggers for 2007, as reported by Sellsius. You can expect to hear from me regarding some of these other amazing Realtors and their helpful ideas. Though no one expects Realtors to be mortgage brokers, their knowledge of how home loans work and what to expect from lenders can make buying or selling a home less of a minefield!