Blockavenue.com

It’s been a while since i have said “thats a good idea” when it comes to real estate related websites. Blockavenue.com was one of those new sites that I think has potential to play a large role in the online real estate experience. Block Avenue is a newly launched website based in Cambridge and it has the potential to provide buyers and renters with valuable neighborhood information

I wish I could come up with a more unique description other than it’s like a  “Yelp for neighborhoods,” but  that is the best way to describe it. Like Yelp, you can pick places, comment on it and rate it. Block Avenue is the same, but you pick a block or location and rank it from A-F and write a decription what you think about the block and the area. You can also comment on other reviews and agree or disagree with them as well. It also has restaurants and businesses that you can comment on (just like yelp and foursquare) and they actually syndicate those reviews in addition to the unique reviews on Block Avenue.

This is a great resource for people moving into a city for the first time and don’t know much about the neighborhoods. There are some pretty candid reviews on this site as well (which are usually the most helpful). As a real estate agent, legally, we can’t say whether something is safe or not. We get the question all the time and sometimes agents will just babble a canned response about why we can’t answer that question. Regardless or the presentation of why or why not, most buyers and renters are not satisfied with the answer. This is why I think this is a great tool for consumers looking at specific locations. Now a possible response can include referring consumers to this site to helpfully assist them in their inquiry. The site also indicates location of sex offenders and crimes committed so it has the potential to be a 1 stop shop for all things location based. It also has the potential to answer all the subjective questions we are not able to comment on in this business.

The site is still relatively new and is constantly updating its interface and adding new “block reviews,” so I am sure the site is going to be chock full of new information in months to come (especially when they launch the mobile application). Check the site out and I would be interested to see if you agree with me.

Start Posting!

You can check out my personal Block Ave Profile Here.

Block Reviews View

Block Grade View and Neighborhood Info

Here are a few other articles/reviews on the site.
Xconomy
Boston.com
Agent Caffeine
BostonInno
Boston Business Journal
Inman News