The economic media is awash in pundits with opinions on every aspect of national trends in the economy and real estate.  But do those opinions and trends apply to the local market?  What’s the best way to stay in touch with what is happening with real estate in your local market?

Here are some resources to help you stay connected to what’s happening in your local market, so that you can make smart, sophisticated real estate investing decisions.

1.       Check out the MLS and Chamber of Commerce.  Both these resources will provide excellent data about what’s happening in the local real estate market and economy.

2.       Go online.  Analysis of detailed data from many local markets in the U.S. can be found at websites such asTrulia.com and Zillow.com.  These sites offer well-presented snapshots of home sale trends, and even lists of schools and local lifestyle statistics.  You can get demographical info on sites such as City-Data.com.

3.       Local colleges and universities.Many have a real estate section in their business department that canbe a valuable source of summarized data.

4.       Talk to people.  After you’ve done research and have narrowed your search to a handful of neighborhoods, back up your data withpersonal contacts.  Evaluate what they say against what you found in your data research.

5.       Local organizations.  Join and – even more importantly – attend the meetings of the local real estate professionals organization.  Don’t forget civic organizations such as the Junior League and The Optimists. Better yet, see if there is a chapter of REIA (Real Estate Investors Association) in your city or town.

6.       Local media.Be sure not to overlook local media reports of city council and other government policy meetings and initiatives.   Print and online newspapers usually have business reporting sections.  And doing a simple internet search can turn up surprising other local sources of information unique to a community, such as blogs and business information sites.

7.       National media. Finally, don’t neglect national media to double-check against local trends.  Say that you’ve learned that the big-picture job market is in flux, and that interest rates have changed on Wall Street.See if that influenced those same factors locally?  Or even ifthe largest local employershave all maintained a stable employment base until now.You’ll want to know if the far-awayparent corporationsare in financial trouble.

Staying in touch with the factors that have the greatest influence on your local market is critical to anticipating the next big opportunity and avoiding emerging risks.

What do you consider your best source of information about local real estate markets?

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