My philosophy of Internet commenting has always been "be nice, especially when arguing." Nothing kills a conversation faster than insults. And since this blog is best when it's a conversation between people interested in housing -- homeowners, renters, buyers and sellers -- I've updated the blog policy to reflect my philosophy.

Here's how it reads now: Suggestions, thoughts and criticism related to the post you're commenting on are welcome. General abuse is not and will be deleted.

To be clear, this doesn't mean I don't want you to debate amongst yourselves or correct me. Debate away. And if you think a post is missing information, let me know. Even better: Include what you think is missing. But do stay on topic for the post you're commenting on. ("Hey, could you post about [thus-and-such subject]" is always on topic here. "You suck" or variations thereof is not on topic.)

If a comment you've written doesn't appear on this blog, it means one of two things: The blog system ate it and it never got to me -- this occasionally happens, in which case you should try again -- or you need to rethink your comment. (Well, there's one more option: I'm away from my computer and haven't seen it yet. Give me time. I do have a lot of non-computer things to do right now.)

A blog is always more vibrant with a lot of commenters, so please do comment. Just don't say anything here that you wouldn't say in front of your mother, and all should be fine.

Thanks, guys. Carry on.