Writing descriptions of property for online and print advertising is an important part of a real estate agent’s job. In my experience, nothing sells better than an honest description of a property that manages the buyer’s expectations and results in a pleasant experience for the buyer when they first visit the home.
Redfin blog (for those who don’t know already, Redfin is one of the discount options for sellers and buyers) has a great post today about the "locution" of a property’s description. There have been numerous articles about this subject over the years and my advice for sellers is to stear clear of the adjectives like "cozy" which generall denotes small and "charming" which almost always means dark. And check out these stats that Redfin blog provides:
Homes where the seller was "motivated" took 15 percent longer to sell
Houses listed as "handyman specials" flew off the market in half the average time.
Words that denoted "curb appeal" or general attractiveness helped a property sell faster than those that spoke of "value" and "price."
Homes described as "beautiful" moved 15 percent faster and for 5 percent more in price than the benchmark.
"Good-value" homes sold for 5 percent less than average.
I am a big proponent of "beautiful" but have also used "motivated" in my descriptions. Based on these stats, my sellers are no longer "motivated," but their properties are indeed "beautiful." In all seriousness, the most important factor to remember when describing property is that the prospective purchaser is actually going to SEE the property you’re describing so be honest and accurate. There is nothing worse than visiting a property with a buyer whose expectations are based on an inaccurate description (i.e. the agent fails to state that the apartment is a 4th floor walk-up).
