Are you trying to sell a house or property? Write an effective real estate description.
Did you know that a compelling real estate description serves as the vital backbone of your marketing efforts?
While staging and photographs are important pieces of your marketing effort, the listing description is a simple and effective way to add extra appeal for potential buyers! Buyers read this description to get a better sense of the property and its features.
The property description on the MLS usually comes below the photographs. When potential buyers read your description, they’ve probably narrowed down their options after reviewing the photos and property information.
At this point, your description can either draw them in or repel them depending on how well it describes the property’s features.
Opening Statement
The opening statement is meant to pique the readers' interest and compel them to read the rest of your description. You want to immediately inform them of what they’re looking at. Catch their eye with a selling point that sets this home apart from the others in their area.
The best way to do this is to highlight a unique aspect of the property. Here are a few examples:
- Newly Remodeled Mid-Century Home
- Cozy Bungalow with Ocean Views
- Bright and Contemporary Starter Home
Narrative Description
Once you’ve caught the reader’s attention with a bold opening statement, you can elaborate on features and benefits.
Although you want to pack in as many descriptive features as possible, you also need to be concise to keep the reader’s attention. Aim to keep your description to 250 words or less.
The format of your description also matters. Instead of packing your description in one dense paragraph, break up your description into multiple paragraphs so that it’s easier on the eyes and easier to read. Hit all the key points in this initial word count. Make sure the top sought after features are highlighted here.
Special Promotions
You also have the option of including any special promotions in your listing descriptions before your conclusion. Here are some of the most common examples.
Home Warranty
Sellers can purchase a one year home warranty for the buyer, which can help eliminate any uncertainty. It gives extra leverage to push on-the-fence buyers over to making an offer.
Credits Toward Closing Costs
The seller can pay for some, or all, of the home’s closing costs. Covering closing costs sets a buyer's mind at ease since they'll have to come up with less of a lump sum before taking ownership of the property.
Limited-Time Discounts
A limited-time discount on the sale price will get even more offers in a short amount of time.
Seller Financing
This can open up a larger pool of buyers. The seller acts as a bank for the buyer until they’re approved for a conventional loan.
Flexible Closing Date
Some buyers are on specific timetables, so being flexible will further increase the pool of buyers.
Call to Action
As you wrap up your property description, you always want to provide readers with a call to action. This spurs them to take action and can lend a sense of urgency that can motivate them, even more, to pick up the phone.
Accuracy
Even though the real estate description gives you the opportunity to flex your creativity, the details still need to be accurate. For instance, describing a house riddled with termite damage as in “excellent condition” is dishonest.
Adjective Choice
Real estate descriptions are all about painting an appealing image in the buyer’s mind, but you need to be careful about which adjectives you choose, and how many.
A single sentence with an abundance of vague adjectives will come off as inauthentic and unpleasant to read.
Red Flag Words
There are some words that you should outright avoid in your listing description because they have the potential of decreasing the final selling price. These include:
- fixer
- TLC
- bargain
- potential
- cosmetic
- move-in ready
- motivated
- value
- opportunity
Some words imply that the home needs extra work in order to look its best, while others give a sense of anxiety. All of these words give buyers the idea that they have extra wiggle room for negotiation.
Fair Housing Act
The Fair Housing Act is a law created to end discriminatory practices involving activities related to housing. Every person has the right to rent, purchase, and attain a mortgage for a home without fear of discrimination.
Avoid discriminatory buzz words. The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to advertise a preference or encourage discrimination based on seven classes: color, disability, familial status, national origin, race, religion, and sex.
Some of those words include:
- Perfect for family
- Great for couples
- No children
- Christian
- Close to church
When in doubt, make sure you’re focusing on the property and its amenities in your listing description instead of your ideal buyer.
Valuable Words
In contrast, there are many words that help a home listing. Through data analysis, many real estate sites have discovered certain words included in listings that sold above their asking price. They include:
- luxurious
- impeccable
- landscaped
- granite
- captivating
- stainless
- pergola
- basketball
- remodel
Of course, you only want to use these words if they truly apply to your listing.
Highlight Features
Your property’s unique features make it stand out from the rest, so you want to make sure they’re highlighted in your description. Try to think about the features that stood out to you when you first walked through the home. Skip the features that competing homes also possess.
Here are examples of features to highlight that appeal to a large percentage of buyers:
- Stained glass windows
- Potential for an in-law suite
- Energy-saving features
- Smart electronics
- Special construction materials
- High-end landscaping
- Large backyards
- Cul-de-sac locations
Market Upgrades
Buyers don’t want to deal with home maintenance issues, so marketing any upgrades made to the house will provide extra value and incentive. Those upgrades can include:
- High-quality windows
- Granite countertops
- Stainless appliances
- New carpets
- New roof
- New or re-finished hardwood floors
- New heating or air conditioning system
- New Deck
Lastly, don’t forget to highlight the house’s location and nearby amenities. Maybe the house is a few minutes away from the beach, or is a walkable distance from a downtown area.
Nearby tennis courts, community pools, and parks are also great features to highlight.
Spelling & Punctuation
Once you have a rough draft written, be sure to go back and check your spelling and grammar. A piece of clean copy is easy to read and looks far more professional than a description filled with spelling and grammatical mistakes.
Here are a few common mistakes to keep in mind:
- Don’t end every sentence with an exclamation mark
- Be careful of run-on sentences
- Check your capitalization
- Avoid using all caps
- Don’t use an adjective more than once
- Omit acronyms and abbreviations
Proofread
Once you feel confident in your description, have a second set of eyes - preferably an experienced real estate agent or broker - take a look.
If you’ve been working on a piece of writing for a while, it’s easy to become blind to mistakes such as typos and grammatical errors. They’ll also be able to give you advice on things to improve.
Working with the home seller will help give you a unique perspective of their home, such as unique features and benefits you weren’t aware of. For instance, maybe the neighborhood is peaceful, and the neighbors are particularly friendly.
Don’t be disappointed or upset if whole sentences or paragraphs need to be rewritten, or you need to go back to the drawing board. This is typical.
Writing any type of content is a process that’s usually perfected in multiple stages. You want to keep your description as concise as possible. This gives you the opportunity to write more than one description and see which one resonates the best with with readers.
Compelling Real Estate Descriptions for Fast Sales
It may not be easy at first, but as you can see, crafting a compelling listing description is a concise way of piquing potential buyers’ curiosities. With descriptive words and accurate details, you can make your listing stand out from the rest in less than 250 words.
Creating a descriptive, eye-catching real estate description will also act as a foundation for the rest of your ad copy. You don’t need to write a separate description for each website you’re advertising the property on now. If you choose to do so, you’re not starting from scratch.
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