Real Estate Listing Descriptions Help Sell Your Home

The real estate listing description is one of the most important tools in selling your home. Photographs of the home will intrigue buyers, but the description is what will motivate them to take action. Read on to find out some of the basics for writing the perfect narrative to describe your home.

Highlight the Features Buyers Want Most

It's important to know what buyers are looking for in your area. When you know what buyers want, those features can be highlighted in your home's description to pique their interest.

Make sure to highlight any unique aspects of your home. Does it have a gourmet kitchen? How about hardwood floors? Does it have an oversized garage or tons of storage space? You can also liberally sprinkle in brand names that will attract buyers, especially any boutique kitchen equipment like Bosch, Viking or Sub-Zero.

Upgrades are always worth mentioning as well. If you've added a new roof in recent years or high-efficiency windows, make sure to list them in the description. This tells potential buyers that the current homeowners cared for the home and invested in it. This pride of home ownership speaks directly to the potential buyer.

Carefully Craft the Wording

Word choice is important. In fact, studies have found that certain wording can even help a property sell more quickly. For example, the word beautiful in a description sold homes at a 15 percent faster rate than similar descriptions without that word. And, the beautiful homes also sold for 5 percent more money. This is but one small illustration of the power that effective language has on the sales process.

Other words that worked favorably in listing descriptions were landscaping, granite, gourmet, maple, fixer-upper and curb appeal. Words that don't work as well are must sell, value, motivated, move-in condition, clean and quiet, so those should be avoided at all costs, even if they may be applicable.

Don't forget the power of a good headline. You want something that will grab attention and make your listing stand out from the rest, but avoid going overboard with slang, jargon or gimmicky phrases.

Paint the Picture with Words

No one is expecting a Shakespearean sonnet here, but you do want to evoke a picture in the potential buyer's mind. Use language that will help them imagine themselves there, in your house. Use your description to pull the seller right into the heart of the home, and chances are they'll want to get there themselves. And how do you do that? You figure out what it is your ideal buyer wants to hear.

Frank Luntz, in his landmark book Words that Work, said that, "You can have the best message in the world, but the person on the receiving end will always understand it through the prism of his or her own emotions, preconceptions, prejudices and preexisting beliefs."

If the prospect of getting inside your buyer's mind and writing your own listing description is a bit daunting, don't feel bad. It's an art that takes years to of training and experience to perfect.

In the Yorba Linda area, the Edie Israel Team knows exactly what buyers are looking for. We will use that insider knowledge to market and sell your home for top dollar, in the quickest, most efficient way possible. Contact us today and let us help you make the most of your real estate listing.