In this flush-with-inventory market, Realtors need to be on their toes with the language they use in trying to sell your home. Has your Realtor been doing you justice when pitching your home to prospective buyers?
Recent academic studies scrutinized the wording on 20,000 home listings only to produce some interesting results – perhaps some obvious facts on one end, but good advice on the other.
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.
To Sell your Home…
Use These Words:
- Handyman special
- Curb appeal
- Move-in condition
- Landscaping
- Granite
- Gourmet
- Golf
Don’t Use These Words:
- Motivated seller
- Good value
- As-is
- Clean
- Quiet
- New paint
Listings where “landscaping” was heralded sold 20 percent faster, and homes in “move-in condition” took 12 percent less time to sell than the benchmark, although the study showed that “move-in condition” had an insignificant effect on the sales price.
Homes with “motivated” sellers stayed on the market 15 percent longer than average and sold for 4 percent less. Perhaps meaning that the home was overpriced to start with and eventually price reductions had to occur, thus, increases in length of time on the market and lower sales prices.
Keith Munsell 
