Great Descriptions equal great sales!
Selling a home isn't as easy as one would think. There are a lot of factors that are involved and then there's that terrifying word: marketing. Everyone knows enough to dabble in marketing but are you doing it well enough to grab the right people? Are you choosing your words carefully? What is the secret to selling a home fast?
There isn't one specific thing that sells a home fast. It's personal. When someone walks through the door, they either feel connected to the home or they don't. Sure there are pluses and minuses like does it have an office, is the backyard big enough, and is there enough space or storage. But what really pulls someone in, is the "Can I see myself living here?"
What I want to know, is can you get that question answered by someone who isn't even in the home? I bet you can. Words have transferred us to new places, given us a visual of what life could be like for decades in books, newspapers, and even blogs. Can words and pictures walk you through a home you've never been in and make you want to be there? I think so, and so does CEO Spencer Rascoff and Chief Economist Stan Humphries in their book, "Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate".
Real estate language and buyer language are quite different and very important in wording your descriptions of a home. Some are magical and some are very detrimental. Calling a home modern might seem like it's saying it's up to date, sleek, shiny, and new to a buyer, but calling a home modern in real estate means it was built in the mid-to-late 1980's.
Another example might be using words that say cozy, charming, or quaint might seem like something that would bring a buyer who is looking for a cottage style home in, but to real estate agents you are saying it is less than 1,500 square feet. Small might not be the word you were looking for, but that's what it's saying.
So who are you writing these descriptions for? Buyers or Real Estate Agents or Both? If this were a few years ago I'd say you were writing descriptions for Real Estate Agents. These days, I say it's the buyers! With homes in books, magazines, blogs, and most importantly home websites like Zillow, it's the buyers searching through these listings and sending them to their Real Estate Agents for showings. It might be safe to cater towards both, but think with the buyer in mind and as long as you have great pictures to go with it, you are sure to win the hearts of many.
Are there other ways you can go wrong in your description? Yes there is! Not using the allotted words in the description section are a waste of a great opportunity. If you have 250 words available to you, use every last one of them. People want to know everything there is to know about the home and they are willing to research and read all about it. Give them what they want, and who knows maybe those last three words are what grabs them the most!
Lastly, if there's something original, amazing, breathtaking about the home you are selling. Don't sell it short. This is competition! Like Rascoff and Humphries advise, "If you've got it, flaunt it." and I think you should do just that.