So, you have decided to list your home for sale. Now, you have to choose the words that best describe your property. Well, you better think wisely, said the authors of Zillow Talk (Zillow Talk), Spencer Rascoff and Stan Humphries.
Apparently, Rascoff and Humphries believe that using the wrong words in a property ad can potentially cost you thousands of dollars. They analyzed 24,000 ads from the property website Zillow to measure how different words, descriptions and listing lengths impacted sale prices.
For homes categorized as top tier, “investment,” “potential” and “TLC” were associated with significantly lower final sale prices as compared with their estimated values, while “captivating” properties grabbed higher prices.
Rascoff and Humphries said it was best to avoid words such as “cosmetic,” “bargain,” “fixer” and “nice” as those homes tended to need some kind of rehab.
“If a home is described as a ‘unique opportunity,’ for example, that’s a negative signal, whether or not the seller is trying to send one,” the authors indicated.
Conversely, for bottom tier homes, ads using the word “luxurious” tended to beat the expected sale price by a whopping 8.2 percent.
We find this analysis simply amazing. Then again, maybe, we shouldn’t use such a descriptive word? Ok – let’s just say it’s intriguing and we’ll leave it at that.
As always, if we can be of service to you, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We have a long roster of professionals ready to help.
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