Selling your home: Writing a Great Description for a Listing

October 24, 2011

Selling your home: Writing a Great Description for a Listing

Writing a Great Description for a Listing

As an agent, I am so tired of reading the same description on nearly every home on our MLS. They are so many square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, vaulted ceilings, granite, fireplace, large lot, etc, etc, etc. I get glazed over as a skim the new listings trying to find one that pops out at me. If I feel this way, how do the potential buyers feel? Can they really get a sense of what the home might feel like from the verbage in the description? Do they glaze over and miss something that might have caught their attention otherwise? Are we doing our sellers an injustice by not taking more than 5 minutes to hammer out a description of what is their largest investment?

On that point, maybe we could brainstorm some ideas that would help in attracting the attention of the buyer that would make this listing their dream home. Here’s how I suggest we start, please chime in with your opinions.

Take some time and get to know the home, with a pad and paper! Walk through it, what do you see that is unique and different. What makes it a home rather than a house with stats? What makes it friendly to live in and enjoy? What are the places that give you warm fuzzies as you walk through?

Ask the homeowner what they loved about the home? Why did they choose it? How did it fit their lives and uses? What did the love about the neighborhood? Why would they recommend it to someone else?

Take a walk through the neighborhood. Are there parks nearby? How about walking trails and recreation? Are the other homes neatly kept? Why is it a neighborhood you might want to live in? Are the views spectacular, or the amenities too many to list?

Now I think you might have a basis upon which to start writing! Maybe start from the front door and work your buyer through the home, how cozy the inviting den is with the warmth from the fireplace radiating on a cool day, or how the backyard pops with color that can be seen out the massive dining room windows from the kitchen while you prepare Thanksgiving dinner in a home large enough for all your family gatherings. You get the gist, draw them into the setting and make them feel like they have visited before they get there!

Do you have other ideas? Please share them, we all need help in our writing skills here, for the seller and the buyers sakes!

By the way, if you have a home to sell, call, we can work together to find the description that works for your home!