When looking for real estate, most buyers tend to first look online rather than anywhere else. This means that the better your listing looks, the more chances you have for them to get interested. One of the most important parts of your real estate listing is the description, which is actually not that difficult to write!
Here are eight steps that will help you make your real estate listing creative and appealing.
Make Accuracy A Priority
Your number one priority must always be accuracy. You should remember to describe everything accurately and include only the details that are true for your real estate. If you don't, you might look like a liar and that would only show you in a bad light to your potential buyers.
Don't set unrealistic expectations for the buyer. If your home has many flaws, try to focus on its benefits sides. In fact, you should try to turn your home's flaws into positives. But, of course, don't lie about anything as it won't work well for you in the end.
Choose Your Words Wisely
While writing your listing, it is important to choose the right words for your sentences. For instance, too many adjectives will distract your readers from important information. Once again, don't use words that don't reflect reality. Keep in mind that some words and phrases mean other things (e.g. "cozy" is associated with "small space").
To help you in writing your real estate listing, here are some tools and services:
- Grammarly: This online tool checks grammar, spelling, and punctuation in your text.
- Grab My Essay: This online writing service can write your listing for you.
- Hemingway Editor: This online grammar checker highlights adverbs, passive voice, and complicated sentences in your text for you to get rid of.
WOWgrade: This is another online writing service that will write your listing for you.
Avoid Dangerous Words
Another important linguistic feature is a number of words that can be dangerous for your real estate listing. You mustn't use words and phrases that signal as red flags.
At the same time, some words may affect your final selling price. For example, "TLC and "cosmetic" are both words that will make your real estate lose value.
Use Words That Add Value
This is quite simple, isn't it? Instead of using dangerous words, use the ones that add value and are the opposite of red flags. Some words such as "luxurious" and "landscaped" can help your listing.
In addition to the previous tools and service to help you, here are a few others: Google Docs (an online equivalent of Microsoft Office Word that is great for teams), Studicus (an online writing service that can write your listing), Thesaurus (an online thesaurus to aid you in writing), and Best Essay Education (another online writing service).
Make The Special Things Stand Out
In order to stand out of the crowd, you have to show that your home is different from others. Mention features that give your home a voice. Ask yourself whether your home has special characteristics that others don't. Maybe it's a fireplace that could be used in winters. Maybe there is a balcony that could be used in summers. These are just some examples, but special characteristics can be anything as small as a royal-size bed and as big as a medieval-themed design of your home.
Remember About Punctuation
It's funny how bad sellers are with punctuation when it comes to writing a proper real estate listing for their home. Just look at most of the listings and you will notice a tendency: a lot of them have chaotic punctuation marks.
First of all, use proper punctuation. Second of all, don't put an exclamation mark at the end of each sentence! If you emphasize every single piece of information, none of it will be important anymore.
Leave Out The Basics
This may come as a surprise to some sellers, but including the basic information about your real estate is pointless. That is if it appears elsewhere in your listing.
Usually, real estate websites provide you with a form to fill out. This form has blanks for different details and a separate one for the main body text. The details you enter in these blanks don't need to be repeated in the main body text. Rather than writing about the basic information, focus on the juicy details.
Add Great Photos
Last but not least, don't forget to include high-quality photos. Your listing can be beautifully written and you may be the best writer in the world, but nothing can beat good pictures. After all, an image speaks a thousand words.
Try to take photos of the highest quality you can. If you don't have a good camera, borrow one from a friend or hire a professional photographer. A good idea would be to take pictures from different angles in order to show the size of the apartment properly. If you only make pictures from one side, it may give the wrong impression to potential buyers.
Ideally, you would want to take photos in daylight so that everything is properly lit, but if you notice that your images got the wrong colors, you can edit them with the help of one of these programs:
- Adobe Photoshop: This is perhaps the most well-known program for editing and drawing. The only problem is that it's a little hard to use if you haven't had prior experience with it.
- Canva: This app has become quite popular in recent years due to its ease of usage and variety of features. From effects to overlays - Canva has it all.
- Pixlr: This one is very similar to Canva and also has a free and a premium version just like the other app. Experiment with both to see which suits you more.
Conclusion
All in all, writing a creative real estate listing is not that difficult once you follow several basic rules. Carefully review this article before sitting down to write your listing and then you will be all set to start.
