Key words do magic in selling real estate

I just read this article and thought it might be interesting to you...
It just talks about how the wording on real estate listings may affect
the end resulting sales price....
Have a great real estate day!!!!!
What's 'beautiful' worth? About $12,500
The right phrasing in real estate listings can speed a sale and even
boost the final price, a Canadian study says. And here's a tip: If you
must sell, don't put "must sell" in your ad.
By Marilyn Lewis
In real estate listings, what's the difference between describing your
home as "beautiful" versus "move-in condition"? About $12,500 on a
$250,000 home.
Professor Paul Anglin, a real estate economist in Guelph, Ontario, says
that homes described as "beautiful" in real estate listings sell for 5%
more while "move-in condition" has no effect on sale price.
Anglin and his colleagues from the University of Windsor and researchers
from Canada Mortgage and Housing examined about 20,000 real estate
listings and sales data in Windsor and Essex counties, Ontario, from
between 1997 and early 2000. Among other things, they studied how
listings' phrasing affected sale prices and the length of time it took
for the listings to close.
When speed is of the essence
Listings with the words "beautiful" or "gorgeous" sold 15% faster.
"Landscaping" in a listing hastened a sale by 20%. Describing a property
as in "move-in condition" quickened the sale by 12%. Calling a home a
"handyman special" cut sale time by half (researchers excluded listings
that used the term to describe a workshop or hobby area).
Other familiar jargon, such as "must see" or "vacant," or including the
information that a seller was moving, had virtually no effect on the
time before a sale.
The kiss of death appears to be language that reeks of desperation --
words such as "motivated" and "must sell." These slowed sales by 30%.
The term "ranch" house slowed sales by 10%. Properties described as
rentals (income producing) took 60% longer to sell.
Though Anglin assumes the basic effects he identified are universal, the
size of their impact will vary by locale, he says.
Do you believe in magic words?
Is there magic in these words? Does the concrete, visual nature of
"landscaping," for example, fire a buyer's imagination?
Stella Frize, a real estate agent in Cerritos, Calif., believes so. But
for her, the magic word is "turnkey."
"Anytime I see the word 'turnkey,' I expect that house is in immaculate
condition," she says.
Frize's business partner has his own favorite turn of phrase: "He always
writes, 'This could be the best buy in town.' He believes in this
wholeheartedly. We put it on every listing. It's like good karma for us.
We have sold 100% of our listings."
What surprises Anglin is that some hot words not only speed a sale but
also seem to raise the closing price. "If a house is described as
'beautiful,' everybody expects it to sell for a higher price," he says.
"The thing that surprised me is that it sells for a higher price -- and
faster. . . . I don't have a good explanation for it."
Maybe, he says, buyers' idea of beauty includes features such as
structural integrity, a good neighborhood and excellent upkeep,
qualities agents call "curb appeal," which allay the fears buyers
usually bring to big transactions.
The right words pay off in speed and money*
Term Effect on time until sale Effect on list price Effect
on selling price
Beautiful -15% +5% +5%
Move-in condition -12% Insignificant Insignificant
Good value -5% -6% -5%
Must see Insignificant +4% Insignificant
Starter home -9% -10% -10%
Vacant Insignificant -5% -8%
Rental property +60% -7% -9%
Handyman special -50% -30% -30%
Moving Insignificant -1% -1%
Motivated +30% -6% -8%
Landscaping -20% +5% +6%
Source: "House Prices and Time-till-sale in Windsor," professor Paul
Anglin, University of Guelph, Ontario *The study examined roughly
20,000 listings in Windsor and Essex counties, Ontario, from between
1997 and early 2000. The effects shown are averages; wide variations
appeared within categories.
Language + price = sale
None of this is to suggest that opting for "must see" over "must sell"
is all it takes to sell your house quickly and garner a higher list
price. The hot words have to be used accurately, and they must be
combined with the right price.
"The single most important message that a seller can send to a buyer is
their choice of list price," Anglin's study says.
Thus, the study does not illustrate a triumph of style over substance,
Anglin says, but how certain words, used accurately, can boost a
listing's power. Although "beautiful" seems to make a house sell faster,
using the term dishonestly can offend buyers and create distrust that
will backfire on a seller.
"The basic idea is that you are trying to find the one buyer who is
going to buy the house. As a seller, you hope they'll pay a high price
and quickly find your house. But usually it does not work that way,"
Anglin says. "It takes some time to find a buyer, and usually the buyer
does not want to pay a high price. The purpose of the listing
information is to attract not just any buyer but the buyers who would
like the house that you are trying to sell."
That's why, although "handyman special" may sound negative -- "most
people do not want to go anywhere near that place," Anglin notes -- it's
an efficient, positively framed means of isolating such properties for
the specific buyers interested in tackling fixer-uppers.
Size matters
Home size, too, is another important factor. The smaller the property,
the quicker the sale. One-bathroom homes sold 13% faster. Homes with
three bathrooms took 50% longer to sell. Homes with two stories or more
took more than 20% longer.
The size-speed relationship makes sense to real estate agent Joe Dobson
of Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Smaller
homes usually cost less, and there's more competition in lower-price
ranges, he says.
For the most part, Dobson says, his experience bears out Anglin's
research, with a couple exceptions. " 'Motivated,' that's been beat to
death. In a slowing market, every seller is 'motivated,' " Dobson says.
But sometimes, he says, desperate language can work when accompanied by
an emotion-laden explanation such as "must sell due to health reasons"
or -- a phrase Dobson likes but has found occasion to use only three
times in his 35-year career -- "divorce dictates dumping."

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