How To Write Creative Real Estate Listing Descriptions That Sell
The right listing description can help real estate agents sell more homes faster, but the descriptions must be able to keep the readers interested, which is not always an easy task. Unfortunately, many real estate agents write their listings with a lack of creativity, making their descriptions utterly forgettable amongst the sea of listing pitches out there.
While you don't have to be Shakespeare to write great listing descriptions, it's important to follow a few simple steps to make sure your writing is geared towards the goal of selling the property and isn't just a flat list of property features that end up curing insomnia rather than getting readers excited and generating sales.
Captivate Your Audience
Although real estate listing descriptions are written in plain language, they should still be crafted to include effective prose that entices buyers. While there’s no one right way to describe a home, a creative listing description will set your property apart and can give your property an edge over other listings with more traditional descriptions.
For instance, using unique facts and figures such as school rankings or crime rates in your area is a great way to add interest without distracting from necessary information like square footage and amenities. In addition, an effective creative real estate listing description also needs to be attention grabbing and informative, with enough finesse built-in to keep the reader interested until the end. Your listing description should engage readers while avoiding words that may confuse them or even worse, sound boring and forgettable.
Read on for tips on crafting creative real estate listing descriptions designed to convert to sales, brought to you by Lowen Sign Company.
The Main Components
Creativity is vital when writing real estate listing descriptions. Your goal is to make prospective buyers want to visit your listing, and a non-creative description doesn’t inspire that kind of emotion. There are certain elements that each listing description should contain, but that is not to say that yours have to look and read just like every other listing description out there.
You want yours to stand out, to entice, engage, and spark the reader's interest enough to not only continue reading the entire description, but to also leave the reader wanting more information, and motivating them to take the next step. To this end, the following components are compulsory for crafting listing descriptions that will result in sales:
Headline - This is the 'Grabber'. This is the beginning of your sales pitch. It should make your readers sit up and take notice. It's important to keep it concise and punchy because you only have a few seconds to grab and keep a reader's attention.
Best Features - Following the headline is a two to three sentence description of the home's main selling points. This section should be a narrative description of its best features. Don't forget to mention neighborhood selling points as well, especially if the home needs some work. If the interior is outdated, then play up something about the nearby amenities, like a park close by, or proximity to schools or shopping. In this section, if the home has tons of great qualities, you could describe a couple and list out the rest, in list form.
Call To Action - The whole point in creating the listing description, and really in any marketing strategy, is to compel your reader to take the next step in the process of home buying, such as request additional information, contact the agent, attend an open house, or schedule an appointment to see the home in person.
Without a clear call to action, even the most expertly crafted listing description is the written equivalent of trailing off mid-conversation. Without the call to action, you are letting your audience off the hook before you've even gotten started. If you want a reader to contact you, to learn more about your listings, your services, you must prompt them to do so.
Sell The Benefits
As any good salesperson will tell you, in order to be successful in sales, whether it's widgets or real estate, you've got to get into the minds of the potential clients. In order to be really good at converting readers of your listing descriptions, you've got to sell what your listed property is going to do for them, not what they're going to get.
It's not enough to list out the features of the home you're selling; you need to communicate to the reader, in a relatable way, what owning the home will do for them. If the home you're describing has a deck overlooking the backyard, rather than just listing "backyard deck" try something like "Enjoy the fresh air as you savor your morning coffee from your scenic deck".
The latter helps the reader picture themselves in that scenario and will make them much more likely to keep reading and ultimately take the next step in getting more information, contacting you, visiting your website, or attending an open house to see the house for themselves. Think of it like this - instead of just spitting out a bunch of facts about the house, use the best features to create a story, where your reader is the main character.
Potent Words That Get To The Point
The words you use really matter, especially in sales and marketing. Since your ultimate goal is to close more real estate sales, don't fill your copy with fluffy words that will undermine your credibility. Overusing words such as "awesome" and "fabulous" within your brief description will look like propaganda to a reader. Your listings need to be brief and concise, organized and uncluttered. Use online tools or books that can help you with words and phrases that are geared towards selling.
Sprinkle in descriptive words - sparingly! - that add luster to your marketing piece. Be concise and crisp with an extroverted tone so you don't lose your reader's interest.
Who Doesn't Love A Good Mystery?
Throughout the listing description, within each component, you should be aiming to arouse the reader's interest and one very effective way to do that is by using mystery to your advantage. You're not trying to dump every detail about the property in this description. What you want is to pique the reader's curiosity and entice them to take the next step.
Keep some mystery about the home you are marketing, by scattering in words that indicate that there's more good stuff available about the property, but our dear reader will have to take another step in order to satisfy the itch to find out more.
Whether it's contacting you by phone, visiting your website where they would be prompted to contact you via contact button, requesting more information, reserving a time for a showing, attend your open house....the goal is to propel the reader to take action.
Use Quality Visual Media & Signs
There's a reason for the saying 'A Picture Paints A Thousand Words'. Visual aids are invaluable partners that your creative listing descriptions need in order to truly be effective. Just as having pictures alone won't cut it, nor will just words. Visual aids must accompany your words, no matter how compelling your impressive and expertly-crafted marketing prose is.
Photos of the property help them really picture themselves in the home. Remember that having poor quality visual aids is counter-productive when it comes to marketing your listings, so make sure your photos are quality shots with good lighting, at attractive angles that help to enhance the space that the reader is seeing. get.
Another invaluable visual aid for realtors are real estate signs. Signs are the roadside equivalent of 'Grabbers'. Just as the listing photos need to be high-quality, vivid pictures that highlight the home's best features, real estate signs can do the same for an agent's business and brand. Just as you real estate agents market homes you have listed, you also market your services and your brand.
Having high-quality signs made from durable materials that stand up against harsh weather and conditions is a must. Your signs showcase not just information about the property on which it's posted, but also about you, your brand, and your incredible service and expertise.
Choose Lowen Signs For Quality & Professionalism
When you're looking to add quality real estate signage to your marketing tools arsenal, look no further than Lowen Sign Company. We are the nation's leading manufacturer of real estate signs. We offer frames, riders, directionals, and everything you need for your sign needs! We ship straight from our manufacturing site to our customers, eliminating the middleman, and always offering you the best quality signs at great prices! Online ordering is easy, at www.lowensign.com, or order by phone at 1-800-545-5505.
Wrapping It Up
Your real estate listing description can either tantalize potential buyers or cause them to skim right over your copy, as it blends in among the plethora of other humdrum competitor listings out there. With a little creativity and skill, you’ll come up with the right words to dazzle readers and sell your listings. Partner that with your colorful, vivid photos plus vibrant, quality signs and you'll be on your way to persuasive, effective, and creative listing descriptions that entice readers and lead to more conversions and sales. Now, go grab your ink and quill, Master Shakespeare!