Which Words Sell, and Which Don’t
Words matter. Wars have started over them. Civilizations have collapsed because of them. And it appears the speed with which a house sells might be determined by them.
Words that help sell a home:
Handyman special
Curb appeal
Move-in condition
Landscaping
Granite
Gourmet
Golf
Words that hurt:
Motivated seller
Good value
As-is
Clean
Quiet
New paint
Los Angeles Times
For example, a Canadian professor, as part of a broader study on real-estate sales patterns, found that homes where the seller was “motivated” took 15 percent longer to sell, while houses listed as “handyman specials” flew off the market in half the average time. “It surprised even me,” said researcher Paul Anglin, who teaches real-estate and housing trends at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada.
What surprised him most was how the buying public put style over substance. Words that denoted “curb appeal” or general attractiveness helped a property sell faster than those that spoke of “value” and “price.”
Homes described as “beautiful” moved 15 percent faster and for 5 percent more in price than the benchmark. “Good-value” homes sold for 5 percent less than average.
Another finding in Anglin’s study was that the plea of “must see!” was received about as enthusiastically as a dinner-time telemarketing call. Using “must see” had a statistically insignificant effect on the number of days homes took to sell.
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