What not to say when you sell your home

By Connie Thompson KOMO TV
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Realtor Nancy Resnick has a lot to say about a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom home she's working to sell.

"It's like a luxury home, for only 349.9," she said. "For the value, this home is excellent. It's just a very livable home. It's built to today's lifestyle."

But you won't see that description in her listing. Nancy doesn't use popular phrases like 'must see inside' to try to lure buyers.

"You say 'must see inside,' then I think what comes to mind, on my mind, is 'must be ugly on the outside,'" she said.

A recent study found that as many as four out of 10 homes that go on the market may not sell in part because of the descriptions in the listing.



Researchers in Canada found homes described as "beautiful" sold 15 percent faster and for as much as 5 percent more than a comparable house without the word in it's listing.

The word handyman helped houses sell in half the time.

Words like neat, clean or best value, had no effect. And must sell, or motivated seller, could actually slow the sale of your home by 30 percent.

Home buyers Whitney and Matt Becthold say when they see the word 'motivated' in a seller's description, they think "desperate."

"Usually when you see 'motivated seller' and they have a price, you think 'oh, how much can I work them down if they're motivated?'" Whitney said. "As in, 'just show me the house and we'll go from there.'"

Professor Diane Martin is a Marketing Expert at the University of Portland School of Business and says language is very important in sales.

"You want to be able to get people to feel a particular way," she said, adding that buyers often choose style over substance and descriptions that focus more on curb appeal instead of value.

"You're going to buy 'quality,' you're going to buy 'beauty,' you're going to buy words that give you a sense that someone really thought about the aesthetics -- not just a shelter," she said."

But realtor John Cooper, who used to be an economics professor, says buyers are smarter than that. He uses words like beautiful in his listings, but doesn't think much of the study.

"The word 'bull' comes to mind," he said.

Cooper says if you want to sell your house, stick to the facts.

"The number of bedrooms, people want to know that. They want to know the size of the house. Price is a good consideration."

According to the study, inflated pricing is one of the biggest obstacles to getting a house sold.

That's an especially critical factor in a market where home sales are already slowing down.

For More Information:

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