Really laughing at “rental” taking 60% longer to sell. No kidding. I means the house completely failed to sell, and now the owners are already moved out and paying two mortgages and are just desperate to cover one of them with some sort of an income.

Did they even talk to anyone in real estate before they did the study? Or just sit in the library and number crunch towards their Piled High & Deep?

All in all it seems that the words do have an influence, just it’s not as reductionist as the studies suggest. The ads that smack of desperation “motivated seller”, “as-is”, “vacant” all are repulsive. The ones that ooze “beauty”, “quality”, “updated” are attractive.

I agree that a beautiful house should by its nature sell faster and beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder but some beauty can’t be denied (the Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls as extreme examples). And if a house is truly beautiful, say so to get more buyers to come see its beauty.

What I got from the studies is focus on beauty and extravagance more than good value. If there is proof that using the words “motivated” or “as-is” works against you, dont use them. And if handyman special works better than fixer-upper, go with handyman.
It reminds of the “used car” stigma. Upscale dealers starting calling them “pre-owned vehicles”. I guess the same can be said for RE ads.

I would be curious if any brokers have done their own studies on ad word effectiveness. I wonder if some words are market sensitive.

Since that term is used more often on houses that already sell more often it seems to be a magic word, but it isn’t.

That does not mean that we shouldn’t use it for a truly beautiful house however.

And it’s true, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I thought my listing was beautiful and said so, and was told I should have called it rustic.

Cheers,

StuartD

Add:

Ocean (front, view, sunsets, -close)

Tree-lined street

Excellent schools

Cottage (if it fits)