When a house is listed, one of the first things that needs to be done is to come up with a description of the house.  The description should be something that is going to make people say to themselves, "I must see this house!"  The description shouldn't be something where people says to themselves, "This says nothing useful."  Many listings are immediately eliminated because they don't provide the type of information the buyer is needing in order to make an informed decision to actually take the time to view the inside.

I was looking through the MLS today, and I ran across some descriptions that made me wonder why the listing agent chose such words.  Sometimes, a house is so bad that it's hard to come up with words, but you could still describe the floorplan to help someone picture it.  For the most part, I rather list the updates people have done rather than floorplan descriptions.  This is because in my market, people are low on cash, and they rather not spend too much money updating a house so they like to see that all the work has been done for them.  In a newer home, updates aren't really needed, so I describe the floorplan and features.  When looking at older homes, and the description has no updates listed, that's an immediate clue that the house is in original or bad condition and will take thousands to get it up to par.

Here is a sample of some of the descriptions I found interesting:

"Priced by single-again owner WELL BELOW MARKET VALUE."  I think this says divorce situation, seller very negotiable, come lowball me and I'll except anything to get the memories of this house out of my head.  Or, is the listing agent trying to say that he didn't set the asking price as he knows it's actually too high, so he's making sure everyone knows that the seller priced the home.

"Has security system but not hooked up."  And?  Why would you say it's not hooked up?  Thieves cruise the listings looking at house pictures in order to pick their next target.  You just made this house an easy target as they know there is no security system to worry about.

"Perfectly tailored lighting solutions for every room." Does each light have a specific inseam it needs?  Can you bring the sellers back after closing for alterations if you don't find the sleeves are long enough?

"You have to see the inside of this home to appreciate it." Don't look at the neighborhood.  I know there are cars on blocks up and down the street, but come see the inside and don't worry about those people sitting on their porch cleaning their guns.

"Ceiling fans everywhere" and "sealing fans in every room".  I'm not sure what a Sealing Fan is, but why is this an important feature to market?  It's not like those fans are made of platinum or titanium. Ceiling fans are a given in the Dallas market, so this might vary by area.

"The neighborhood park has baby swings at the playground." How does mentioning baby swings at the park make the house sound more inviting, especially if you're single with no kids? Does this really help sell the house?

Whenever I have a new listing, I email the final version to my sellers and ask them to proof it and give me their opinion.  I ask them if it sounds like a house they would buy all over again.  We make changes, together, if necessary. What are some descriptions that you see that make you cringe?