Writing real estate ads? Do away with empty adjectives.

Writing real estate ads?  Empty adjectives do nothing but take up space.

You've read hundreds of real estate ads filled with empty adjectives. You may have written some of them yourself when you couldn't think of something better to say.

Since your goal should be to paint a word picture that entices both buyers and buyer's agents, it's time to do away with them entirely.

Most of the time, it's not that difficult if you just take a few extra minutes.

First, what are empty adjectives? They're words like great, nice, pretty, cute, large, huge, small, and spacious. They paint no specific picture, and can mean different things to different people.

So how can you get rid of them?

Instead of saying that your new listing has a "great" view, say "picture windows offer a 180 degree panorama of downtown and the Whoever River." Or you can simply say it has a view of (whatever is out there.) If you have to be really brief, choose a word like "panoramic," "ocean," "mountain," "city" or "valley" over "great."

After all, what does "great" mean? Different things to different people.

For instance, you might say the yard has a great fence. To me that would mean it's tall and dog-proof so I could let my critters out to play without worrying. Chain link comes to mind. To someone else it might mean a rustic split-rail that only keeps people from walking or riding bicycles through the flower beds.

And then there's that silly word: "nice." Instead of saying the home is surrounded by nice trees, say it's surrounded by "100' pines."

But of course, if you have the space – such as on your own website – you can paint a word picture that includes privacy, shelter from the sun and wind, birds nesting in the trees, or whatever fits. Just don't say "nice trees," because "nice" doesn't paint any pictures (and "trees" is too generic.)

Any time you're tempted to describe a feature as "nice," stop and think about what makes it nice. Then say that.

If you want to talk about size, do away with large, small, huge, big, spacious, and oversized. Instead, say how large it is. A "12' X 40' deck" paints a better picture than a "large deck." You could also state the square footage, but that might not be as easy for some of your readers to visualize.

Remember that while you're painting word pictures of the features in a home, it's good to add some action/benefits. You do have to be careful to follow the ADA rules, but try to suggest how the occupants will live in the home and benefit from its features.

A purchase is an emotional decision, justified with logic. And it's benefits, not features, that affect emotions.