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Where have all the proofreaders and spellcheckers gone?

By
Real Estate Agent with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Gary Greene 0512346

Does no one proofread their work anymore?  And what about the spellchecker tools are they all broken?  I know I am probably being a little over dramatic but I am seeing more and more listings for Spring Texas homes with errors. 

Including these that I directly copied from our local MLS:

Physical Property Description - Public: WOW! Custom home on huge cul-de-sac lot. Jenn-Air convection oven & mircowave 2007, flat surface range 2006, & 2 panties in kitchen.

What .... 2 panties in kitchen?  Are the sellers really including 2 panties in the sale of their home?  I thought the lack of proof reading was hilarious. But I don't think the sellers would consider it quite as funny.

And

Physical Property Description - Public: DECORATORS HOME FEATURING FAUX FINISHED WALLS, SLATE FLOORS IN DEN, KITCHEN, BATH, ENTRY, PLUMBING FIXTURES AND SINKS REPLACED, GRANITE COUNTER IN MASTER BATH WITH CERAMIC TILE FLOORS AND COPPER PLUMBING, 2′ BLINDS THROUGHOUT

I have not been in this home so I can not say with 100% certainty that the description is not accurate. The home could have 2 foot blinds. But I have never seen 2 foot blinds. Now 2 inch blinds those I have seen.

And

Physical Property Description - Public: BRING ALL OFFERS, SELLERS ANXIOUS!!Wonderful large floorplan. 4/2.5/2 updated home. Laminage/wood/tile flooring downstairs. Carpeted upstairs. Recent paint inside. Stainless steel stove and dishwasher. Washer/Dryer and Frige are negotiable!

I wonder if Laminage is the French spelling for Laminate?  And what is a Frige?  According to Wikipedia, Frige is an Anglo-Saxon love goddess. Hmm ... maybe the sellers have a statue of the love goddess that is negotiable with the sale of their home?

And

Physical Property Description - Public: THIS 4 BEDROOM 2 1/2 BATH HOME IS LOCATED IN CYPRESS FOREST SUBDIVISION WITH EASY ACCESS TO I-45. FEATURES INCLUDE COVERED FRONT PORCH AND COVERED REAR PATIO. INSIDE HAS LARGE LIVING AREA WITH FIREPLACE, RECESSED LIGHTING THROUGHOUT THRU OUT,

Did the listing agent add the two different spellings of through out for additional emphasis. Or could the agent simply not make up his mind on which spelling to use so he decided to use them both. 

Maybe I am expecting too much and I am being too critical. I am sure from time to time when I am in a hurry I forget to thoroughly proofread an email or forget to use the spellchecker tool on a post. But when it comes to marketing my clients homes, I proof and I use the little spellchecker tool. Because my sellers are counting on me to do a professional job and I am not going to let them down by advertising 2 panties in kitchen instead of 2 pantries in kitchen. Oh what a difference the smallest details make.

Jill Wente
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Gary Greene - Spring, TX
Realtor, CRS, MCNE, CHMS

Thanks, Missy. I have been on AR since September 2007 but have not posted on AR much recently. I have been focused more on posting on my outside blog regularly. 

Sometimes our MLS descriptions just crack me up.

Mar 03, 2009 08:01 AM
Brian Lee Burke
Kenna Real Estate - Lone Tree, CO
Broker & Advising Expert-Kenna Luxury Real Estate

Jill - That is hilarious, and yes I think I've seen more of them lately. I better go check and make sure we don't have mistakes! ~Rita

Mar 03, 2009 08:03 AM
Jill Wente
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Gary Greene - Spring, TX
Realtor, CRS, MCNE, CHMS

Kari: If the panties was spelled correctly then it is TMI (too much information) for me. So let's hope not. This transparency thing only needs to be taken so far.

Mar 03, 2009 08:05 AM
Bridget Cella
Re/Max Connection - Sewell, NJ
e-Pro, Realtor

I see many of these typos and am guilty of a few myself.  Unfortunately some words are spelled correctly but not used correctly would be skipped over

Mar 03, 2009 08:05 AM
Lisa Glowacki
Lisa Glowacki - Rhode Island & Massachusetts - Tiverton, RI
Real Estate Broker - RI & MA

Whether your being to critical or not it was funny. BTW I am spell checking now. The panties and 2 foot blinds were really funny.

Mar 03, 2009 08:06 AM
Lise Howe
Keller Williams Capital Properties - Washington, DC
Assoc. Broker in DC, MD, VA and attorney in DC

We are all typing way too fast and as usual, our fingers/mouths are outrunning our brains.

Mar 03, 2009 08:12 AM
Diane Daley
Caron's Gateway Real Estate - Northumberland, NH

I would need a constant proofreader as my fingers and mind do not always work in sync....

Mar 03, 2009 08:13 AM
Jill Wente
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Gary Greene - Spring, TX
Realtor, CRS, MCNE, CHMS

Lisa: I frequently see 2 foot blinds and 42 foot cabinets in our MLS property descriptions. The builders must be constructing houses for giants.

Mar 03, 2009 08:13 AM
Diane Parker
Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty - Wilmington, NC

Love the examples...spell check will catch spelling errors but skip right over grammer errors, like "right not" for "right now".

 

Mar 03, 2009 08:20 AM
Jill Wente
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Gary Greene - Spring, TX
Realtor, CRS, MCNE, CHMS

Very true comments on the grammer errors. But these are examples of how real estate agents are marketing their sellers homes. I think we should all slow down for just one moment and proofread our work.

 

Mar 03, 2009 08:26 AM
Elizabeth Bolton
RE/MAX Destiny Real Estate Cambridge, MA - Cambridge, MA
Cambridge MA Realtor

Hi Jill ~ Great topic! I also hate "frig" for fridge (and I know there's no "d" in refrigerator!) At least some of the examples you gave could be chalked up to typos.  I really think spellcheck is part of the problem. My personal pet peeve in MLS is using "quite" instead of "quiet" -it's rampant in our MLS. 

I also believe that spellcheck is the root - or at least partially responsible for - the way too common problem with mixing up the possessive and the plural. I usually don't use spellcheck but once when I did it highlighted a plural word as incorrect (it wasn't) and was ok with it when an apostrophe was used instead.  The misuse of the apostrophe or the absence of it when "your" is used instead of "you're" makes me hoopy. 

So remember - you're walking home to your quiet house.  And we sell properties - not property's. We take offers - not offer's.

Jumping off my soapbox. 

Liz (and I'll spellcheck this just in case!)

Mar 03, 2009 08:33 AM
Michael A. Caruso
Surterre Properties - Laguna Niguel, CA

Hi Jill,

Panties in the kitchen! I've shown many a home, but have never come across such a thing! :)

Don't forget me if you learn of anyone moving to "The OC"

Michael
949.495.8600

Mar 03, 2009 08:34 AM
Margaret Mitchell
Coldwell Banker Yorke Realty - York, ME
Seacoast Maine & NH Real Estate

I agree that misspellings look sloppy.  Sometimes, though, it's baby boomer eyes....  (We can't read the fine print.)

Mar 03, 2009 08:36 AM
Jill Wente
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Gary Greene - Spring, TX
Realtor, CRS, MCNE, CHMS

Liz:  One of my personal pet peeves is the use of "Hurry this one won't last" in the MLS description and then you see the days on market is 221. I have more pet peeves on MLS descriptions which I think I will make into a follow up post.

Mar 03, 2009 08:45 AM
Joanne Tarantino
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Knight & Gardner Realty - Key West, FL
CRS, Realtor

 I agre, peope need to realy start usin the spell checkr! (joke) I can't agree with you more, in Florida Realtors tend to "overlook" a lot of spelling errors, too. Clever blog idea, Jill.

Mar 03, 2009 08:46 AM
Wanda Kubat-Nerdin - Wanda Can!
Red Rock Real Estate (435) 632-9374 - St. George, UT
St. George Utah Area Residential Sales Agent

Thanks for the laughs...there really is no excuse for poor grammar or mispelled words in business. Keep posting Jill!

 

 

Mar 03, 2009 08:49 AM
Ilyce Glink
Think Glink Media - Chicago, IL
Best-selling author, award-winning TV/radio host.

Jill- These were a riot. But there really is no reason for such carelessness-- it just makes the listings difficult to read and reflects poorly on the realtor.

Mar 03, 2009 10:25 AM
Terry Miller
Miller Homes Group - Tyler, TX
Miller Homes Group and Tyler Apartment Locator

Too Funny. I know I am one of the worst offenders. Thanks for the fun.

Mar 04, 2009 11:40 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

I see that sort of stuff all the time. Today I showed a home that had "bambo" floors. Except they were oak.

P.S. My favorite misspelling is the word public.

Sacramento short sale agent

Mar 07, 2009 10:03 AM
Jill Wente
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate | Gary Greene - Spring, TX
Realtor, CRS, MCNE, CHMS

Elizabeth: It could have been worse. They could have been "bimbo" floors instead of "bambo" floors.

Mar 07, 2009 10:23 AM