The property listing description is widely and correctly viewed as a real estate marketing tool for the home. What’s often missed is that it is also a great lead generation tool for the agent. In fact, agents with a longer-term view often see the home description as among the most valuable personal marketing devices in their set of realtor tools.
Front and center throughout the entire listing cycle, the property listing is often created in a hurry, as an afterthought. As seen on popular listing sites, the property description is frequently a mishmash of jargon, abbreviations, and sentence fragments that are lifted from other listings and assembled in Frankenstein fashion. This is unfortunate for the seller, who expects the listing agent to produce a description that will impress potential buyers.
Bigger picture, it is also a missed opportunity for the agent. The property description is a public showcase for the agent’s professionalism and creativity.
A great write-up attracts new potential clients, who are scanning listings in the area to see which real estate agents seem to be at the top of their game. A mediocre description is neutral at best. A poor one acts as a sort of new client scarecrow.
With so much at stake, it’s no wonder that some freelance writers are able to make a living writing property descriptions. Frankly, we think that any agent who does not enjoy writing property descriptions, and who has extra time and money to burn, should give one of these freelancers a try.
But also try Nila June’s instant property descriptions.
Both processes begin with the agent briefing the writer. Rather than an open-ended “Tell me all about the house,” the interview can be sequenced to save time and to capture the common attributes of location, exterior, and interior, with attention to proximity advantages, outdoor recreational structures, and key rooms.
After the briefing, the real work begins. Generally, a good freelancer, juggling competing personal priorities and professional assignments, should be able to finish a first draft within two or three days. Rates depend upon the urgency of the project and the experience level of the freelancer, but a reasonable fee would be at least $100. By contrast, Nila June charges only a fraction of that.
After receiving the description, read it carefully. As every writer and editor knows, it’s easier to improve near-final text than to try to make new tracks on a blank page. You’ll find yourself adjusting the prose to ensure that it accurately expresses your unique perspective on the home. This is to be expected. No writer or system can anticipate the personal revisions that will elevate a “good” listing to your standards of perfection.
When it’s done, compare the final to the last two or three descriptions that you wrote on your own. Which one is clearly the best? Which one is the most likely to attract buyers for the listing and new sellers for you? Compare your new property description to descriptions of similar homes in the area. Does yours stand out as better?
If the new listing helps to expedite the sale and to maximize the price, then the total return on investment (ROI) is well worth a few minutes and a few dollars spent with Nila June. Putting aside for a moment the eventual ROI, consider the advantages of the immediate ROI, which comes in the form of personal time regained right now.
Estimates for how long it takes to describe a home without Nila June range from a solid hour of work to a morning of intermittent editing. Sometimes an agent will noodle over a description throughout a weekend. If Nila June can save just an hour on each of the six million or so home descriptions that will be written this year, that’s a lot more time for shaking hands, showing houses, and closing deals. It’s also more time for taking care of loved ones, helping with homework, or getting a little exercise. Nila June’s direct product is the home description. Our indirect product is whatever our clients would rather be doing.
The property listing description is widely and correctly viewed as a real estate marketing tool for the home. What’s often missed is that it is also a great lead generation tool for the agent. In fact, agents with a longer-term view often see the home description as among the most valuable personal marketing devices in their set of realtor tools.
Front and center throughout the entire listing cycle, the property listing is often created in a hurry, as an afterthought. As seen on popular listing sites, the property description is frequently a mishmash of jargon, abbreviations, and sentence fragments that are lifted from other listings and assembled in Frankenstein fashion. This is unfortunate for the seller, who expects the listing agent to produce a description that will impress potential buyers.
Bigger picture, it is also a missed opportunity for the agent. The property description is a public showcase for the agent’s professionalism and creativity.
A great write-up attracts new potential clients, who are scanning listings in the area to see which real estate agents seem to be at the top of their game. A mediocre description is neutral at best. A poor one acts as a sort of new client scarecrow.
With so much at stake, it’s no wonder that some freelance writers are able to make a living writing property descriptions. Frankly, we think that any agent who does not enjoy writing property descriptions, and who has extra time and money to burn, should give one of these freelancers a try.
But also try Nila June’s instant property descriptions.
Both processes begin with the agent briefing the writer. Rather than an open-ended “Tell me all about the house,” the interview can be sequenced to save time and to capture the common attributes of location, exterior, and interior, with attention to proximity advantages, outdoor recreational structures, and key rooms.
After the briefing, the real work begins. Generally, a good freelancer, juggling competing personal priorities and professional assignments, should be able to finish a first draft within two or three days. Rates depend upon the urgency of the project and the experience level of the freelancer, but a reasonable fee would be at least $100. By contrast, Nila June charges only a fraction of that.
After receiving the description, read it carefully. As every writer and editor knows, it’s easier to improve near-final text than to try to make new tracks on a blank page. You’ll find yourself adjusting the prose to ensure that it accurately expresses your unique perspective on the home. This is to be expected. No writer or system can anticipate the personal revisions that will elevate a “good” listing to your standards of perfection.
When it’s done, compare the final to the last two or three descriptions that you wrote on your own. Which one is clearly the best? Which one is the most likely to attract buyers for the listing and new sellers for you? Compare your new property description to descriptions of similar homes in the area. Does yours stand out as better?
If the new listing helps to expedite the sale and to maximize the price, then the total return on investment (ROI) is well worth a few minutes and a few dollars spent with Nila June. Putting aside for a moment the eventual ROI, consider the advantages of the immediate ROI, which comes in the form of personal time regained right now.
Estimates for how long it takes to describe a home without Nila June range from a solid hour of work to a morning of intermittent editing. Sometimes an agent will noodle over a description throughout a weekend. If Nila June can save just an hour on each of the six million or so home descriptions that will be written this year, that’s a lot more time for shaking hands, showing houses, and closing deals. It’s also more time for taking care of loved ones, helping with homework, or getting a little exercise. Nila June’s direct product is the home description. Our indirect product is whatever our clients would rather be doing.
Update: see also Great home descriptions, more home listings.