Personally, I’m a huge real estate junkie. I like to look at properties on my own time to find potential investments. Over the last few weeks, I’ve started to pay more attention to real estate listing copy and then I would check back on the listings to see if the property has been sold.

I’m a content writer, marketer, and copywriter at heart, so I’m always exploring and learning new things.

In this article, I’m going to cover what the best real estate listing and ads look like and what sells in terms of their copy.

The best real estate listing copy stands out..

Ok I know, I know, writing real estate listing copy isn’t easy. It requires a lot of thinking, but the truth is that the ones that sell are the ones that stand out.

What does that mean? It means stop making your real estate listing copy the same as everyone else’s.

Most of them are pretty generic. The ones that stand out are the ones that are extremely detailed, use strong words, and they’re quite creative.

Start with a good structure

One thing that all killer real estate listing copy have is a strong structure.

Headline

Just like content writing, the most important factor is the headline. Get people in the door first with an attractive headline.

The ones that suck are the ones with a really generic headline like an address as the title. Most people don’t care for the address and it won’t make your real estate listing copy to stand out.

Opening Statement

Then comes a powerful opening statement. What makes the opening statement stand out is usually a good story or description of who the home is for.

Something like this would work really well as an intro

“This home is a investor’s dream! Warmly located in convenient & SF’s trendy Excelsior neighborhood, this property is ideal for someone who wants to create a new home for themselves or for someone looking for an investment.”

I’m pretty sure, you would continue to read after reading that introduction.

Another thing you could do is include a mini story. At the end of the day, stories sell.

Give home buyers a sense of what it would be like if they owned the home and use real life stories within the copy. For example: “The backyard pool will change your life. Summer is right around the corner, so imagine hanging out in the backyard with the kids.”

Who wouldn’t want to buy that property?

Context is king. Don’t make it too long, just like cold emails, keep it short and simple.

Be specific about the features

You’re selling a house here. This is where you want to insert key features that make your property stand out.

You’ll be surprised, but some of the best real estate listing copy include bullet points. I’ve seen so many listings on generic sites like Zillow where everything is stuffed in a paragraph.

That’s not what we want, we want the ideal buyer to quickly glance at it and know exactly what they’re getting for their dollar.

Something like this would work really well:

The master suite has a huge walk-in closet, separate dual vanities, a large custom tile shower, and a soaking tub.

Two more bedrooms with walk-in closets and a second full bathroom are on the upper level. The fourth bedroom, a full bathroom, and a laundry room with washer/dryer hookups are located on the main level.

All three bathrooms have granite countertops and custom mirrors. This gorgeous home features custom paint, upgraded carpets, and wide-plank tile flooring.

There is an attached 3-car garage. The 13,871 sq. ft. lot (per tax records) has a very large backyard, great for entertaining.

Notice how the visitor can figure out exactly what they’re getting in this home before paying a visit.

You don’t have to get too detailed, just enough to attract them to pick up that phone!

Promotion offer and call to action

Part of having a good real estate listing copy is to get the visitor to pick up the phone and give you a call or submit their contact info. Then you can ring the bell and say “Cha Ching!”

Create a sense of urgency at the end of the copy. By this, I don’t mean an offer or discount even though that MAY work.

What I mean is use facts to your advantage.

For example if this was a home for an ideal investor to purchase, say something like, “The rent with similar homes in the area rose by 35% over the last 6 months”

Sell facts!

A photo tells a thousand words

Attractive photos sell. That’s the truth. I find myself skipping past listings that don’t have at least 7-8 quality photos. By quality photos, I mean REAL photos and not one of those that are heavily edited in photoshop.

Let’s take a quick look at the example photos below.

Both of these two houses are located in the same location. They’re actually for sale right next to each other, but the first photo looks way too fake. It’s too heavily edited.

You want the potential buyer to get a good feel for the home.

Check out this one:

This looks VERY realistic. Yes, most of it is probably some sort of staging, but it looks realistic and gives a really warm feel.

I’m not a photography expert, but as an average consumer that’s looking for good real estate properties all the time, I’m someone that looks for realistic photography and video.

Do your darn research

Whether you are a real estate agent or a copywriter helping real estate agents, make sure you do your research on the market and include the top key features in the real estate copy listing.

What are some things to do research on?

Crime rate

Surrounding schools

Malls

Transportation

Average rental cost

There’s a lot of things that people care about when purchasing a property. It won’t be the same for everyone that’s in the market, but those are the bread and butter.

Find something interesting and unique when you’re doing your research? Make sure to jot it down and add it to your real estate listing copy.

Conclusion

Don’t copy other agent’s listings simply because their copy seems interesting. Make your listings different from the rest by adding your own original take on the details of each property. Consider hiring a copywriter or marketer that has a good amount of experience in real estate writing and marketing. This can save you a ton of time especially if you’re publishing your listing to multiple platforms and printing them out.

Need custom real estate copy that sells or better yet an entire content marketing done for you solution for your real estate company? Contact us!