Need Help Writing a House Listing? 15 Best Words To Describe a House for Sale
Selling a home can be incredibly stressful—especially when you'd like the process to be as quick, easy and effortless as possible. That's why it's so important to word your real estate listing correctly and know the 15 best words to describe a house for sale.
We've rounded up the best real estate descriptive adjectives for a home listing that could get you more money and make sure it sells. This is all according to Zillow.com and the book Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate by Spencer Rascoff and Stan Humphries, CEO and chief economist of Zillow, respectively.
Curious how to get the most bang for your real estate buck—as a seller? Here are 15 words you should always include in a real estate listing.
15 Best Words To Describe a House for Sale
1. Luxurious
The word luxurious signals that a home's finishes and amenities are high end. Even lower-priced listings with the word "luxurious" benefit from it—selling for 8.2% more on average.
2. Captivating
Unlike the word "nice," "captivating" provides a richer, more enticing description for buyers. It's less open to interpretation, and it could get you more money—to the tune of 6.5%.
3. Impeccable
This is a rich (literally and figuratively) adjective that describes something about the quality of your home—in a good way. Houses that are described as "impeccable" sell for 5.9% more than similar homes.
4. Stainless
If you watch HGTV, then you know homeowners are crazy about stainless steel appliances—have been for years. Lower-priced homes described as having "stainless" sold for 5% more on average than expected.
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5. Basketball
Not sure if having a basketball hoop in the driveway or a half-sized basketball court in your basement makes a difference, but Zillow.com found that the word "basketball" helps your home stand out, especially in low to mid-tier homes, and sell for as much as 4.5% more.
6. Landscaped
Curb appeal sells! In all price tiers, listings with the word "landscaped" sold for more than expected on average—4.2% more, that is.
7. Granite
In addition to stainless steel appliances, buyers want a house with granite countertops. Period. Granite is considered to be a higher-end, quality feature and could net you 4% more for your house.
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8. Pergola
Not every home has a pergola but those that do sold for 4% more on average than expected.
9. Remodel
Real estate experts know that it's usually worth mentioning if you recently remodeled or made improvements to your home. Listings with the word "remodel" in them sold for as much as 2.9% more than expected.
10. Beautiful
Describing a home with a "beautiful" feature, such as a view, could get you 2.3% more when you sell.
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11. Gentle
Gentle typically is used to describe "gentle rolling hills" or something about a home's location, and you know what they say about real estate—it's all about location, location, location. Top-tier listings with the word “gentle” sold for 2.3% more, on average, than expected.
12. Spotless
When it comes to lower-priced homes, cleanliness isn't always a given. So saying a home is "spotless" (assuming it is true, of course) bumps up its value in the buyer's mind—to the possibility of as much as a 2% higher selling price.
13. Tile
New tile often signals that a home has been well cared for or recently upgraded (see #14) or updated (see #15). Bottom-tier homes with the word “tile” in the listing sold for 2% more.
14. Upgraded
Upgrades are almost always a selling point. Lower-priced listings with the word "upgraded" were able to upgrade their selling price by 1.8%.
15. Updated
To buyers, the word "updated" says that something old has been replaced with something new. That's typically a good thing in the buyer's mind. Mid-priced homes with "updated" in the listing sold for 0.8% more on average than expected.
Did any of these words surprise you? They did for me. And as a previous home seller—I was intrigued. So I looked back at our real estate listing and noticed that our very smart realtors had included 11 of these 15 words in describing our house. No wonder our home sold quickly and for above asking price!