Turnoff words and phrases in residential RE descriptions (kitchens, cost, sellers)
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I'm going to suggest that the only "remarks" that are laughably FOS are:
1. "Won't last!" and it's been on the market for 30+ days
2. "Completely updated" (or similar) when they have indeed NOT renewed the entire house, just interior surfaces.
"A picture tells a thousand words" still holds true. But I promise all that the remarks do also play a role in selling the home.
Yeah I love when it is "Completely updated" but you can clearly see in the pictures of the circa 1920 home that the surfaces and paint look brand new but the outlets/electrical are sticking out/incomplete and still look exactly the same. The heating and plumbing might not be so hot either if the electrical looks pretty bad. It's not that hard/expensive to slap on some paint, cheap granite, and make a place look pretty, but digging into old walls to update the pipes, wiring, furnace, etc. can be a huge undertaking.
Another one that's starting to annoy me only because I'm seeing it so much is the "Not a drive by!" (Always with at least one ! ) I know this has been brought up before, but I fear I may develop a twitch every time I see it in an ad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RamenAddict
Yeah I love when it is "Completely updated" but you can clearly see in the pictures of the circa 1920 home that the surfaces and paint look brand new but the outlets/electrical are sticking out/incomplete and still look exactly the same. The heating and plumbing might not be so hot either if the electrical looks pretty bad. It's not that hard/expensive to slap on some paint, cheap granite, and make a place look pretty, but digging into old walls to update the pipes, wiring, furnace, etc. can be a huge undertaking.
Updated to many, sadly, is about whatever the latest interior design trends are, or because vinyl siding got slapped over problems.
One rental we lived in down in NC did not have a GROUND to the electric. We didn't know about this until there was storm where we lost all our electronics--the fried kind of lost. The poor surge protectors never had a chance. We were shocked (pun intended) to find out that such homes (1901 build) were actually grandfathered in that town. So long as no major upgrades were made, they were not required by law to apply a ground!
One thing I forgot to check on our current rental (which we do love) is that we are still on fuses here--not circuit breakers. Since we moved (and I've been perusing the real estate listings) I'm finding this is actually very common here.
One good thing about having rented in many places over the years is I have a very long list of things to check when we buy. You can safely bet we'll be paying for a full inspection.
The listing description makes a big difference for me. If the agent won't even bother writing a good description using correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling, how do I know he/she will do a proper home sale and use all the correct legal paperwork? I'm not buying an $8 t-shirt; I'm buying a $200,000+ house. Taking 20 minutes out of his/her life to write a good description speaks volumes about an agent to me.
I agree. Misspelled words, poor grammar, and random capitalization bother me. And, the thing is, it will not bother others who read it (and don't care about grammar either way) if the words ARE all spelled properly and proper grammar and punctuation are used, so why not just do that?
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"1880 Sq Ft Ranch,new wood floors and new carpeting, fresh paint, Counrty kitchen with Family roon off kitchen.Concreted crawl,.9 acre Fenced area in back yard, Deck19X15 off 3 seasons room, Granite Tops bathrooms.Formal Dinning Room.Master bath. Heated garage."
"1880 Sq Ft Ranch,new wood floors and new carpeting, fresh paint, Counrty kitchen with Family roon off kitchen.Concreted crawl,.9 acre Fenced area in back yard, Deck19X15 off 3 seasons room, Granite Tops bathrooms.Formal Dinning Room.Master bath. Heated garage."
Spelling counts.
where is that, I've always wanted a family roon off my Counrty kitchen!
"Close to shopping". Usually means on a busy road, or in a mixed commercial/residential area of town.
It does. But, given that I come from a large city, that's a plus for me. I love being able to walk a few blocks to the store, etc. I could see how others wouldn't want that, though.
When the price is lowered - and not for the first time - but the agent doesn't bother to change to text reading "Must see!! This one won't last!!!"
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