Should you have been about to make a journey and also you knew your pilot had determined the pre-flight guidelines was “shut sufficient,” you wouldn’t board that airplane, proper? You’d need each gauge checked, each system verified, each studying confirmed in opposition to a identified customary. In aviation, “shut sufficient” doesn’t exist. (For good cause!)
Now take into account that for many Individuals, shopping for or promoting a house is the one largest monetary transaction of their lives. And but, the very first thing a potential purchaser reads about that property — the MLS listing description — is commonly written with much less self-discipline than a social media submit.
Imprecise superlatives. Lacking particulars. Exaggerations dressed up as enthusiasm. Omissions that solely floor on the exhibiting or after the closing.
It is a drawback. Not only a advertising drawback — an integrity drawback.
What integrity appears like in a list description
The 1898 Webster’s Dictionary outlined integrity as “truthful dealings with individuals within the switch of property.” However integrity additionally means complete and full — nothing lacking. Each meanings apply on to how we write itemizing descriptions.
Truthful dealing means accuracy: What you write must be true, verifiable and never designed to mislead. Completeness means the outline ought to give consumers sufficient sincere data to resolve whether or not to schedule a exhibiting.
When both customary is lacking, the itemizing description turns into a legal responsibility — not simply legally, however to your popularity and to the belief shoppers place in our business.
So, what does a list description written with integrity appear like? It begins with a easy query earlier than you hit publish: Would I really feel comfy studying this description out loud to a room stuffed with consumers, their attorneys and a state licensing board?
If the reply is something aside from a assured “sure,” the description wants work.
The 4 breakdowns
In my expertise coaching over 600,000 actual property professionals, itemizing description issues fall into 4 classes. Each erodes client belief in its personal manner.
Exaggeration
Everyone knows the code phrases. “Cozy” means small. “Charming” means outdated. “Nice potential” means it wants work that you simply’re hoping the client received’t discover till they’re emotionally invested.
There’s a distinction between presenting a property in its greatest mild and inflating actuality. Skilled advertising highlights real strengths. Exaggeration manufactures strengths that don’t exist. The second a purchaser walks in and the outline doesn’t match what they see, belief is damaged — and it hardly ever comes again.
Omission
That is the silent credibility killer. Leaving out identified defects, materials information or circumstances that will affect a purchaser’s choice isn’t simply poor observe — in most states, it’s a authorized publicity.
However even past authorized necessities, strategic omission tells consumers that the agent cared extra about getting a exhibiting than being simple. Should you have been shopping for the property, what would you need to know earlier than driving throughout city to see it? That’s your customary.
Factual errors
Incorrect sq. footage. Incorrect lot dimensions. Misidentified school districts. These errors could seem minor, however they create cascading issues — wasted time, disillusioned expectations and potential authorized disputes after closing.
Confirm each quantity. Cross-check each declare. Don’t depend on the vendor’s recollection when county information are a cellphone name away.
‘Advertising and marketing language’ that obscures relatively than informs
That is the commonest and arguably essentially the most damaging class as a result of it’s the one which brokers most frequently defend.
Phrases like “should see to understand,” “received’t final lengthy” or “motivated vendor” sound like advertising, however they impart nothing helpful. They’re filler — and filler in a list description indicators that the agent both didn’t take the time to explain the property correctly or didn’t know the way.
Each sentence ought to reply a query a purchaser would possibly moderately ask. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t belong.
A sensible customary for each itemizing
The excellent news is that writing itemizing descriptions with integrity doesn’t require extra time. It simply requires extra self-discipline. Right here’s a sensible framework any agent can apply.
Lead with specifics, not superlatives. As a substitute of “attractive kitchen,” attempt “kitchen renovated in 2023 with quartz counter tops, soft-close cabinetry and a fuel vary.” Particular particulars give consumers actual data and display that you simply truly know the property. Your itemizing description is your skilled handshake earlier than you’ve ever met the client.
Embrace what issues to decision-making. Age of main techniques (roof, HVAC, water heater), HOA charges and restrictions, easements, identified circumstances, proximity to related landmarks or noise sources. These aren’t negatives — they’re information. Patrons will uncover them ultimately. The agent who discloses them upfront earns belief; the agent who hides them loses it.
Confirm earlier than you publish. Sq. footage ought to come from public information or an expert measurement, not from the vendor’s greatest guess. College assignments must be confirmed with the district. Should you’re unsure a couple of truth, both confirm it or go away it out. An sincere hole is healthier than an inaccurate declare.
Learn it from the client’s perspective. Earlier than submitting, learn your description and ask: If I have been a purchaser seeing this for the primary time, would I’ve a transparent, sincere image of this property? Would I really feel knowledgeable or offered to? One of the best itemizing descriptions make consumers really feel revered. The worst ones make them really feel manipulated.
The true price of chopping corners
Some brokers will argue that aggressive advertising language “sells properties.” Maybe. However take into account what it prices.
- Each exaggerated description that disappoints on the exhibiting
- Each omission that surfaces throughout inspection
- Each factual error that creates a dispute
These don’t simply have an effect on one transaction; they compound over a profession and throughout an business.
Customers right this moment have extra entry to data than ever earlier than. They’re evaluating your listing description to satellite tv for pc pictures, tax information, allow histories and neighborhood information in actual time. The agent who writes with precision and honesty doesn’t simply keep away from issues — they differentiate themselves in a market the place belief is more and more scarce.
Consider your itemizing descriptions as your skilled signature. Like a surgeon who wouldn’t log off on a process with out reviewing each element, your itemizing ought to replicate a normal you’d stake your license on.
The usual is obvious
Writing an MLS itemizing description with integrity isn’t sophisticated. Be correct. Be full. Be particular. Be sincere about what you recognize, what you don’t and what the client must make an knowledgeable choice.
The bar isn’t impossibly excessive. It’s merely the place it ought to have been all alongside, because integrity in actual property isn’t nearly doing the appropriate factor. It’s about ensuring nothing is lacking.
