One of the biggest misconceptions in real estate is that agents feel they need to create a novel for a property description. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
Buyers are scouring literally hundreds of properties to create a shortlist of their ideal property. Therefore, you will only get their attention for a nano-second. The goal is to get the attention of buyers as quickly as possible. This means your headline must be short, sharp, and to the point in order to grab them.
It’s also important to let the prospective buyers know that the seller is highly motivated to sell, so that the property goes straight to the top of their shopping list. The reason for this is that 25% of all properties on the market are not actually for sale because the sellers are never going to meet market, they’re testing the market hoping for some ambitious price which doesn’t exist, or they’ve been misled by an agent overpromising and in most cases under-delivering.
In order to circumvent this issue, it’s imperative that you have an interesting headline that quickly attracts the attention of the potential buyer. Your great headline then leads into your first paragraph where you tell the story behind the property. I call this ‘Telling the Truth’. Below are some examples that I have used throughout the years:
If the seller is downsizing:
Hooray!
Finally, after 12 happy years, the kids have gone off to university and it’s time for us to move into that beach house we’ve always dreamed of!
While we no longer need our large 4×2 family home, it now means this beautiful property could be yours.
If the seller is moving interstate:
Finally!
My husband just got his promotion and we’re moving interstate for greener pastures!
However, our beautiful four-bedroom, two-bathroom home is no longer needed. Our bags are packed and we’re ready to go, all we’re waiting for is the sold sticker!
If the seller is upsizing:
It’s a BOY!
The sellers are happy to announce that they have just added to the family with a new baby boy. However, there is no room for little Johnny, so the sellers need more space. This delightful 3×1 must be sold.
Now of course, before you write the story, you need to get the permission of the seller to tell their story. The good news is, each seller will have their own unique creative story, whether it be shifting for schools, moving closer to grandkids, or there was a separation or divorce.
Some subjects and stories will be more sensitive than others, and sellers may not want to tell them. Luckily there are ways of getting around this. A divorce could be worded as “both owners’ going their separate ways”, or perhaps if it was a bank forced sale, you could say “Fire sale, seller liquidating assets”. It all comes down to agents becoming the educators and letting the sellers know how powerful a story can be.
No matter what method of sale you choose, whether it’s auction, private treaty, or tender, the key is to use a really attractive headline and tell the truth.
If you attend my upcoming FREE half-day Real Estate Brilliance webinar, I’ll be going over techniques you can use to create headlines and blurbs that are sure to be attention grabbing.
Photo by G. Crescoli on Unsplash
