When promoting your investment real estate listings, use the imperative voice and vary sentence length. Watch your adjectives and stay alert for any comments that may seem misleading or discriminatory. Give your ad to others to read and hire a writer to give you some advice about writing. Consider clipping real estate listings you like to get some inspiration.
Let’s face it: you’re not writing your investment real estate listings for your health. You’re sweating over every word and syllable because you want to get results. Here are some simple tips for real estate writing that can help you capture what you want to say:
1) Don’t be afraid to boss them around. Use the imperative voice to tell your readers what to do. “Call now,” “Stop looking – this is it” and other such phrases tend to stand out and subtly get the reader’s attention.
2) Focus on the property, not on people. To avoid legal problems, write your investment real estate listings. Don’t suggest who might be perfect for the home (empty-nesters, families, etc.) as this is considered discriminatory. Also, avoid making any mention of the neighbors (white collar, etc). When mentioning the house itself, check your facts and stick to the specifics. Rather than saying that many renovations were completed recently, for example, write “Roof was completely replaced with metal shingles three years ago.”
3) When editing, circle all adjectives and re-check them. Is the kitchen really “perfect”? Is describing the attic as “cozy” clichéd? Do you use the same adjectives more than once? If so, go back over your copy and make sure each adjective is unique. Do you use wimpy adjectives, such as “nice” or “cute”? Try to describe the property with words that have more zing. Check a thesaurus to find superlatives that are less common.
4) Give your ad to someone else to read. Professional writers use critique groups, and you should, too. An impersonal reader can often catch mistakes that you just don’t see.
5) Clip ads you liked. What techniques did those ad writers use? Try to use the same techniques in your own writing.
6) Schedule a consult with an editor or writer. Hiring a writer or an editor for a few hours doesn’t cost much but can give you insight into your own writing. A professional might be able to point out that you use certain clichés or make the same mistakes – such as comma splices – again and again. Once you know your own bad habits, you can be on the lookout for them, and this will make your writing stronger.
7) Vary your sentences. Count the words in each sentence. Yes, it is tedious, but it is also important. If each of your sentences is about the same length, try blending some sentences together and breaking others apart so that you get a nice variety. Your investment real estate listings will read better.
To Massive Profits,
Brad Wozny
