The most common way a buyer will find a property they are interested in has four steps:
- Step 1: The buyer will browse real estate listings online (Redfin, Realtor, Zillow, Homes, Trulia).
- Step 2: The buyer will filter the listings by location, price, number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and square footage. These descriptions are referred to as “hard” data or quantitative data.
- Step 3: The buyer will click on the most appealing photos.
- Step 4: The buyer will read the description of the property.
Writing a unique property description is important and has been shown to correlate with a higher sales price (Lily Shen, “Information Value of Property Description: A Machine Learning Approach”, working paper, 13 November 2018). Vadoma has created a guide to simplify the process, providing buyer insights to write a unique property description to ensure your property has the best opportunity to sell for maximum value. The Vadoma guide to writing a unique property description consists of five parts:
- Part 1: Writing The Headline
- Part 2: The First Sentence (aka The Hook)
- Part 3: Bulleted List of Features
- Part 4: Offering a Special Promotion (Seller Concession)
- Part 5: The Closing Sentence (aka The Call To Action)
Fair Housing Language
Before we begin writing our description, it is important to understand that our description needs to be about specific features of the house. It is illegal to advertise a property that indicates any preference based on “race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability.” (https://www.hud.gov/stat/fheo/rights-obligations) In the table below you will find a few examples of acceptable descriptions versus discriminatory descriptions:
| Acceptable Description | Discriminatory Description | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| “Two blocks from neighborhood school and park” | “Perfect family neighborhood” | Familial status |
| “Single level property with low maintenance requirements” | “Perfect for empty nesters” | Age and familial status |
| “Street lights and sidewalks for night time walks” | “Safe exclusive neighborhood” | Race, through coded language |
| None | “Close to Catholic Church” | Religion |
In general, make sure your descriptions are factual and can be confirmed with map software based on distances, proper named landmarks (not local slang), school district names, and actual HOA fees.
Part 1: Writing The Headline
- Vadoma suggests a headline between 6 and 10 words.
- Include a location specific benefit and a property specific benefit.
- Open a search engine and type “Most popular home features in [City you are selling]” Example: “Most popular home features in St. Louis.” This will give you ideas about features of your property to include in the headline.
- Do not include punctuation like commas or exclamation points and do not include words like “a” “or” “the” (https://cla.umn.edu/style-guide/headings-headlines)
Example Headlines:
- “Private Roof Deck In Lafayette Square”
- “Main Floor Laundry and Office in XYZ School District”
- “Arch View and 0.5 miles from Cortex Metro Stop”
Part 2: The First Sentence (aka The Hook)
- The first sentence should be 15 to 20 words (https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jul/14/how-to-write-press-release)
- It should state the style of the house, describe major renovations or upgrades, and elaborate on the benefits of the lot or property location in the neighborhood.
- Similar to the headline, the first sentence is going to highlight property features that are popular in the area we are selling. If you are not sure which features to promote, search for “Most popular home features in [Enter City Name Here]”
For example, here is what that search returned for St. Louis.
| Feature | % of Homes for Sale | Sale-to-list ratio | Median home listing price | Avg views per home listing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office | 30.5% | 100.1% | $220,000 | 578 |
| View | 30.5% | 100.1% | $220,000 | 578 |
| Fireplace | 29.1% | 100.2% | $225,000 | 585 |
| Basement | 28.5% | 100.2% | $230,000 | 591 |
| New Construction | 25.6% | 100.2% | $230,000 | 572 |
| Central Air Conditioning | 22.0% | 100.3% | $249,900 | 574 |
| Attached Garage | 21.9% | 100.8% | $235,000 | 596 |
| Gas Cooktop | 21.5% | 100.9% | $239,900 | 561 |
| Pool | 20.9% | 100.0% | $234,900 | 641 |
| Family Room | 18.2% | 101.4% | $249,000 | 570 |
Most Common Popular Home Features:
- Parking (Off street, attached or detached garage, size of garage 1, 2, or 3 car).
- Fenced in backyard
- Views (City view, Lakefront, Ocean view)
- Distance to public transit
- Professional Kitchen Appliances (Viking, Subzero, Thermador)
- Private suite for income or additional family members
Part 3: Bulleted List of Features
This is where you are going to list the features of your property that were not in the headline or the first sentence hook. The bulleted list should be very specific, like the date of a major repair, for example “2020 roof replacement with 30 year architectural shingles”, or “2025 New HVAC with 20 year warranty.”
Every sentence in the Bulleted list should be specific to inform the buyer about the age, the quality of the material and what kind of condition it is in. Giving buyers something specific to look forward to is much better than being vague. More examples are in the list below:
- “2025 Viking stainless steel gas range and refrigerator” versus “Chef’s kitchen”
- “2023 Granite countertops in kitchen” versus “Luxury kitchen finishes”
- “10 minute drive to downtown St. Louis” versus “Conveniently located”
- “Primary suite with new jacuzzi tub (2025)” versus “Elegant Primary Bathroom”
- “New Roof (2020), New Water Heater (2022), New HVAC (2024)” versus “Recently updated roof, water heater, and HVAC.”
- “3/4" hardwood floors throughout main level” versus “hardwood floors”
- “0.3 acre corner lot” versus “large yard”
Part 4: Offering a Special Promotion (Seller Concession)
If there are a lot of similar homes in your neighborhood that have similar upgrades, and renovations, offering a special promotion can incentivize a buyer to choose your property over a similar property at a similar price. Below are Vadoma’s suggestions for seller promotions:
- Seller Financing. If you own your property and you are looking for a long term stream of income, then you can become the lender and offer for the buyer to pay you a monthly mortgage payment instead of a bank or another financial institution.
- “Buying down” buyers interest rate if they are financing. This involves agreeing to a credit toward closing costs to allow the buyer to obtain a lower interest rate on their loan. This offer can range from $5,000 to $15,000.
- Credit towards closing cost. This can cover title company fees, inspection fees, and is a great incentive to buyers because it reduces the amount of money (cash) they need to purchase the property. There are limits to the amount of credits that can be offered based on the type of loan the buyer is using.
- Home Warranty. It has become pretty common for sellers to offer a one year home warranty to buyers. Policies usually range from $600 to $1000, so it is a small price that can offer the buyer peace of mind and confidence to purchase your property.
Part 5: The Closing Sentence (aka The Call To Action)
At this point of the description, the buyer wants to know how they can see your incredible property for themselves. So, you simply need to tell them how to contact you to make an appointment. A simple sentence like, “Call John at (555) 555-0100 to schedule an appointment” or “Open House Saturday 05/01/2026.”
Your total description should be less than 250 words. This should be plenty of information to give the buyer confidence that they are interested in your property, without being too long. It is also, short enough to show up in all the major online listing services like Zillow, Realtor, Trulia, Redfin, Opendoor, etc.
Vadoma has also included a template that you can use to substitute specific details from your property into the template to create a property description that is sure to attract buyers.
Vadoma is not a law firm, lender, or title/escrow provider. We coordinate the process, and we say so up front. This guide is general information about writing a listing description. It is not legal or financial advice.