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Home Sellers: Pick the Right Words

Ads on dating sites highlight the good and hide the bad.  Real estate ads are no different.  University of Guelph professor Paul Anglin did a fascinating study about what sells homes.  Statesman.com summarizes it well in this article.

Anglin studied Realtor listings in Windsor, Ontario from 1997 to 2000 and came up with these interesting tidbits:

  • 40% of home listings expire without selling, after having been listed an average of 19 weeks.
  • Listings with the words “Beautiful” or “gorgeous” sold in 15% less time and at a 5% higher price on average.
  • Listings with the word “handyman’s special” sold in 50% less time.
  • Listings with the words “moving” or “motivated” took 30% longer to sell and sold or 1-8% less respectively.
  • Listings with the word “rental” took 60% longer to sell.

Anglin now plans to study the Toronto market where homes sell significantly faster–in just five weeks on average.

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Last modified: January 21, 2007

Robert McLister is one of Canada’s best-known mortgage experts. A mortgage columnist for The Globe and Mail, interest rate analyst and editor of MortgageLogic.news, Rob has been covering Canada's mortgage market since 2007.

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