The Secret Weapon Hidden in Home Listings
2.28.25 🏡💰🧠 What an MIT Economist’s Homework Assignment and an Analysis of 25,000 Listings Revealed About Selling Homes
Folks, I promise I’m not slacking on the Wicked Moxie essays. But even with all this wonderful Zoom technology, attempting to coordinate from bed can sometimes get rather exhausting. And today’s real estate market report is rather a whopper. Plus, at the end, I sound like one of those late night infomercial hosts.
Once, I said my sales pitches resembled the ShamWow guy, but then someone quietly emailed me and told me to never ever compare myself to the ShamWow guy, cause I guess he did some bad things after a late night at a bar back in 2009.
My cat has not left my side since I’ve been in bed for near 12 weeks. She’s so concerned she doesn’t eat unless someone brings her food from downstairs, and if you knew her, you would know exactly how strange that behavior is.
Sometimes I prop the window open even when it’s been blistery cold and listen to the long tail wind of the train horn and the chig chig across the tracks that shakes the entirety of the house. Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars all align tonight. You should be able to see them with your naked eye. A rare and powerful event in both astrology and magic, creating an opportunity for transformation, manifestation, and deep spiritual insight if you believe in that kind of thing. Which I don’t but wish I did so sometimes pretend.
Soon, we will be in False Spring. Mud Season will overtake us. Eventually we will wind our way back into summer.
In the real estate market
TL;DR: I sometimes act before thinking—like when I cold-emailed Jonathan Gruber before realizing he’s a major economic heavyweight. Instead of ignoring me, he assigned homework.
One of the other interesting things you need to know about me is that sometimes I act way before I think—which is probably best described as a shortcoming in the qualities you want in a Realtor. I have begun watching the MIT OpenCourseWare Intro to Microeconomics, taught by Dr. Jonathan Gruber. And so, who is Jonathan Gruber, you ask?
MIT professor since ‘92. Director of the Health Care Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. One of the brains behind Massachusetts’ health care reform and ObamaCare. He’s worked across party lines—first taking on an assignment for George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign. He’s written books that sit on desks of policymakers (Public Finance and Public Policy, Health Care Reform, Jump-Starting America), edited top economic journals, and racked up awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the American Society of Health Economists’ Inaugural Medal. Slate called him one of the “Top 25 Most Innovative and Practical Thinkers of Our Time.” Twice, Modern Healthcare named him one of the 100 most powerful people in the industry. And yeah, in 2014, The Grub got dragged into a congressional hearing for saying the quiet part out loud about the Obamacare. If anything though, that just proves he was making an impact—because if no one’s mad, you’re probably just doing it wrong. No matter your politics, it's difficult to deny that The Grub is a force in economic policy.
And yeah. I cold-called emailed him. Of course, way before I realized who he actually is.
I felt rather embarrassed after I looked him up cause all I did was make a joke about coffee—in his lectures the guy’s a bit obsessed with the interchangeability of pizza and cookies, and you all know about my coffee obsession so at least in my act-before-thinking mind, the email was apropos.
Well, he’s not going to respond. I mean, who am I, really? A disenfranchised ex-academic turned local Realtor? I’m not the president or governor of anything. Then he sent me homework.
Uhm, sure, I asked for it. But just didn’t expect at all, you know.
💡 Ever acted before thinking and ended up in an unexpected situation? Hit Leave a Comment and tell me your best (or worst) "oops" moment.
Freakonomics, Ku Klux Klan, and Real Estate
TL;DR: Freakonomics compares Realtors to the KKK (seriously), but more importantly, it reveals a real estate hack: the language in home listings signals price trends. Weak adjectives signal weak listings.
Out of the three books he assigned was Freakonomics by University of Chicago rogue economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen Dubner, published back in 2005, and there have been several updates since, but I had never heard of the thing. If I remember correctly though, in 2008/2009 I was driving OTR semi-trucks with undiagnosed, untreated sleep apnea. The book’s introduction argued, among other weird, cool topics, that maybe Realtors didn’t really have your best interest at heart. Yeah, well, I could buy that, but Chapter Two compared Realtors to the Ku-Klux-Klan! This had to be a joke. I mean, Jon one-upped my coffee humor and blew me out of the house with mad white men riding horses at midnight wearing pillowcases over their heads, burning crosses, and exchanging secret handshakes.
📊 Must-Know Insights From This Section: Language Shapes the Market
🔑 For Sellers: Fluff won’t sell your home. Vague words (“charming,” “fantastic”) = longer time on market + lower sale price. Ask for writing samples before signing.💰 For Buyers: Weak descriptions = negotiation power. Listings with hype but no details often mean hidden issues. Use this to your advantage.
🛠 For Realtors: Details sell. Skip the adjectives—specifics like “1,200 sq. ft. patio with firepit” drive higher prices.
Then, Freakonomics did the unexpected. Levitt and Dubner revealed my real estate secret weapon.
We aren’t going over the numbers like we normally do. But if you’re a buyer, this weapon will give you an edge up in spotting deals. If you’re a seller, you’ll start asking for writing samples before you sign an exclusive listing agreement.
If you're a Realtor--I'm about to give away one of my biggest competitive edges. Knowing this levels the playing field. Even though I rather liked having the edge.
The secret weapon: Grammar.
Levitt and Dubner argue that the words Realtors use in home listing descriptions are signals. Their analysis reveals a pattern: certain words correlate with higher sales prices, while other words indicate homes that sell for less than expected. Words like granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and maple cabinets show up in higher-priced homes because they convey actual, valuable features. Weak listings rely on vague, filler words such as charming, fantastic, and great neighborhood. A cozy home is small. A fixer-upper means a project. TLC? Bring a contractor.
High-value features: Words like granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and maple cabinets signal higher-priced homes—they convey actual, valuable features.
Weak listings rely on vague, filler words:
Charming, fantastic, great neighborhood → Adds no tangible value.
Cozy home → Small.
Fixer-upper → A project.
For those of you who read Coffee with Steve on the regular, this is old hat. Nice homes naturally get better descriptions, but a rundown home triggers a Realtor’s reflex to hide the shortcomings behind vague, feel-good phrasing.
And a Realtor writing badly about a good home? That will tank the price.
💡 Ever seen a home listing with “charming” or “cozy” and immediately knew something was off? Drop your favorite (or most ridiculous) real estate listing phrase in the comments! ⬇️ Hit the green “Leave a Comment” button.
Data vs. Real Estate Intuition
TL;DR: Freakonomics says bad listing descriptions lower home prices. But the real trick? Strong, honest writing can increase a home’s value by building trust with buyers.
But what Freakonomics misses is that good writing can also make a bad home sell for more. A Realtor who leans into the truth—who isn’t afraid to write chipped Formica countertops or huge mouse condo in the basement—isn’t scaring buyers away. They’re building trust. And that trust translates into a higher final sale price.
📊Must-Know Insights From This Section: Honest Writing Sells Homes
🔑 For Sellers: Honest descriptions build trust. Buyers appreciate “chipped Formica” over “quaint vintage charm.” Transparency leads to stronger offers.
💰 For Buyers: Listings that admit flaws = serious sellers. A home described with real details (not fluff) often means more competition and higher prices.
🛠 For Realtors: Good writing sells bad homes for more. Lean into the truth—buyers trust real descriptions, not overhyped sales copy.
People who are not trained to write tend to write what they already read, and because real estate descriptions are full of bad habits, those writing features get copied over and over across the industry. And those unexamined features tell you a lot more than what Levitt and Dubner simply call signals.
At this point, I need to warn you about what comes next. I have an associate’s, an undergrad, an undergrad specialization that involved the Iowa Writers Workshop, and two graduate degrees in creative writing and English. You may stop reading right now and I won’t be the least bit upset because I’m about to deep dive into…
Grammar. Numbers. Statistical nerdery. Basically, the kind of stuff that makes normal people’s eyes glaze over and English majors start breathing heavy. If you thought Freakonomics was wild (you did read that already, right?), wait until you see what happens when I start diagramming real estate listings like a crazed linguist with seven mortgages. So either turn back now or buckle up. All I’m saying here is, you’ve been fairly warned.
I am by the way no Matthew Jockers using R alongside Stylometry within an NLP model, leveraging libraries such as tidytext, ggplot2, syuzhet, and stm.
My sample size is small, and I focused on two primary datasets.
ChatGPT Deep Research selected a set of 100 single-family homes sold in the New Hampshire Seacoast region between 2015 and 2024. This included a mix of balanced price points, tracked addresses, days on market, list price, price adjustments, final sale price, and listing descriptions.
The broader dataset I downloaded directly from the MLS, a decade of New Hampshire Seacoast transactions totaling 25,250 single-family homes, tracking pricing data, days on market, public listing descriptions, and non-public agent remarks.
This entire analysis is limited by how much I could pull from the MLS at any one single time, constrained by available data exports and my own processing capacity.
I’m working with low-tech spreadsheets and ChatGPT, not a high-powered machine-learning model, and my methodology is rooted in my expertise with the English language rather than advanced statistical programming.
Sample Size & Scope: This analysis focuses on two primary datasets.
Smaller Dataset:
ChatGPT Deep Research selected 100 single-family homes sold in the New Hampshire Seacoast region (from 2015–2024).
Includes:
Balanced price points
Tracked addresses
Days on market
List price & price adjustments
Final sale price
Listing descriptions
Broader Dataset:
Pulled directly from the MLS
Covers 10 years of New Hampshire Seacoast transactions (from 2015-2024, 25,250 homes)
Includes:
Pricing data
Addresses
Days on market
List Price & price adjustments
Final sale price
Public listing descriptions
Non-public agent remarks
Limitations & Methodology:
Data retrieval limited by MLS export constraints & manual processing capacity
Statistical analysis conducted using low-tech spreadsheets + ChatGPT, not a high-powered machine-learning model
Rooted in close reading & language expertise rather than advanced statistical programming
Let’s be clear—this is more back-of-the-envelope than Bayesian. I put this all together in about two days. But language, unlike numbers, doesn’t need a neural network to expose its patterns—it just needs close reading, repetition, and a willingness to push beyond the surface of what most people skim past. If you’re interested, you can download my dataset at the end of the essay.
💡 Think a brutally honest home listing could actually boost the sale price? Or would it scare buyers away? Drop your take in the comments! ⬇️ Hit the green “Leave a Comment” button.
Listing Photo Counterargument
TL;DR: Realtors obsess over SEO and photos, but that’s outdated. The MLS and Zillow already handle SEO. Writing shapes perception—and neuroscientists prove it can literally rewire a buyer’s brain.
I can hear a lot of Realtors shouting at me right now about how the listing description doesn’t mean boo, and where it’s really at are the photos.
📊Must-Know Insights From This Section: Writing Beats SEO & Photos
📸 For Sellers: Photos grab attention, but descriptions close the deal. A strong listing description builds buyer confidence.
🔍 For Buyers: Vague listings = red flags. If the description dodges details, the home likely has hidden issues.
📝 For Realtors: Stop overthinking SEO—MLS and Zillow do it for you. Your job? Craft a description that makes buyers feel something.
I have strong feelings about listing photos. Realtors tend to write descriptions for SEO and not people, so oftentimes the description just becomes a copy cat of the photos. Supposedly that makes for better SEO, but doesn’t. The MLS and all the aggregate sites like Zillow, RedFin, Homes.com, etcetra etcetra do all that SEO for you—and their algorithms are pretty simple in comparison to Tik Tok or Facebook. The Zillows and MLSs mainly prioritize listings around three core concepts:
how new the listing
the most views
the most saves
—not necessarily in that order. The MLS allows you to place captions on the photos themselves, and so as a Realtor you should do that. But please say more than “Hey this is the kitchen.” My high school English teacher Mrs. O taught me a good caption includes two sentences: the first in present tense and describes exactly what’s in the photo, and the second sentence is presented in past tense and provides the reader with a detail that is not apparent from the photo. For real estate listings, just do sentence two. And if you are super worried about SEO, geotag your photos meta-data before you upload them.
I don’t want to discount the importance of photos, especially since people say they prefer photos. But the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors reported that even though photos were considered more important than the home description, 87% still said the description is extremely important. There’s all kinds of crazy going on inside the brain when you read. When you read, you are fully aware that you are reading, but your brain at a very biological level can’t tell the difference between reading and reality.
Neuroscientists like Uri Hasson at Princeton have shown that when we read a story, our brain activity syncs with the storyteller’s—an effect called neural coupling. Isn’t that crazy? You’re sitting at your office reading this too long essay on grammar and real estate and I have made you think exactly like I’m thinking right now. Cognitive scientist Lisa Zunshine goes as far as suggesting fiction hijacks our brain’s theory of mind, tricking us into feeling what characters feel. Nicole Speer and Jeffrey Zacks found that reading about an action—running, tasting, touching—activates the same parts of the brain as physically doing that action. Even metaphors can trigger sensory responses: when you read about a “rough day,” your somatosensory cortex—responsible for processing texture—lights up as if you were physically touching something rough.
Your Brain on Reading = Reality?
You know you’re reading, but at a biological level, your brain can’t tell the difference between words and real life.
Mind-Meld Mode Activated
When you read a story, your brain syncs with the storyteller’s thoughts.
Right now, I’ve hijacked your brain. (Sorry, not sorry.)
Fiction = Mind Control
A good story tricks your brain into feeling what the characters feel.
Reading vs. Doing—Your Brain Says “Same Thing”
Reading about running, tasting, touching? Your brain activates the same areas as if you were actually doing it.
Metaphors = Sensory Triggers
Read about a “rough day”? Your brain reacts as if you’re physically touching something rough.
You want to control someone’s mind? Write a better story.
We’re at the midpoint of the essay. If you scroll up, you’ll see my counterargument on photos again. That placement wasn’t accidental. Readers remember the beginning and end of an essay. The middle? It’s just the bridge getting them from point A to point B. And that’s exactly why I buried my counterargument there.
By the time you finish reading, you won’t be thinking about high-quality listing photos anymore. You’ll walk away ready to write a killer home description.
This next section? I want you to forget it too. But not before you read it.
Bad writing in a listing signals a deal—a detail buyers can exploit and listing agents should never, ever include. This is my edge. It’s the reason buyers think I’m a genius and listing agents feel relieved when I take a property off their hands.
But hey, if you do remember this section later… I won’t hold it against you.
💡 What’s more important in a home listing—killer photos or a killer description? 🏡 Drop your take in the comments! ⬇️ Hit the green “Leave a Comment” button.
When Bad Writing Loses Buyers
TL;DR: 3 Ross Road’s listing description reads like luxury, but vague wording and weak nouns undermine the price. Buyers see generic fluff and move on—resulting in a major price drop.
Let’s take a look at 3 Ross Road, MLS#4883932. The original price was $1,250,000.
Prominently situated for privacy, this stylish country estate is sure to impress the most discerning buyers! The home was architecturally designed and custom-built to its surroundings and offers more than 3,100 square feet of impeccably maintained living spaces, along with spectacularly landscaped grounds! The kitchen serves as the hub for the main level and features custom cabinetry, professional appliances, ample counter space, and wonderful views in all directions! The main level offers a dramatic two-story great room with a handsome masonry-built fireplace, an inviting master suite with a large walk-in closet and lavish bath, a well-placed home office and mudroom, along with a screen porch that also serves as an outdoor kitchen! Upstairs you'll find two additional bedrooms and a full bath, along with an unfinished space that could serve as a fourth bedroom if expansion is required. The backyard is an oasis and features an in-ground pool and patio with multiple spaces for entertaining including a wood fire pit and the head-turning, custom-stone dining table! Additional features include A/C, radiant heat, generator, irrigation, pool house, heated barn and a heated garage! Perfectly set on 1.99 acres and surrounded by conserved land, 3 Ross Road is minutes from the Cochecho Country Club, Berwick Academy, downtown Portsmouth, and several of the Seacoast's best beaches and finest restaurants. Don't wait - this property will not disappoint!
At first glance, the description looks like a luxury listing. But guess the sold price.
📊Must-Know Insights From This Section: Bad Listings, Lost Buyers
💰 For Sellers: Weak descriptions cost money. Fluff signals desperation, not value.
🔎 For Buyers: "Sure to impress!" = Skip. Generic hype often means overpriced or lingering on the market.
✍️ For Realtors: If it sounds like every other listing, it’s forgettable. Use precise, vivid details to stand out.
Back in the day as an English professor, I taught my students to circle every noun in their writing. I wrote dog on the board and asked every student what they saw in their mind’s eye when they heard or read the word dog. The overwhelming response was golden retriever. To drive the point home, I did the same exercise with tree, and the majority of answers were oak. You ask the second question, okay, what does a golden retriever look like?
“I dunno. Four legs. A tail, you know, like a dog.”
Okay, what does an oak tree look like?
“Big. Just a tree man.”
But it’s only a golden retriever, only always like a dog, only an oak, only always just a tree unless you, the author, tell us something different. And often when students wrote about dogs or trees, they meant something completely different than the default we all fall back upon—and, what if you are weird like me and think of my last dog Scruffy. A half miniature schnauzer half poodle who fought me on the stairs, baring his glistening teeth as he pulled on the red leash and eventually died in his old age of depression being hand fed Gerber’s baby food by the half spoonful. That is the very last image you want in anyone’s head.
Except me. I wanted that image. I wanted that image in your head. And now it’s undeniably there. Whether you want it or not.
Yet, there is not a single noun anywhere in 3 Ross’ description that smacks of that same Scruffy visceralness.
Other issues I have. The average sentence length is 22 words. If an author uses all long sentences or all short sentences to the exclusion of anything else, you have an author who is boring their reader. All but two sentences end in exclamation points. So many of the same words are repeated over and over, and if I was putting down 1.25 million dollars for a home, I would assume A/C, radiant heat, generator...that is wasted space.
What went wrong with the 3 Ross Road listing?
Average sentence length: 22 words → Creates a monotonous rhythm.
Overuse of exclamation points → All but two sentences end in one.
Repetitive phrasing → No variation or impact.
Wasted space on expected features → A/C, radiant heat, and a generator don’t add value in this price bracket.
Moving away from the grammar and putting on my Realtor hat, the Freakonomics signals for me are the phrases “sure to impress the most discerning buyers!” and “ Don't wait - this property will not disappoint!” I guarantee, 3 Ross missed out on buyers because they blew past this listing despite the photos and 100% because of the description.
💡 Have you ever read a real estate listing that was all fluff and no substance? 🤔 Drop the worst (or funniest) listing description you’ve seen in the comments! ⬇️ Hit the green “Leave a Comment” button.
A Special Kind of Hard
TL;DR: Writing is deeply personal, and critiques can feel like an attack. I just ripped apart a fellow Realor’s listing description, but the data is even more brutal.
This, however, is just my personal take. What does the data say? Because according to Freakonomics, according to The Grub, economics, the “dismal science” is not about how we wish the world worked, or how we think it works, but how it actually works.
📊Must-Know Insights: Writing Feels Personal
📝 For Sellers: A weak listing isn’t just bad writing—it’s lost money. The market doesn’t care if feedback stings.
🔍 For Buyers: Poor descriptions = negotiating power. If a listing reads like a rushed college essay, there’s leverage.
🏡 For Realtors: Every word shapes perception. If your listing makes buyers roll their eyes, you’ve already lost them.
Look, I personally know the listing agent who wrote the Ross Road description. I just in the last several paragraphs eviscerated his home description. I tore it apart like a first-draft freshman essay drowning in passive voice and last-minute panic. My biggest fear is that the dude has read up to this point, and he’s probably mad, but he’s not mad enough to stop reading, so he’s going to continue and hit this dataset, and I’m going to get a call in the middle of the night. But I’m telling you, if you haven’t been yelled at by at least one Realtor during the day, if you haven’t been called up to a congressional hearing, then you’re probably doing something wrong.
I’m also telling you writing is a special kind of hard. Writing is personal, intimate, raw. Thought made visible. Your brain on the page. And when you are critiqued, you often feel threatened and exposed.
Writing is a special kind of hard.
It’s personal, intimate, raw.
It’s thought made visible.
It’s your brain on the page.
Critique feels like being exposed—even when it’s constructive.
What makes this essay so much different than the thousands of other critiques I’ve done over a lifetime of writing, having begun way back more than thirty years ago on a po-dunk newspaper, is that this Realtor, who’s home description was randomly chosen other than a filter for price from a dataset of 25,250 potential home descriptions spanning a decade is that this dude never asked for the critique.
If he believed my critique was damning. The dataset directly points toward a price drop even more so. If you remember, the original sales price for Ross Road was 1,250,000. Have you taken a stab at what the closed price was? Maybe, hedge your bets.
💡 Ever received a critique that stung—but was brutally accurate? ✍️ Share your toughest writing or work-related feedback in the comments! ⬇️ Hit the green “Leave a Comment” button.
The Dataset
TL;DR: Superlatives, passive voice, and redundant feature lists don’t add value; they tank it. The data proves that bad writing costs sellers money, while strategic language boosts perceived value.
The dataset brutally concludes that Ross Road’s description actively undermines the home’s value.
The description is packed with superlatives, but none hold weight. Phrases like "sure to impress the most discerning buyers!” and "this property will not disappoint!” are empty fluff; they correlate directly with price reductions and longer days on market. The dataset shows that listings relying on generic hype—“fantastic,” “amazing,” “must-see”—without tangible details tend to underperform. A prime example? 364 Colonial Drive in Portsmouth proclaimed an “amazing opportunity!!!” with no hard facts to justify and sat on the market before ultimately selling below asking.
📊Must-Know Insights From This Section: Bad Writing Kills Home Prices
📉 For Sellers: Vague superlatives and fluff don’t sell homes—they sink them. Buyers want details, not hype.
🏡 For Buyers: Listings packed with “must-see” and “fantastic” often signal price drops. These homes may be ripe for negotiation.
✍️ For Realtors: Passive voice and redundant feature lists weaken your listing. Sell the experience, not just the amenities.
Ross Road leans on a laundry list of amenities, but instead of adding value, they create white noise. A/C, radiant heat, a generator, irrigation, a heated barn, and a heated garage sound impressive until you realize these features are expected in a home at this price point. High-end buyers don’t need to be sold on the existence of basic infrastructure; they need to understand what sets it apart. A Portsmouth home that similarly overemphasized its "move-in ready" condition and basic amenities like an “updated HVAC” struggled to attract interest because buyers already assumed those features were standard for the price bracket. The dataset confirms that when listings oversell ordinary features, they create an inflated perception of value.
More subtle, but just as damaging, are the accidental signals that suggest the seller is motivated, even if that’s not the intention. "Don't wait - this property will not disappoint!" tries to create urgency. Experienced agents recognize this kind of phrasing as a tell. The phrase "Perfectly set on 1.99 acres and surrounded by conserved land,” that oddly specific lot size raises questions. Easier to leave that number out of the description altogether and let the MLS fact sheet do the work there because that detail suggests an irregular shape or some kind of easement, which could turn buyers off.
Then. The unfinished space—“could serve as a fourth bedroom if expansion is required”—which is meant to hint at potential but instead tells buyers they’re not getting a complete product. 213 Colonial Drive in Portsmouth fell into a similar trap. Originally listed at $590K, its price tumbled to $385K, in part because of a description that included "Price improved! Motivated seller, all offers considered!" While 3 Ross Road’s description isn’t as blatant, it subtly invites the same lowball mindset.
The passive phrasing dilutes any confidence. “The home was architecturally designed and custom-built to its surroundings” sounds like an attempt at prestige, but is just more filler. Every home is architecturally designed. Who designed this one? What makes it distinct? The dataset shows that listings using passive language and vague claims consistently see weaker sale outcomes compared to those that frame details in an active, concrete way. Buyers don’t just want to hear that a home is “custom-built”—they want to know how and by whom.
Perhaps most tellingly, the listing makes a classic mistake: pitching “potential” rather than present value. Buyers see phrases such as “An unfinished space that could serve as a fourth bedroom if expansion is required” as a hassle. A home in Rye, NH tried the same approach, advertising a “great space for expansion”—and sold 5% below asking because buyers viewed it as an incomplete product. Listings that focus too much on what could be done rather than what’s already move-in ready tend to struggle.
Writing Mistakes That Cost Sellers
Overuse of superlatives with no substance (e.g., "sure to impress," "will not disappoint")
Generic hype instead of concrete details
Laundry list of amenities that adds noise instead of value
Emphasizing standard features as if they are selling points
Accidental signals of seller motivation, making the home seem negotiable
Oddly specific details that raise red flags instead of adding appeal
Framing unfinished space as “potential”, which makes buyers see it as incomplete
Passive language that weakens confidence in the home
Fails to highlight what makes the home unique
Ultimately, the issue with 3 Ross Road’s listing isn’t just the wording, but the way the wording shapes perception. Right now, this description reads like an invitation to negotiate than a compelling case for a premium price. It leans on vague enthusiasm instead of concrete value, oversells standard features instead of highlighting unique ones, and defaults to the linguistic equivalent of calling every dog a golden retriever. This listing description relies on language so broad it erases the home’s individuality. Without precise details—without a compelling, specific image—buyers fill in the gaps with whatever default assumption they already have. In luxury real estate, or any kind of real estate, when buyers assume, they downgrade.
Any ideas on what the price reduction was yet?
💡 Think you can guess how much 3 Ross Road’s price dropped? 📉 Take a shot in the comments before I reveal the number! ⬇️ Hit the green “Leave a Comment” button.
How Good Writing Sells Homes for More
TL;DR: 4 Scarlett Lane’s listing nailed it with specific, evocative language. The description made buyers picture the lifestyle, not just the house—leading to a higher sale price.
Before I say what the price reduction was, I want to also look at 4 Scarlett Lane MLS#4882358 listed nine days earlier than Ross for $1,290,000.
Introducing ‘The Great Barn at Victoria Point’! One of the finest 200 year-old hand hewn post and beam barns in New England was lovingly converted into a spectacular open-concept smart home with a wall of glass overlooking the Salmon Falls River. Truly one of a kind! Welcome your guests into the open concept dramatic 3 story great room with exposed beams and stone fireplace. Entire 3rd floor is a 2 story master bedroom, there is truly none other like this! Victoria Point is a brand-new cul-de-sac 7 lot subdivision with town roads, and also comes with a 1/7th interest in 2 stunning common lots one acre at the entrance and 3.5 acres with 900’of water frontage on a picturesque point of the Salmon Falls River where you can enjoy fishing, kayaking and canoeing. Rollinsford students can attend Marshwood Middleand High School in Maine. Enjoy easy access to major roadways, 20 minutes to Portsmouth, one hour to Boston and minutes from Dover, Eliot and all the seacoast of NH and ME have to offer! This is a rare opportunity to purchase your modern dream home! Matterport tour, video and floor plans available.
Some issues with Scarlett exist, and our dataset specifically points towards overuse of vague superlatives without proof, repetitive phrasing, confusing master suite description, subdivision and shared land details, weak losing statements….
📊Must-Know Insights From This Section: Good Writing Sells
🏡 For Sellers: Strong, specific language sells the lifestyle—not just the house. Buyers pay more when they can picture themselves living there.
🔍 For Buyers: Listings that highlight unique features (e.g., “hand-hewn post and beam”) often signal homes that command top dollar.
✍️ For Realtors: Lead with the most compelling feature. A “soaring great room” in the first sentence hooks buyers more than generic “must-see” hype.
But Scarlett also gets a lot of stuff right.
The first sentence doesn’t just describe the home—it frames an experience. “One of the finest barns in New England” immediately establishes exclusivity. Then there’s that “wall of glass overlooking the Salmon Falls River.” Buyers aren’t just picturing a house. They’re imagining their morning coffee with river mist rolling through the valley.
The dataset shows homes that open with a strong visual anchor—especially one tied to nature or craftsmanship—consistently perform above market expectations. A Portsmouth home described as “Perched above Sagamore Creek, this mid-century modern retreat features seamless indoor-outdoor flow” sparked a bidding war and sold for 12% over asking. Buyers connected with the vision. They weren’t buying walls and windows; they were buying a feeling.
And that’s the core strength of 4 Scarlett Lane’s description. The listing moves with intention, leading buyers through the home’s most compelling features in an order that keeps them engaged:
The historic barn origins and dramatic conversion
A soaring great room framed by exposed beams and a stone fireplace
A master suite designed with unique architectural details
Shared land and community benefits
The home’s prime location near Portsmouth, Dover, and Boston
The dataset found high-performing descriptions introduce the home’s most valuable features early—before getting lost in logistical details. A competing Rye home that described “a soaring two-story great room framed by original timber beams” in the first three lines sold above ask, while another listing buried its best features under dry technical details and struggled to attract interest.
Even the word choices are strategic. Some of the high-impact phrases in this listing—“hand-hewn post and beam,” “smart home,” “exposed beams and stone fireplace,” “900’ of water frontage”—align with language that has driven top-tier listing performance within the dataset. Whether luxury or not, buyers want to feel like they’re stepping into something crafted, something rare. A historic home in Exeter that highlighted “original hand-carved moldings and restored wide-plank floors” received above-ask offers in a week. A similar home that simply said “historic charm” without specifics? It lingered.
The final touch? A call to action that recognizes how buyers actually shop: "Matterport tour, video and floor plans available."
Intentional Writing
Frames an experience, not just a home
Strong visual anchors tied to nature and craftsmanship sell homes
Intentional structure keeps buyers engaged
Features are introduced in the right order
Strategic word choices elevate perceived value
Call to action aligns with buyer behavior
4 Scarlett Lane commanded 1,300,000, .78% above asking, which doesn’t seem like a huge leap, but when we’re talking million dollar plus homes, that’s an extra ten grand. As a Realtor, this is not a property I would have underbid on; however, I’m left wondering how much more the home would have sold for if the problematic writing features had been fixed before the home was listed.
💡 What’s the best home listing description you’ve ever read? 🏡 Drop a line from it (or make one up) in the comments! ⬇️ Hit the green “Leave a Comment” button.
📌 Your Takeaways & My Secret Weapon
Everything I’ve uncovered is laid out for you in easy, printable PDF worksheets—but I’m not just handing them out. If you want all the good stuff, you’ll need to email me directly.
💡 Want the final answer on how much 3 Ross Road dropped in price?
💡 Want the cheat sheets, red flags, green lights, and negotiation hacks?
💡 Want the data on how home descriptions have changed over the years?
And there’s a ton of other cool insights buried in the data that I’ll send your way too. Check it out:
📈 The one phrase in a listing description that guarantees a higher sold price than list price.
⏳ The one phrase that correlates most strongly with the shortest days on market (DOM).
🕰️ How listing descriptions have evolved over the past decade—what bad habits need to die and which forgotten writing techniques we need to bring back.
✍️ The perfect length for a listing description (hint: it’s not what most people think).
🤔 Comma splices vs. fragments—which one you should use (and how to even tell the difference if grammar isn’t your thing).
🔑 The power of the first three words—why they make or break a listing.
📖 The impact of storytelling—and how to use it without sounding like you’re writing a novel.
🔥 How to handle scarcity language—when “act fast” helps and when it backfires.
Want all this? You know what to do. Hit the green button and send me a message. 🚀
Not sure what to say? Here’s your easy copy-paste email template:
Subject: Send Me the Good Stuff!
Hey Steve,
I just finished reading your deep dive on listing descriptions, and I’m all in. I’d love to get my hands on:
✅ The final answer on 3 Ross Road’s price drop
✅ The cheat sheets, red flags, green lights, and negotiation hacks
✅ All the insights on how home descriptions have evolved over the years
Also, I’m especially interested in [mention any specific topic that caught your eye—e.g., the impact of storytelling, the perfect length for a listing, etc.].
Looking forward to diving into the data—thanks for putting this together!
Best,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Info, if relevant]
Further Reading: How to Write, Persuade, and Think Smarter
On Writing Well – William Zinsser (A classic on clear, compelling writing—concise, practical, and timeless.)
Bird by Bird – Anne Lamott (For when you need motivation, humor, and a reminder that writing is a messy, human process.)
Story or Die – Lisa Cron (Because storytelling isn’t just for novels—it’s how we make people care.)
Influence is Your Superpower – Zoe Chance (A modern, research-backed guide to ethical persuasion and how to get people to say "yes" without feeling sleazy.)
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – Robert Cialdini (The OG book on how persuasion actually works, from reciprocity to social proof.)
Gruber’s Recommended Reads: How We Think & Decide
Freakonomics – Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner (Economics, but make it fun. The hidden incentives behind everything from crime rates to real estate listings.)
Thinking, Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman (How our brains make decisions—sometimes brilliantly, sometimes stupidly.)
Nudge – Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein (Subtle changes in wording, structure, or environment can completely shift behavior. This book explains why.)
PROPERTY OF THE WEEK
181 Charles Street, Farmington
🛏️4 Beds, 🛁4 Baths, 📏3,249 sq ft, $969,900
Estimated payment: $7,114/mo
Estimation provided by Keller Williams Realty Inc.
Contact a mortgage broker today!
Welcome to this extraordinary maintenance free home offering a rare combination of space, privacy, and versatility. Situated on beautifully maintained, level grounds perfect for gardening or small-scale farming. This single-family home is in excellent condition, with recent renovations including Anderson windows and doors, vinyl siding, flooring, kitchen upgrades including stainless steel appliances and granite counter tops. It offers additional separate living space that can be used for an at home business or an apartment with rental income. The highlights of this unique property include a new barn 42x36 with 16ft ceiling offering ample space for your RV plus a truck, storage, or use as a workshop. The oversized paver patio is perfect for outdoor entertaining, barbecues, or simply relaxing in the peace and quiet of your private home. There are two sheds offering additional storage space for tools, equipment, or hobbies. The building with the additional living space includes a 4-car heated garage, providing the perfect setup for automotive projects or extra storage. Enjoy ultimate privacy in this serene setting, with plenty of room to roam and grow. The expansive level grounds are ideal for gardening, farming, or simply enjoying the outdoors, with plenty of space for recreation or future projects. Currently there are apple, cherry, peach, plum, and pear trees along with elderberry, blueberry, raspberry bushes. This remarkable property offers endless possibilities-whethe
Just a note on these properties of the week: I don’t write the descriptions. But after reading the entire blog up to this point, what do you think about 181 Charles Street? How much would you offer?
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
In yesterday’s Pivot Shift call (if you know, you know, and you should probably know if you are a Realtor), James Shaw, our fearless leader talked about how maybe the real estate market isn’t really that bad, but it was just our vibes shaping our own personal narratives.
❝I'm driving on I-4 on my way to Orlando and it's wide open, which never happens, but it's often, you know, it can be wide open and I'm very excited. And I look down and all of a sudden, I'm going like 90. Has this happened to anybody where you're just minding your own business, your business, and you look down and all of a sudden you're on the interstate and you're going like 90 miles an hour. Has that ever happened to someone? And then you're like, whoa, hold up, wait a minute, something ain't right. I need to slow down a little bit. And so you pump the brakes, you slow it down. Because you've been going 90, it feels like you're going like 25 miles an hour. Going so fast, you're like, whoop, don't want to get pulled over, so I'm going to slow it down a little bit. You're still speeding, but it feels like, oh my gosh, I'm going so slow. I think that's what the market feels like right now. I think the market had been moving so quickly for so long that any type of slowdown feels like a halt. Before you start running your mouth that it's a buyer's market, go look at the information. Go pull the data.”
~James D Shaw
🦘 🚗💨 Real estate vibes: the market’s not dead, your foot’s just off the gas.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Sigh. I used to have more hair back then. At least I have less stomach now.
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