Marketing: The Right Words and Pictures Will Sell Your Home Faster

Grabbing the attention of the right buyers – that’s what your for-sale listing is all about. Done well, your online listing will start selling your home before the buyer even visits.

There are three keys to making the most of your online listing: professional-level photographs, a vivid description and a video walkthrough. Here’s how to make each one work best for you.

Picture perfect

Photos are the first thing a home shopper will notice about your listing so doing them well is crucial to quickly selling your home. They will likely be used not only in your online listing but also on printed fliers. Talk with your agent about the value (and cost) of using a professional real estate photographer.

If you opt to do your own pictures, consider using a real camera, not just your cell phone, as well as a tripod to steady your shots. Take multiple pictures so you have choices when you edit your images.

A few other tips:

Outside: Pick a day and time of day when the home is well lit, keeping the sun behind you. Focus on the home, standing at a slight angle rather than straight-on. Include landscaping if it’s a highlight of your home, as well as any architectural details. In addition to the day-time shot, a dusk or nighttime exterior shot can make your home look warm and inviting. The key is to leave your home’s interior and exterior lights on while you take the photo.

Inside: Experiment with taking pictures at different times of the day to see what type of light captures your home at its best. Stage the interior of your home so each room is ready for its close-up. Clear away clutter, open the blinds and turn on the lights. The most important rooms to include are the master bedroom, kitchen, living room and bathrooms. Set up the camera on a tripod in a corner that allows you to capture each room’s most striking features. Again, include any architectural details such as exposed beams or wainscoting.

Try simple tricks like taking a photo of the front entrance of your home with the door open indicate a welcoming vibe to your home, which can entice buyers to keep clicking through the photographs. For more tips, check out '9 Listing Photo Do's and Don'ts.'

Words matter

Using the “right” words in your home description can mean more money in your pocket. That was one of the findings in the book “Zillow Talk: Rewriting the Rules of Real Estate.” Co-authored by Zillow SEO Spencer Rascoff and Chief Economist Stan Humphries, the book notes “bottom-tier homes described as luxurious tend to beat their expected sales price by a whopping 8.2 percent. Top-tier homes described as captivating tend to beat theirs by 6.5 percent.”

In addition to luxurious and captivating, consider adding these words to your description: impeccable, stainless, granite, basketball (as in court), landscaped, pergola, remodel, beautiful and gentle (as in gentle rolling hills), tile, upgraded and updated. Of course, only use these if they actually apply to your home, because being truthful is a cornerstone of an accurate listing.

On the flip side, unless your home is truly a fixer-upper and you’re selling it that way, avoid these nine words that could cost you money: fixer, TLC (as in, the home is in need of tender loving care), cosmetic, investment, investor, potential, bargain, opportunity and nice. Nice typically has a positive meaning but it can be highly subjective.

And how many words should you use? “Zillow Talk” found that homes with “longer listings” consistently sell for more money. Buyers want to know details, and those extra words can give them additional information about whether a house is worth going to see. Worth noting: You hit diminishing returns – in terms of ultimate sale price at least – after about 250 words. So choose your words carefully.

Describe your home’s most notable features – think fireplace, remodeled kitchens or bathrooms, a large backyard, crown molding, granite countertops, large closets. If your home is part of a historic neighborhood, mention that as well. The idea is to highlight the most interesting and unique parts of your home to entice buyers to come see if for themselves.

A virtual walkthrough

Another way to pique buyer interest is to add a free video walkthrough to your Zillow listing. The two-minute silent video gives home shoppers a chance to experience your home before they visit in person by showing the flow of your home and how the rooms connect.

Adding a video walkthrough promotes visibility on your listing on Zillow, doubling both the number of shopper views and how often the home is saved to look at later. With more views, you can increase your home's ranking and visibility to shoppers.

You can record a video using the Zillow real estate app and your smart phone, or you can ask your agent to do one for you.

If you record your own video walkthrough, take a few minutes to map out the rooms and features you want to highlight. Focus on the flow of the home, bringing your floor plan to life for potential buyers. You can record multiple clips to make your video, shooting them in succession, then hitting pause. A great use for this is moving between levels, show the top or bottom of a staircase in one clip, reposition yourself, then continue recording the next clip. As with still photographs, lighting is important so turn on lights and open any window coverings.