9 Real Estate Copywriting Mistakes to Avoid
Real estate agents produce a lot of written content, and as a real estate copywriter, I love getting their marketing material in my mailbox. It’s always great as a homeowner to know how the local market is doing in my Central Coast suburb. But as a real estate copywriter, I sometimes see real estate copywriting mistakes in this material–from grammatical gaffes to copy that seems to be written in a rush.
All businesses that produce content make copywriting mistakes from time to time. I know I do. But that’s why it’s so important to get a second pair of eyes to look over your copy before it goes live or is printed out 1,000 times for a mailbox drop. If you’re spending time, money, and effort doing a large-scale mail campaign, making sure your marketing copy is error-free and professional is super important.
Why? You want to give the best impression to your target market–prospective vendors–especially when competing with so many other agents. Writing engaging and error-free copy helps impress your audience. It shows that you are a professional who doesn’t cut corners. Your marketing copy should never be an afterthought.
I also love browsing realestate.com.au to see what’s for sale around the Central Coast, Sydney, and beyond. And, of course, as a property copywriter, I love reading the ad copy. But again, I often see property ads riddled with inconsistencies, misspellings, grammatical mistakes, and more.
Well-crafted online property copy can boost click-through rates and help you get more enquiries, get more people viewing your property, and contribute to a quick sale.
If you’re getting beautiful, professional photos taken for a listing, you need to also put the same effort into the words. Because compelling property ad copy helps buyers emotionally connect to a property before they even walk through the door. Something that photos alone can’t accomplish.
Here are 9 Real Estate Copywriting Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake #1. The incorrect use of plurals and apostrophes.
A while back, I received a letter in my mailbox from a local real estate agent saying their agency was conducting property appraisals in my suburb. Participants could have their houses evaluated for free and then receive a free digital report about the prices and trends in the area. A great idea!
BUT the letter contained a couple of errors:
Error #1
The letter said that the agents would estimate “your properties worth.”
Unless you own multiple properties in the neighbourhood, this sentence uses a plural when it should be using a possessive apostrophe, i.e., “your property’s worth.”
Error #2
The letter spoke about sharing “recent sales, data and selling strategy’s.”
This sentence uses a possessive apostrophe when it should be plural, i.e., “recent sales, data and selling strategies.“
Both are easy mistakes to make but also easy to avoid. Always get a second pair of eyes to read your copy and look for grammatical errors and typos–especially if you’re doing a mail-out to a whole neighbourhood! Or get an editor and proofreader like me to help. You want to look professional as an agent, which extends to your marketing materials.
Mistake #2. Writing overly long sentences in your property ads.
Many real estate property ads use long, flowing, descriptive sentences to paint a picture of a house and lifestyle. But how long is too long? The longer a sentence, the harder it is to read. Readers usually start struggling when a sentence reaches the 25-word mark.
Overly long property ad sentences are a common real estate copywriting mistake. Unfortunately, I’m guilty of making this mistake too!
If you’ve written a sentence that goes on and on, try reading it aloud. You’ll find yourself needing to pause and take a breath naturally. And that’s the place where it’s a good idea to take a break and start a new sentence. Or, at the very least, use punctuation like commas to make the sentence easier to read.
Here’s an example of a long sentence in a property ad I found in the wild:
Down the long flowing hallway you’ll find the home’s sleeping quarters complete with three spacious bedrooms all providing built-in robes for your storage needs and convenient access to the bathroom with a bath, shower, and separate toilet to keep your busy mornings running smoothly.
This paragraph uses overly long sentences and no commas or full stops to break it up, making it difficult to read. This sentence is 43 words long! While this ad sells the benefits of living in this house, the copy can be tightened to make it easier to read.
For example:
Down the flowing hallway, you’ll find three spacious bedrooms, each with built-in robes for all your storage needs. The bedrooms are conveniently located near a bathroom featuring a bath, shower, and separate toilet. Making it the perfect layout to keep busy mornings running smoothly.
Try interspersing longer sentences with shorter ones to keep your copy flowing. Starting a sentence with ‘And,’ ‘With,’ or ‘But’ is okay to help break up a longer sentence. And please make sure you use punctuation correctly. Sometimes I see ads where the writer has used an endless array of commas instead of full stops.
Mistake #3. Inconsistencies in the same real estate ad.
Every real estate agent or agency has a particular way of writing standard features of a house. Such as:
- Built in wardrobe vs. built-in wardrobe vs. built-in robe
- 3 bedrooms vs. 3-bedrooms vs. 3 b/r vs. three-bedrooms
- Lock up garage vs. lock-up garage
But sometimes, I see a couple of variations of the same feature (built-in robe and built in wardrobe) in the same ad. So, decide which one you will use and keep it consistent in your ad (unless word count is a factor and you need to abbreviate words).
Does your real estate agency have a style guide? Should you use a particular spelling or hyphenation of a word across your marketing materials?
If your agency has a style guide, make sure you use it. If not, this could be a handy document to create–not only for your own use but for all the agents you work with. Then, you’ll never have to wonder whether to spell it air conditioning or air-conditioning ever again.
Contact me if you need help creating a style guide for your agency.
Mistake #4. Overusing the same word in an ad.
Recently, I saw a property listing online that used the word ‘location’ or ‘located’ 7 times in a super short ad (see below). I know a property is sometimes about ‘location, location, location,’ but this was just too much. Repetition of a word can be a great writing tool when used strategically, but there’s a definite limit.
This is another super common real estate copywriting mistake. And often, we don’t see that we’ve repeatedly used the same word over and over. Not unless you take the time to proofread your ad.
If you find yourself using the same word or phrase multiple times in your copy, why not mix it up? It will make your ad read and look much better.
This ad with the ‘location’ overload could have varied its word choice. ‘Located’ can be exchanged for words like ‘perfectly situated,’ ‘nestled,’ ‘occupying,’ ‘ideally positioned,’ etc.
An online thesaurus or the thesaurus function in Word is your best friend. Use the thesaurus function in Microsoft (shift F7) to come up with some other word choices. Or make yourself a cheat sheet that contains synonyms of words you use a lot. For example, it could look like this:
Located:
- Situated
- Nestled
- Stationed
- Occupying
- Positioned
Mistake #5. Capitalising the rooms in a property.
Another real estate copywriting mistake I see is capitalising rooms in a house. If you look at the property ad example above, the agent has capitalised all the rooms: Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom, etc. Rooms should never be capitalised–unless they are at the start of a sentence.
Mistake #6. Using American English instead of Australian English.
It can be easy for US English spelling to creep into your ad copy–especially when writing copy in Microsoft Word or using online editing tools like Grammarly.
Some of the words I have spotted recently in ads include:
- Describing a house as being of a high caliber. Caliber is the American spelling. In Australia, we use calibre.
- Veranda is the American spelling. In Australia, we should use verendah.
- Saying utilize the living space. In Australia, we spell it utilise.
How do you avoid slipping into US English in your property ad copy? First, using Microsoft Word, set the language to English (Australian). Then, if you’re still unsure of the spelling, do a quick Google check.
This mistake is another instance when having a style guide could be helpful. For example, you can include the correct spelling of words, such as ‘verandah,’ which are often misspelled.
Mistake #7. Using too many abbreviations in your copy.
I know that sometimes property listing lengths are restricted by word counts and ad space, but be mindful of how much you abbreviate words and use acronyms.
Because while the ad copy may make perfect sense to you or others in the real estate industry, it could leave your potential buyers scratching their heads in confusion.
For example, Immaculate BV home with A/C, 4 Br with BIR, 2Bs & LUG.
Always spell it out when space and copy length allow.
Mistake #8. Not taking the time to write professional, polished property copy.
As mentioned in this blog post, real estate agents care so much about producing amazing photos of a house for sale. But copywriting for a property ad or a piece of marketing material can often be an afterthought. Of course, we all know the adage ‘a picture tells a thousand words,’ but words matter too!
Writing polished words that elevate your property listing from blah to brilliant can mean the difference between a buyer scrolling past your ad to them stopping, reading your ad, and showing up at your next open house.
There’s so much competition out there between real estate agents. So, why not take care when writing your listings, so you (and your ad) stand out from the crowd?
Here are a few property copywriting tips:
- Write the copy with your ideal buyer in mind.
- Use the ad to tell a story about the property that goes beyond listing features and connects to the ideal buyer’s emotions.
- Don’t make your copy only about the features (how many bedrooms, the pool etc.) Make it about how these features benefit and improve a buyer’s life. How will a sun-drenched living room make them feel in the mornings? What positive impact will spacious bedrooms have for a large family?
- After writing your copy, get someone else to check it for grammatical errors and typos.
Mistake #9. Not editing or proofreading your copy.
We all know that real estate agents are busy people, and sometimes you have to write property copy quickly with a fast turnaround. But this can lead to rushed copy that contains errors, or marketing copy that reads like a first draft. The good news is that your real estate copywriting mistakes can be easily fixed. Just take the time to proofread and edit your work before hitting publish or print.
It’s difficult to find mistakes in your own writing. So, it’s always worth factoring editing into your timeline. Use free editing tools like Grammarly to catch some basic mistakes (be careful, it doesn’t catch all the errors). Or write your ad one day, leave it to the side, then read it through with fresh eyes the next day. Or work with a real estate copywriter like myself who can write and edit your marketing copy for you. That way, you can ensure your copy is the best it can be before publishing it online or hitting print on thousands of flyers for a mailbox drop.
Conclusion
If you’re a busy real estate agent who needs help writing your property listings, or you need someone to edit/rewrite/polish your marketing copy before publishing it, I can help. Check out my Real Estate Copywriting services, including editing and proofreading.
It always helps to have a second pair of eyes checking your work before sending it out on the internet or into the letterboxes of a whole suburb!
