Real Estate Copywriting

Okay, one of the reasons I asked this question was because of the often appalling sales copy used by many estate agents in Europe especially.

Quite often I look at the property websites in Europe and all too often - I'm absolutely appalled at the very low quality copywriting used.

Take this property for example...

Now I just went to Google and thought let's start in the west - Portugal...

So I typed in "Portugal Property For Sale"

Clicked on the top link which goes to PortugalProperty.com and then clicked on the first link on the navigation bar to look at their luxury properties for sale.

And then clicked on the very first property available for 6 million euros - ($8.5+ million) - Not small change by any stretch of the imagination!

And here is their sales copy for this property...

*****
Property description:

On top of a small hill, opposite the emblematic área of Belém, this property has a privileged location, the surrounding gardens, agricultural area, play area were designed to an infinite detail so that everything fits and welcomes its surroundings. The main house has all the prime areas with river, or sea views, or towards an extensive olive grove - quiet and peaceful - which descends slowly down to the river. With a small agricultural and riding infrastructure, this property is just 15 minutes away from downtown Lisbon, 10 minutes from the beach and 5 minutes from main (inter)national road access.

This 50,000m2 property, formerly owned by Bordalo Pinheiro, was acquired ina state of ruin by the present owners, renovated and transformed into a paradise: by the river Tejo ... or by the sea. A thousand words could not describe the beauty of this property: delight yourselves with the pictures: it is a request!

*****

Don't tell me this sales copy couldn't be improved upon massively!

It's appalling. Here we have a luxury property for sale and a worded description of this property which looks like it was flung together like mud to a wall in about 5 minutes flat. Very little care or attention has obviously gone into the copywriting for this property, despite the rather hefty price tag.

Do you honestly think this is going to inspire many inquiries from potential buyers internationally? Hazarding a guess I would say a resounding no!

Eight million five hundred thousand dollars plus and this is the best they can come up with? :rolleyes: It's dreadful.

And this is just one example from the first link at the top of Google going to the very first home for sale on this business owners real estate website.

Believe you me there are tens of thousands of similar real estate ads in Europe. At my estimate, well over 75% of them written in English which doesn't even make any sense. Nevermind using words which actually connect the properties in question to their ideal potential target buyers!

If you're a copywriter struggling for work... dare I suggest to you to look at some of these property advertisements, contact the estate agents concerned and offer to rewrite their sales copy for them on each of their properties for sale on their respective websites.

It's a numbers game, the more estate agents you contact telling them the benefits of using very well written sales copy to connect said properties with their ideal target market, the more money you'll both make.

They want to sell these properties they're acting as agents for and you can easily help them to do this with some flair and creative imagination on your part.

Best,


Mark Andrews

There's heaps of stuff on the copywriting for realestate... too much sometimes I think. and it can get very confusing...
I suppose I like looking for descriptors in any good copy. (Hot, delightful, Beautiful, great value, etc etc..). some of them don't match the picture sometimes !
my thoughts anyway.
David

I don't know about copy for agents, but I have a tendency late at night to watch Real Estate infomercials on TV and a lot of them are pretty good and idea's from them find their way into my copy pretty often.

Get on the lists of Than Merrill of FortuneBuilders.com and Preston Ely of Learntowholesale.com. Their copywriting is geared more for their info products, not necessarily for listings per se. Real estate nonetheless. They are both FANTASTIC marketers and have very unique styles.

I highly recommend checking them out for marketing guidance at the very least... They influenced the heck out of me and I have much to thank them for. Hope this helps and good luck!

Pete, you shouldn't be surprised that most of the realtors don't pay much attention to the texts written. They somehow translate it, in your case from Portuguese, and they are quite happy with it. Of course the language skills might not be the best as well. If it is a Portuguese realtor who is mainly selling the property to the Portuguese speaking market, then he doesn't care much about English. Although he should with a property like that

Not to dredge up an old post, but I have a real estate client that needs some copywriting. These are high-end properties so I'm trying to get a benchmark on fees. Does 1% sound right for a copywriting fee on a $1,000,000+ home? What would you charge if they can supply you with several leads a month?

Actually, Joe, I'm glad you brought this one back to life because I missed it first time around and I recently got a flyer from a local agent which I have to say is pretty ordinary (the flyer, that is; not the agent. Although he could be, too, I suppose).

What's interesting about the flyer - and what made it stand out from all the usual real estate guff - is that it appears the agent paid for it himself. That is, it seems not to have been produced by the agency.

So this guy's out there promoting himself directly. Good on him! And I reckon I can help him do even better.

But... I don't have any experience working in the real estate market so I'm not sure how agents are used to working with copywriters.

* Is it mostly inhouse?
* Is it commonplace for realtors to work with freelancers?
* Are they amenable to percentage of sale deals?

Etc.

If anyone who has worked with realtors would be kind enough to chime in on any of that, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks a lot!

TheNightOwl

P.S. I'm in Australia, by the way, if that makes any difference.

I agree with you Joe.

Give credit where credit is due...

The above post by RajivWeb was obviously swiped directly from here... 10 Real Estate Copywriting Tips For Sales | Real Estate Marketing Blog

Steve,

Thanks for responding. That gives me a much clearer idea of how it operates.

Thank you.

So given those "restrictions" (for want of a better term), any ideas for how to approach realtors? What kind of angle do you think would -- at the very least -- get them nibbling on the line?


I need to get my thinking cap on about this obviously important point:

Some wonderful tips there, Steve. I really appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

Here's an idea your comments sparked...

Contact the local realtors' organisation and discuss giving a short workshop on how to write better ads that will sell properties faster and for bigger commissions. Get the organisers to contact a couple of their members and ask for some sample ads to critique. Three would be plenty.

Ideally, you get these ads in advance so you can make notes and build them into the presentation.

Then do a presentation starting with the problem you pointed out above: the commission model (maybe it will sell and maybe it won't), which all too often limits investment in quality marketing materials. And how this could be costing them a fortune in both tail-chasing and money.

Then slide into a section that builds the desire for good copywriting and how it will rock their world to have better performing ads.

Sprinkle in a couple of classic stories where copywriting is the hero. Schlitz could be a good one. Or the hail-damaged apples. Tired to us, perhaps, but probably fresh to a room full of real estate agents.

Then tell them you're going to show them how to do it themselves... for free!

Go through the summer school version of Copywriting 101.

Take some questions from the floor.

Then do your "hotseat", where you take the ads you were given and critique them right before their very eyes (well, kinda... more like "Here's one I prepared earlier" style. It should still have the same kind of effect).

Then classic "Before & After" set up. Thank the anonymous realtors who were kind enough to submit their ads. Make a joke that they can have the "After" version for 50% discount of $1500. Then say "Aw, shucks, just joking, of course. Thank you for letting me use them. Whoever submitted them, please come and talk to me afterwards. I'm not going to charge you anything. But I do need to work out a couple of details" (namely, that you have the right to use them as exampes, blah blah blah -- have a release with you, ready to be signed). This should signal that you're not cheap.

Sidenote: Beforehand, expand the presentation a little bit to include more commentary, include some pictures, format it nicely and turn it into a pdf & workbook.

Take some more questions from the floor.

Offer your Whitepaper at the end for anyone interested. Be sure to bring far fewer than you expect to give out. Then you can legitimately say "Gee whiz, it looks like I've run out. How about you give me your business card and I'll email you a copy."

Whaddyathink?

As a licensed Realtor, when I look through our local MLS I am extremely disappointed in the agents' quality of work.

When we put a listing in our MLS, we are allowed to use 24 photographs. Some of the listings have two photographs (one is required). Other listings have 24 photos but the quality is very poor. When I see the listings that have fewer than 24 photographs, I cannot imagine why an agent would not take advantage of putting the maximum number of photos on the listing.

Some of the descriptions of the property are extremely poor.

Realtors are not copywriters and most here in the US do not have the skills to write good copy.

Here is a description of a $2 million listing.

The agent used 14 photos.

The US has Boards for Realtors in every city. Most of the Boards are online with a link to the membership.

After a listing is entered into local Multiple Listing Services', the majority of the listings are picked up on realtor.com.

There are Realtors, mostly in the higher end of the market, who will spend the money to hire a person to write a good description. They also pay a professional photographer. It is this type of agent who understands the importance of good copy and good photos.

To get your foot in the door, you can try writing a FREE description for the agent and send it to them. Normally, the agent has many listings and if they can see the value of your service from one listing, there's a good chance they will hire you to write the descriptions for their other listings.

The real estate companies have weekly meetings. If you are marketing locally (here in the US), you can ask the managing broker for a quick presentation on how to write effective copy.

Thanks Steve & Lori

Some extremely good advice in there from folks who clearly understand the real estate business. I appreciate it and I'm sure the lurkers on this thread do, too.

Cheers,
TheNightOwl

P.S. Thanks, as well, Steve, for the link to the abbreviations. That was thoughtful.

Maybe "Copywriting For Real Estate Advertising" by Gery Deer could be good for you.