How to Write
Killer Listing Descriptions When Jo Mangum started as a real estate agent in 1993, it took her a long time to write out a listing’s description. “Most agents go through a metamorphous. They first use lots of adjectives to describe things such as the beautiful landscaping,” says BY LEE NELSON Mangum, Vice President of Learning for Century 21 Real Estate in Raleigh. “As I became more successful and more educated, I learned a different technique. Before writing anything, you first ask, ‘Who is buying this house?’” 24 INSIGHT • August 2021
These days, potential buyers won’t read everything on a description. “They are scanners and won’t read every detail,” she adds. “They read the first few sentences and won’t get past that until you pack the description with what is most important to that buyer of the house.” Elizabeth Danziger, President of Worktalk Communications Consulting in Los Angeles for 34 years, offers customized writing training targeted to many different organizations. “It’s all about helping people do their marketing and writing more effectively,” she says. “The biggest mistake in my experience in all written communication is that people do not focus on the reader. They write what’s important to them and not to their reader.”
