The goal of copywriting is to encourage the reader to take a specific action. When you are writing real estate copy, you need to persuade the reader that this will be the best purchase they have ever made in their lives. This indicates that your writing needs to be of excellent quality.
What Is Real Estate Copywriting?
The key to writing excellent real estate copy is to write for the few individuals who are really going to connect with your content. Your writing has the potential to change your reader’s life by leading them to their dream home. If you can make a client feel understood, you have won half the battle.
If you are a real estate agent, it can be very beneficial to have basic copywriting skills. You can at least improve your ability to communicate with homeowners and buyers in a way that is meaningful to them and gets you the deal.
Many real estate agents are very good salespeople, but they may not be very good at writing copy. It can take some time and practice to get to a level of copywriting you can be satisfied with. If you follow the tips below, you will learn how to write great copy. Worst case scenario, you can hire your own copywriter.
Copywriting for Real Estate Landing Pages
Your real estate landing page is designed to funnel clients to your business and create loyalty. Great copywriting can keep people on your page by providing interesting and useful content.
Ace the Headline
Your headline is the first thing readers see in your content. If you want to keep your prospects engaged, your headline is crucial. If your headline is uninteresting, it will lower readers’ interest, and they may not even click on the article.
Make It Attention-Grabbing
Which ones caused you to do a double-take? What did they have in common? Did they spark a feeling of concern within you? Were they funny? Timely? The principles of great headlines can be applied to your real estate website landing page. Creating an eye-catching headline is a great way to make your website more appealing to potential buyers. No matter how you phrase it, an eye-catching headline creates a sense of urgency and interest.
Not sure which headline would be the most enticing? Seek advice from those in the know by asking for feedback from real estate colleagues, friendly clients, or loved ones.
Leave the Headline for Last
Your headline is one of the most important aspects of your content. It needs to sum up the most important points, answer a client concern, and offer knowledge in a way that is syntactically appealing. If you’re having trouble coming up with a stellar headline, wait until you’ve constructed the bulk of your web page content. This is essentially asking you to brainstorm how you can explain the main points of your essay in just 10 words.
Don’t Resort to Clickbait
Although it may be tempting to use clickbait titles to bring in readers, it can hurt your business in the long run. Nothing is more effective at identifying dishonesty and inconsistency than a search engine. Google can quickly identify websites that have high bounce rates and a large number of keywords and titles. If Google detects clickbait on your webpage, it will reduce your ranking and the page may never be seen again. Don’t take the risk.
Find the Pain Point, Press It, Then Solve It
People are more likely to take action to relieve pain than to seek pleasure. Marketers know that people have a tendency to believe what they see, even if it’s not true, and they’ve been successfully exploiting this trait for years.
For many people who are looking for a new property, the search can be a long and stressful process. This can be the perfect opportunity for you to help them out and relieve some of their stress. This is known as “taking advantage of a pain point” among industry professionals. If you want to be successful at real estate copywriting, you need to focus on the things that are causing people pain and then offer your services or expertise as a way to fix the problem.
This is how it would go: You would need to demonstrate that you understand the client’s concerns and be ready to go into detail about them. Each client group has a different perspective based on their location, budget, interests, and lifestyle. For example, if you’re mostly serving nuclear families, you might want to talk about how inconvenient it is to go to multiple open houses with kids, finding an affordable neighborhood that also has great schools nearby, or creating separation between rooms while still maintaining an open feel.
Your chosen pain points can be used as a starting point to explore the best qualities of your services and the properties/clients you work with. By focusing on these areas, you can improve your business and better serve your customers.
Use Accessible Language
You don’t need to make your real estate web pages sound like Shakespeare for people to appreciate it. You will have more success if the text reads like a children’s book. The use of flowery language can be seen as a positive thing, but it can also create a barrier between the reader and the text. If you write long, complicated sentences, your readers will have to work harder to find the information they need.
Think from the perspective of the reader: what information are you looking for and what language would you use to describe it? You can emphasize certain words by adding descriptive words, without causing confusion.
Beginning with a mind map of the main points you would like to discuss is suggested. Mind maps are a helpful tool for organizing your thoughts, creating connections between ideas, and making sure you don’t forget anything important. From there, you can organize the points in a logical order and provide more information about them. After you have ordered the information you need, you can use text breaks and visual tools to break it up. Different elements like numbers, lists, and images can be used to create white space on your pages, making them more easy and enjoyable to read.
Copywriting for Real Estate Listings
What are the most important details of the property that are included in your real estate listing? And how? In order to capture clients’ attention, you will have to do more than describe basic features.
Focus on Benefits, Not Just Descriptions
Great property listings not only give you a list of what exists in the home, but they also give you ideas of the potential of the home and the lovely people who will live in it. We have come to understand that purchasing a home is much more of an emotional experience than simply buying a piece of land. It can be seen as a place to escape the problems of the outside world, where you can create a new life and explore your imagination.
When you are planning your listing description, make sure to include the basics such as how many bedrooms, bathrooms, appliances, etc. The goal is to use strong persuasion to transport your prospective buyer to the home of their dreams so they will visit it. In order to make your listing stand out, you need to be able to clearly communicate the benefits of each feature. Consider how each feature in the home feels and how it would add to your day to day experience of living there in order to add character.
Define Your Target Audience
Who is your target clientele, and what language would they use to describe their perfect home? If you’re unsure of which language to use, think about the type of person your listing would not be suitable for and pick the language that would appeal to the opposite.
Here are some examples of language leading agents would use to expand on a simple feature like a double sink:
- Spend less time getting ready
- Enjoy ample counter space
- Take advantage of extra storage
- Prepare for less clutter
The language in your marketing material can attract your ideal customer, as well as those who are undecided about which style of property or agent to use.
It’s just as important to be familiar with words that are unappealing and even make people want to exclude you. You can get in trouble with fair housing laws if you make reference to someone’s physical disability, religion, ethnicity, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, or employment status. This can lead to unwarranted lawsuits. The Fair Housing Guidelines contain a list of language that is appropriate and inappropriate to use.
Price-Based Headlines
Let’s be real. How much a house costs is a big factor in whether it will sell or not. Including it in your headline is the perfect way to draw customers in who will be interested.
You need to have a better understanding of your target market. Do you usually sell homes to investors? People, that are lower income? This will change how you write your headline. Here are some examples:
- “Priced to Sell Fast”: This is effective because it promotes urgency. It makes people feel that they are going to miss out on a great deal, and they will be more likely to click on your ad.
- “Make an Offer!”: One of the staple copywriting principles is calls to action — telling the reader to take some form of action, or in this case, make an offer. When they check out your ad, it will be on their mind.
- “Incredible Investment Opportunity”: Obviously, you have to be telling the truth. Don’t use this headline on the house you know is going to tank faster than your high school grades. Investors are looking to, of course, invest in a property. If you’re confident that it will have a good ROI, mentioning it in the headline will attract the right buyers. Many times they have to browse through listings and find these types of properties themselves. A.K.A, you’re also saving them time.
- “Priced Below the Appraisal Amount“: This screams a great deal and saving money. Who doesn’t want that? Most people are going to be very budget sensitive when purchasing property, so you’re speaking to their emotions and needs.
Location-Based Headlines
The price isn’t everything. Where a home is located and what kind of surroundings it is in are very important when trying to sell a home. Here are some ways you can integrate that into your real estate headlines:
- “Breathtaking View”: Are you selling a property that overlooks the city? A beautiful lake or something similar? Then you need to add this to your headline. This needs to be accompanied by high-quality photos of the “breathtaking view,” of course.
- “Heart of the Metropolis”: Some people love living in the heart of the big city. Think New York City, Toronto, Los Angeles, or Chicago. The hustle and bustle get them excited. They love the noise and stimulation. If you’re selling property in a metropolitan area, like condos or apartments, I’d suggest giving this a shot.
- “Tucked Away in Private”: Not everyone wants a property that screams attention. Some prefer a relaxed and private environment. Are you selling a property that’s tucked away and hidden? Odds are you will get people that value their privacy, and this headline will resonate with them.
Tell a Story About the Property
We said no flowery language, but storytelling is an exception. When you tell a story in your listing, it allows the reader to get emotionally involved with the text. This makes your property stand out from a series of dry listings.
If your listing is an older home, explain how the space fits in with the surrounding neighborhood and local culture. What are some good qualities about the area it’s in?
Learn about the history of the area where your listing is located. When you are unsure of what to do, focus on the future potential of the area.
Enlist the Help of a Copywriting Tool
The tools that copywriters use nowadays are mostly computer-generated AI that is programmed to sound like natural human speech. If you are a busy real estate agent without an external copywriter, copywriting AI can help you save a lot of time and effort in the long run. There are a lot of tasks that AI can help with when it comes to copywriting, like filling in blank spots, acting as a thesaurus, and generating content ideas. Although these tools are helpful, they cannot replace the skill of a human and cannot recognize what sounds good to a human. Even though you are using someone else’s words, you will still need to confirm that the information is accurate, make sure it is consistent, and add your own touch.
Jasper – Jasper is a great copywriting tool that has a lot of features. This tool can match the tone of several types of publications and make writing 10 times faster. Jasper AI provides predictions for the type of language and topics that would be appropriate for your content, based on factors such as real estate listings and Facebook ads.
Stuck on a blank page? Jasper helps you write your next piece of content by suggesting relevant topics and providing assistance as you write.
WordTune – Much like Jasper, WordTune provides tips on how to better your writing skills as you type. The Chrome extension can be used on popular websites such as Google Docs, Twitter, Grammarly, and LinkedIn.
Should You Hire a Real Estate Copywriter?
No matter how many tips on copywriting an agent may receive, it may not be enough for them to create their own copy. A copywriter who is good at their job can take on a lot of work without affecting the quality of their output. If your brokerage doesn’t have large and ongoing needs, a freelance copywriter can provide the work you need on an as-needed basis.
What Will Your Copywriter be Responsible For?
Your copywriter should be able to write content that engages the reader and promotes your real estate business while highlighting your unique offerings. It is not necessary for a candidate to have only copywriting experience to be good at a copywriting job. If you’re looking for a great copywriter, focus on the skills they typically have, rather than the title. This will allow you to hire from a larger, equally qualified pool of candidates.
On a micro-level you’ll want to look for:
- The ability to convert marketing language into engaging and pleasant text
- Produce error-free copy in your chosen brand voice over a variety of content types and lengths
- Find and initiate new copywriting opportunities that increase brand visibility
- Understand your goals and communicate them effectively without distortion or too much back and forth
What to Include in Your Job Description
This is your chance to attract the most qualified candidates. Make sure that you are clear about what your new hire will be responsible for. Some typical copywriting tasks within the real estate industry include:
- Property descriptions & MLS listings
- Brochures and sales letters
- Video content scripts
- Blogs
- Press releases
- Bios or “About Us” pages
