Estate agent cliches ''put buyers off''
Fri 9th Nov, 12:09:56 GMT
Estate agents are at risk of deterring house hunters from viewing properties if they make use of cliched terms, according to a new poll.
Some buyers who see common phrases such as "up and coming area" and "efficient use of space" in sales material would not bother going to look round a property before ruling it out, the study by listings website craigslist revealed.
Agents suggesting that a property would "suit a DIY enthusiast" convince 20 per cent of would-be homeowners that the property is not worth viewing, while describing a home as benefiting from "renovation" would also make buyers nervous.
Jim Buckmaster, chief executive of craigslist, commented: "Certain phrases appear so often in property ads that they have become cliches.
"Many are also euphemisms. They say one thing but mean another, which rings alarm bells for a lot of people reading them."
Earlier this year, Glasgow University word usage expert Susan Oates conducted a study into how estate agents used words and found their language became more elaborate during property booms.
Ms Oates told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper that buyers could "overlook a perfectly good property because of the language used to describe it".
Some buyers who see common phrases such as "up and coming area" and "efficient use of space" in sales material would not bother going to look round a property before ruling it out, the study by listings website craigslist revealed.
Agents suggesting that a property would "suit a DIY enthusiast" convince 20 per cent of would-be homeowners that the property is not worth viewing, while describing a home as benefiting from "renovation" would also make buyers nervous.
Jim Buckmaster, chief executive of craigslist, commented: "Certain phrases appear so often in property ads that they have become cliches.
"Many are also euphemisms. They say one thing but mean another, which rings alarm bells for a lot of people reading them."
Earlier this year, Glasgow University word usage expert Susan Oates conducted a study into how estate agents used words and found their language became more elaborate during property booms.
Ms Oates told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper that buyers could "overlook a perfectly good property because of the language used to describe it".
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