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Landing Buyers with Solid Real Estate Listings
from:The use of real estate listings is one of the main outlets for placing a property in the public eye. Listings work to describe and promote the property and make it appealing to those in the market for a home, commercial lot or other property type. A well thought out listing is one that grabs the attention of the reader with factual data and more commonly, with the use of pictures. When describing a house, it is common to describe the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. When describing a lot or parcel of land, it is common to mention the location or zoning.
The problem many face with real estate listings is finding a way to put out as much information as possible in a relatively small space. This is often done through the use of abbreviations. However, too much information and abbreviations can be overwhelming in a small space. The balance lies in placing a listing that describes the property and draws out the curiosity of the reader. Some common abbreviations used in real estate listings are:
• br: bedroom
• ba: bathroom
• 3/2/2: three bed, two bathrooms, two car garage
• lr: living room
• dr: dining room
• fin bsmt: finished basement
• A/C: air conditioning
• w/d: washer/dryer
• hdwd or h/w: hardwood floors
• wic: walk-in closet
• sf: square feet
• FSBO: for sale by owner
• HUD: Department of Housing and Urban Development
Other well known descriptions or terms such as convenient to, private/secluded and fixer upper are also commonly used in real estate listings. As many have found, these terms have a broad range of interpretation. Homes convenient to highway accesses can mean a house minutes away from the freeway or a house built next to a noisy overpass. A secluded location can simply mean the property is away from main streets or in a location completely devoid of human civilization. Fixer uppers may require a simple update to plumbing fixtures or the complete addition of indoor plumbing as whole, along with windows, a roof and doors.
The internet has allowed real estate listings to take on a whole new avenue. Even though full color pictures in a newspaper can be very helpful for a listing, current technological advances allow one to go online and see a property from all angles in what is called a 360 degree shot. Prospective buyers of a property can now see the inside of a home or the surrounding area of a lot without ever leaving the comfort of home. This remarkable feature not only means expending less energy driving from location to location, it is especially helpful for those scouting for properties in locations hundreds or thousands of miles away.