The Value of Words

Welsh poet George Herbert once said, “Good words are worth much, and cost little.” He’s right, according to a study out this week which finds that properties containing certain words and phrases in their listing comments tend to sell for higher prices.

Researchers analyzed more than 1 million single-family transactions that closed in the first half of 2017. Every property analyzed had public remarks and comments from which researchers extracted word pairs. How much weight certain word pairs have varied geographically. “Heated pool” on the west coast scored high, as well as “solar panels.” “High ceilings” and “family room” scored well on the east coast.

One combo of words that stood out as a winner in terms of increasing sales prices was “pane windows,” which could represent dual-pane windows or energy-efficient windows (like the newly-installed ones on our listing pictured here). Other word pairs that affected sales prices are “new construction,” “remodeled kitchen,” “new paint,” and “large lot.”