Properly marketing a home for sale is the key to garnering interest in an increasingly competitive market. Within the real estate industry, sales is a numbers game as the larger the pool of potential buyers, the greater the chance of a property being sold. Presently, private sellers have an advantage in a marketplace flooded with real estate owned properties and a real estate home-listing is the tool essential to distinguishing a property.

For home sellers, a home's real estate listing is the most important marketing tool for the job. Once complete, the written home description will be the property's calling card. The advertisement will appear on the multiple listing service (MLS) and will be distributed to real estate agents in order to help match a potential buyer with a property in question. Like any other marketing device, producing an effective ad will increase the odds of success.

Picture Perfect

The adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" is incredibly important to a home listing, and consumers who opt to skip this step are setting themselves up for failure. While some home sellers may opt to skip the images in order to ensure privacy or to minimize the risk of their listing being used in a rental scam, legitimate home buyers may view the missing snap shots as an omission to hide not-flattering facts.

Prior to taking the shots, home sellers are advised to take the time to stage a home. After the scenery has been manipulated to provide the most dramatic and positive results, photos should be taken that match both the written home listing and highlight the most important selling features. Home buyers will respond more favorably to a photo of an eat-in kitchen featuring restaurant quality appliances then simply reading a description of the facts.

Talk The Talk

While many sellers may look at their property and see memory lane, home buyers really do not care if 'Susie took her first step here' or that Bobby's height chart is etched into the closet door. Instead, features such as view, location and garage space are the language of successful home sales transactions and writing an enticing ad chock full of accurate selling-points is vital.

Superlative claims such as "best" and "greatest" have no place in a home listing as they are subjective in nature. Instead, home sellers need to use accurate adjectives in order to positively describe a home's attributes and produce enticing copy. Including the right key details and not just an abundance of facts is an important balance to create. At a minimum, home listing ads must include number of bedrooms and bathrooms, garage/parking, asking price and square footage. Then, including details such as appliance brands, views, hardwood flooring and other amenities must be thoughtfully sprinkled throughout. Some basic tips for composing a winning home description include:

• Build a list of factual selling points.
• Create a list of authentic adjectives. If a house has a gorgeous view, then by all means list it and back it up with a photo. Additionally, if a house needs some TLC and has amazing potential, those details should also be included.
• Include the transaction type so potential buyers know what they may have to deal with in the long run. While some consumers are looking for private sellers opportunities. Listing the type in the ad will set the record straight.
• Write a long and detailed ad first. This ad is the one that will end up being used on real estate listing sites as well as be reproduced on real estate agents fliers and promo material.
• Edit the long ad down to the brief synopsis to appear on the local MLS. Typically it is easier to cut copy then to have to add more.
• Proof read it for inaccuracies and typos. If you are a McMansion owner trying to sell a 12,000 square foot home, accidentally listing it as 1,200 will not create a favorable impression.

The Right Price

No matter how great a home sounds, price is a major concern for most consumers. Home sellers need to conduct their due diligence to get the asking price the first time round in order. Some information to consider for this process includes reviewing the neighborhood's selling history in the prior months. Home improvements made to a property, rooms, square footage and features of a home for sale are also part of the equation.

Researching multiple comparables in order to gauge fair market value of a property is only part of the process, as sometimes an independent and objective appraisal may also be needed for the task.