What’s Beautiful Property Worth? About $52,500

Do you believe in magic words? Like, Beautiful Property?

Is there magic in these words? Does the concrete, visual nature of “landscaping,” for example, fire a buyer’s imagination?

In real-estate listings, what’s the difference between describing your home as “beautiful” versus “move-in condition”? About $82,500 on a $780,000 home.

Margo K., a real-estate agent in Sydney, Inner Western Suburbs, believes so. But for her, the magic word is “Beautiful.” With the right, “PROFESSIONAL” photography and copy transforms most renovators delights!

“Any time I see the word ‘Beautiful,’ I expect that house is in immaculate condition,” she says. Immaculate in the respects that the property is whole, strong and can be transformed.

Margo’s business partner has his own favorite turn of phrase: “He always writes, ‘This could be the best buy in town.’ He believes in this wholeheartedly. We put it on every listing. It’s like good karma for us. We have sold 100% of our listings.”

What surprises me is that some hot words not only speed a sale but also seem to raise the closing price. “If a house is described as ‘beautiful,’ everybody expects it to sell for a higher price,” he says. “The thing that surprised me is that it sells for a higher price — and faster. … I don’t have a good explanation for it.”

Maybe, he says, buyers’ idea of beauty includes features such as structural integrity, a good neighborhood and excellent upkeep, qualities agents call “curb appeal,” which allay the fears buyers usually bring to big transactions.