My company is currently engaged by a Real Estate Agency to assist them in rebranding their business – they want to be seen to be different but not too different. This has led us to look closely at many of their rivals and their culture.
The question I would like to raise here is in relation to the language of Real Estate. Quite clearly they do not write or speak to be read or understood by their buyers. At auctions the verbage and tone are to say the least boring and outdated. To be told that we are in leafy…; close to cosmopolitan; looking at a house with 3/4/5 bedrooms etc. is surely a waste of our time and theirs. Quite clearly those attending know where they are and why and from our research find this approach condescending.
And then the ads – fabulous, fantastic, enormous – are commonly used. I personally would like to read about the benefits of buying the property not endless exaggerated features taking up space that the vendor is paying for not the Agency!!
As a result of all of this and a brilliant book I have been reading The New Rules of PR and Marketing by David Meerman Scott I would like to compile a list of the most jargon-laden phrases and overused, irrelevant words used in Real Estate. In his book, Scott analysed Media Releases for technology companies and found words like next generation, robust, world class to be very widely used and very widely ignored by those that they were aimed at.
I suspect much the same is the case in Real Estate. They clearly don’t write to be understood by buyers, they don’t auction to impress buyers. Perhaps they aim to impress each other.
In our research the most common view expressed of Real Estate Agents is that they are too introspective and their biggest problem results from this – They Dont Know What They Dont Know!!
Look forward to your assistance in compiling The Real Estate Goobledygook Manifesto.
The Ring Masters Guide 2 