So if you didn’t know this about me, I’m a little bit of a nerd and I actually subscribe to a newspaper. Now, I don’t actually get a physical paper every day but I do have access to each daily digital issue. It’s actually turned out to be a pretty convenient resource for many different types of information. And, it just so happens that every so often they like to write about real estate. One of my favorite topics, Yay for me!
Agents
The thing is though, a lot of journalists aren’t very familiar with real estate, purchase and sale contracts, the real estate market, and its data in general. Often they’ll actually misinterpret market data provided by the National Realtors Association or they’ll almost completely fail to understand the intended meaning of the data provided.
Sometimes journalists turn to a licensed Realtor or real estate agent to make sense of this data for them. Sometimes they ask these agents for tips and tricks, or their opinion on the real estate market in general. The problem with this is that the knowledge that these agents provide is only as good as the agents themselves. And, as someone who has worked in the real estate industry for over 14 years, I can tell you that many agents don’t actually know as much as they say that they do.
Don’t get me wrong.
There are very many qualified agents out there, but they are often surrounded by a sea of inexperienced ones. So you really need to be very careful about who you’re asking for advice from — because having a license doesn’t teach you what you really need to know in order to be successful in real estate. This is is evident in many articles that get published, even the one I’m about to talk about.
Alright, alright, alright. So the article I saw was about “translating” common real estate lingo for the average person — as that can be confusing to a lot of people.
The article itself was actually syndicated to my local paper, but it was originally published in The New York Times. The author of the article ended up interviewing some agents based out of New York. I’m not gonna lie, that alone was a big red flag for me. It’s not even the same market. They are on the East Coast and we’re on the West Coast. Too many things are culturally different from coast to coast, but I was curious to see what they had to say — so let’s take a look.
Terms
Description: Interesting design
Their translation: “This house is odd.” ¹
I can’t disagree with this one. It’s probably a quirky home. Quirky isn’t always bad though. It’s unique and unconventional. It has personality.
Description: Cozy
Their translation: “Small and dark.” ¹
Small, yes. Dark — NOPE. You can have a “cozy” property that has plenty of windows with natural light.
Description: Room to grow
Their translation: “See: cozy.” ¹
No. I completely disagree with this one. This is the complete opposite of “cozy”. Room to grow implies that there are enough rooms to allow for a growing family — or however you’d like to use the home. You wouldn’t write this in a description for a mansion listing, but an average middle class or decent starter home listing — sure, why not? “Cozy” implies that there is no room to grow whatsoever at all. You might as well be living in a shack. The difference in these two terms is night and day.
Description: Natural beauty
Their translation: “It’s not landscaped.” ¹
I find this translation to be a bit dishonest. We actually have a lot of natural beauty up here in the Pacific Northwest. Does it mean that homes aren’t landscaped? No, absolutely not. Does it mean that homes are landscaped? No, it doesn’t. It simply means that either you have views of trees, forests, mountains, bodies of water, or other greenery from the property, or you actually have theses things physically on the property itself. Believe it or not, you can have a home that has landscaping but that also has natural beauty.
Description: Good bones
Their translation: “It’s a wreck. Get out your checkbook.” ¹
I consider their translation deceptive. “Good bones” is a term that has been thrown around a lot over the last decade thanks to HGTV, but at its core all it means is that the foundation, the framing and most likely the plumbing and electricity are in good condition. These are also, hands down, the most expensive things to fix in any home. In my experience, many homes that have “good bones” are only in need of some cosmetic repairs. You know, the cheaper stuff! No sledgehammers involved. You’d be really surprised how much paint and a new carpet can change things. These are also easy enough to attempt to DIY and save money too, if you so desire. So let this be a lesson to always look at a property in person before writing it off because you heard the term, “good bones”.
Description: Loads of original details
Their translation: “It’s a wreck. Get out your checkbook.” ¹
This one actually makes me a little angry. Their translation comes off a little naive and pretentious. “Original Details” usually refers to architectural design elements that are original to the home. Depending on which time period they are from, these elements can be extraordinarily difficult to repair and replace — because these pieces are no longer manufactured. If by some small chance that there are similar parts manufactured today, then they are almost certainly made out of cheaper materials — like MDF board instead of solid wood, or even vinyl and laminate instead of solid wood. Does any of this translate to a home being a wreck? No. A home’s condition is determined only by how well its owner takes care of it. There are plenty of vintage homes falling apart from mistreatment, but there are also plenty of vintage homes that have been really well taken care of or restored.
Description: Right on the water
Their translation: “Right in a flood zone.” ¹
I mean this is a yes and a no. The chances of a home on the water being located in a flood zone are generally significantly higher but that’s not always the case. The only way to be sure of this is to check the FEMA floodplain maps for that lot. Never just assume. Do your due diligence! However, it also means that you have access to an incredible view and a possible source of recreation.
Description: Walk to the beach
Their translation: “Lace up your sneakers and pack a lunch.” ¹
Either way you look at it you’re walking — but I’ve personally seen listings that are very close to the beach say this, and I’ve seen many listings that are a 15 minute walk away from the beach say this. So yeah, be careful with that one and don’t just take someone’s word for it.
Description: Create your dream house
Their translation: “It’s a teardown.” ¹
To me, this one is actually worse than the “original details” statement. I mean if you say this, this makes me wonder what you’re even doing in real estate. Run for the hills, because that “agent” doesn’t have a whole lot of experience!
Number one, There are actually very few homes that are “tear downs”. It would have to be something as bad as the foundation starting to fail that would qualify for demolition. That’s just one example, but the damage would need to be so extensive that the cost to build a new home would be cheaper than repairing or remodeling it. That’s a rarity.
Second, “create your dream home” is really more like looking at a blank slate. The walls are white, older carpet, 90’s oak cabinets, brass finishes. These are all tell-tale signs of a blank canvas home that you can turn into your own dream home with a little elbow grease at minimal cost — hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper than tearing down and building a new home.
Description: For the discerning buyer
Their translation: “See: interesting design” ¹
I can honestly say that in nearly 14 years, I have never seen this written in a listing for my market area. So yeah.
Description: Be the first to see this
Their translation: “The listing agent has already shown it to many others.” ¹
No. At the time of writing the listing description, most agents have not shown the property to anyone. It’s actually against realtor association rules to show a home before it’s listed on the MLS. However, agents may have shown other agents within their brokerage, and they may hold an agent-only open house for marketing purposes after it’s been listed — although this is not common. The only thing this term is actually meant to do is to create a sense of urgency in hopes of inducing a bidding war. If the listing has been live on the MLS for a few days, there’s a good chance someone has been shown the property. But at the time of writing the listing description, it’s more than likely 100% truthful.
Description: Priced to sell
Their translation: “The previous price was too high.” ¹
Again, this is added in to create a sense of urgency. It does NOT indicate a price reduction whatsoever at all. You can actually see each price reduction (if there even are any) on the MLS or on sites like Redfin and Zillow. There often is no “previous price”. So this is a “No” too. Though, “priced to sell” can also indicate that the home has some sort of damage to it that many buyers will not want to repair. Depending on the type of damage it can actually disqualify buyers from certain loans, thus reducing the pool of buyers, thus reducing the market value of the home.
Description: Price upon request
Their translation: “It’s overpriced” ¹
I have to agree on this one. Yes, you generally only see this on luxury listings — homes that are often overpriced to begin with. Sellers only want serious inquiries, and this is a way to get those.
Description: Like new
Their translation: “The house could be 3 years old. Or 30 years old.” ¹
Yes, there is no limit on how old that house can be but “like new” usually means that it’s a newer home that’s been well taken care of, or it’s decades old and has been through a recent extensive remodel.
Description: Close to transportation
Translation: “Inquire further. The house could overlook the railroad tracks.” ¹
Um. It could mean that — but really? It usually just means that the home is within 10 minutes of a bus stop or bus station. Either way, you do really need to look into this further to see what exactly is going on.
So, I think that I agreed in full with 2 of their statements. Seven were a bit deceptive, and the rest were filled with only half of the necessary information that I thought was really important.
More than anything though, I think this is just a really good example as to why it’s important to seek out the advice of both an experienced and local agent.
I suppose the real moral of the story here though is really to make sure to investigate for yourself — and make sure that YOU understand what is going on. Ask lots of questions, take advice into consideration, but do your own research.
Make sure to do your own due diligence.
References:
Kaufman, Joanne. “A House with ‘Good Bones’? ‘Original Details’? It Could Be a Complete Wreck.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 20 May 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/20/realestate/real-estate-listings-descriptions.html
Oh Hey, It’s Ray is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, and former real estate agent. She lives happily with her husband and two children in the Pacific Northwest. See more from Ray at her YouTube channel and on Ohheyitsray.com