Buyers read a listing to decide if a home is worth their Saturday. Give them facts they can picture, in words that welcome everyone.
Why the words still matter
Photos get the click. The description decides whether the buyer keeps reading or moves on. In NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 81% of buyers who searched online rated photos very useful, and 77% said the same about detailed information on the homes for sale. The same report found that 52% of buyers found the home they bought online.
So the description has one job: give the details the photos cannot show. The year of the roof. What the HOA covers. How far it is to the train. Which room works as an office.
AI now writes a lot of first drafts. NAR's 2025 Technology Survey found that 46% of agents use AI-generated content, such as listing descriptions. That makes a clear standard more important, not less. A fast draft that is vague or risky is still vague or risky.
Start with facts, not adjectives
Most weak listings have the same problem. They lean on the adjectives every other listing uses, so none of them mean anything. Here is a quick swap list.
| Instead of | Write the fact behind it |
|---|---|
| Stunning views | Floor-to-ceiling windows facing the bay |
| Updated kitchen | Kitchen redone in 2024: quartz counters, gas range |
| Tons of space | 1,640 sq ft plus a 200 sq ft screened patio |
| Great location | 0.3 miles to the park, 0.6 miles to the train station |
| Won't last | Open house Saturday, 1 to 4 PM |
A good test: could this sentence describe any home in your MLS? If yes, cut it, or replace it with a number, a date or a feature.
Before and after: three rewrites
These listings are made up. Each "after" uses the same home, just described with facts.
A simple structure that works
- Lead line. The one or two things that set this home apart, stated as facts.
- The basics. Beds, baths, square feet, lot size, year built.
- Inside. The rooms that matter and the upgrades, with years.
- Outside and building. Yard, parking, amenities, what the HOA covers.
- Location as distances. Transit, parks, shopping and highways, in miles or minutes.
- Next step. Showing times or the open house, and the brokerage name.
Keep sentences short. Many buyers read on a phone. Check your MLS for character limits and for its rules on what can go in public remarks.
Fair housing: describe the home, not the buyer
The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to publish an ad for a home that shows a preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin. HUD's rules apply this to the words, phrases and images in ads.
The safe rule is simple: describe the home, not the person you picture living in it.
Usually fine
- Rooms, sizes and features
- A view, walk-in closets, a fenced yard
- Distance to a bus stop, park or station
- What the HOA covers
Leave it out
- Words about the kind of buyer: age, family, religion, background or ability
- Opinions on safety, schools or neighbors
- Coded words tied to past exclusion, like "restricted" or "exclusive"
HUD's 1995 advertising guidance and later summaries treat descriptions of the property itself, like a great view or walk-in closets, as fine. Trouble starts when the words point at people. For schools, point buyers to the school district's site for school assignment instead of ranking them yourself.
Many states add their own layer. Florida, for example, has its own fair housing law, and its real estate rules require ads to show the brokerage's licensed name. Our guide to fair housing words to avoid has a phrase-by-phrase table, and the free fair housing checker lets you paste a draft and see what gets flagged.
Keep one brand voice across the office
In a brokerage, listings are also your brand. When every agent writes their own way, the office sounds like ten different companies.
In RealtyMind, the broker sets the brokerage voice once: tone from formal to casual, length from short to detailed, and style from plain to polished to luxury. Agents can add their own touch on top. Both can keep a list of words to always use and words to never use.
Ivy, the AI marketer, writes the headline, the description and a post for each network from one set of facts, in that voice. Before anything posts, a fair housing check runs on every listing and ad Ivy writes. It flags risky phrases and suggests neutral wording. Every ad shows the brokerage name, and big sends wait for your OK. You can set it up in a few steps with our brand voice guide.
The fair housing check is a helpful first pass, not legal advice. You and your broker have the final say on what you publish.
Checklist before you publish
- Every sentence has a fact, a number or a date
- Big systems listed with years: roof, AC, water heater
- Location described as distances, not opinions
- No words about who should live there
- No opinions on schools, safety or neighbors
- Brokerage name on the listing and every ad
- Checked against your MLS rules for public remarks
- Read once on a phone before it goes live
Questions
How long should a listing description be?
There is no magic number. Cover the facts the photos cannot show, stay inside your MLS character limit, and cut any sentence that could describe any home.
Can I say a home is close to schools?
You can state a plain fact, like the distance to a named park or transit stop. Avoid ranking schools or calling them good or bad. Point buyers to the school district's site for school assignment, and ask your broker when in doubt.
Do I have to say "primary bedroom" instead of "master bedroom"?
Fair housing guidance has not treated "master bedroom" as illegal. Many brokerages now use "primary bedroom" as house style. Follow your MLS and your brokerage's brand voice.
Does an AI-written listing need a fair housing review?
Yes. Treat an AI draft like any other ad. In RealtyMind, Ivy runs a fair housing check on every listing and ad she writes, and your broker can require review before anything posts.
This is general information, not legal advice. Have your broker or a real estate attorney review your listing and ad policies.
Sources
Checked 11/01/2026. Laws, rules and survey numbers change; confirm anything important with your broker or a real estate attorney. This article is general information, not legal advice.
- NAR, 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, highlights (PDF copy hosted by a state association): https://www.rirealtors.org/clientuploads/documents/NAR/Homebuyers_and_sellers_trend_2025.pdf
- NAR, 2025 Technology Survey press release (09/18/2025): https://www.nar.realtor/press-releases/realtors-embrace-ai-digital-tools-to-enhance-client-service-nar-survey-finds
- 42 U.S.C. 3604, Fair Housing Act (Cornell LII): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/3604
- 24 CFR 100.75, discriminatory advertisements and statements (Cornell LII): https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/24/100.75
- HUD, Guidance Regarding Advertisements Under 804(c) of the Fair Housing Act, 01/09/1995 (copy at Idaho Legal Aid): https://www.idaholegalaid.org/node/1032/hud-fair-housing-guide-advertising
- Fair Housing Institute, advertising guidelines summary: https://fairhousinginstitute.com/fair-housing-advertising-guidelines/
- Fla. Admin. Code 61J2-10.025, advertising (Cornell LII): https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/florida/Fla-Admin-Code-Ann-R-61J2-10-025