According to experts, three magic words in a real estate ad can earn buyers five-figure discounts.
An ad with the words “price to sell” or similar phrases such as “bargain,” “undervalued,” or “undervalued” contains an average discount of 8.5 percent off the asking price.
These savings equate to approximately $38,000 off the average price of a U.S. home, according to Realtor.com report.
“Certain ‘value’-based words used in home descriptions are associated with lower asking prices and can be used to help home buyers find real bargains,” Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at Realtor.com, said in the report.
Homebuyers in the South and Midwest can expect to receive the biggest discounts if a home is listed as “sale-ready.”
The chart below shows the top ten – with Little Rock, Arkansas leading the way. Further down you can find more details about the ten metros.
Certain phrases in a real estate ad can lead to large discounts on the asking price
Of course, it comes as no surprise that a discount is offered on an advertisement.
But there is a strange element to the findings.
In certain housing markets, these terms are used more often than in others, but this varies widely by state.
In an area with fewer ‘buy-worthy’ homes, the discount is noticeably greater than in a market with more offers.
“Why would fewer offers to ‘sell’ come with higher discounts?” McLaughlin explains.
“We can’t say for sure why there’s a correlation, but it probably has to do with what buyers are used to in a particular market.”
For example, the term “priced to sell” is used on average for 6.7 percent of properties in Sarasota, Florida, but only for 1.9 percent of properties on Long Island, New York.
Areas with the lowest discounts on “sold prices” were found almost exclusively in Florida, where the words appeared most often in the ads.
Data from Realtor.com shows the top 10 places to find the biggest savings:
Little Rock, Arkansas
Priced-to-sell discount: 23 percent
Median savings: $57,494
St. Louis, Missouri
Priced-to-sell discount: 18.7 percent
Median savings: $49,476
Charleston, South Carolina
Priced-to-sell discount: 15.9 percent
Median savings: $79,558
Memphis, Tennessee
Priced-to-sell discount: 14.5 percent
Median savings: $43,262
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Priced-to-sell discount: 12.6 percent
Median savings: $50,464
Nassau County, New York
Priced-to-sell discount: 12.5 percent
Median savings: $94,662
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Price-to-sell discount: 11.5 percent
Median savings: $89,851
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Priced-to-sell discount: 11.4 percent
Median savings: $32,801
El Paso, Texas
Price-to-sell discount: 11.2 percent
Median savings: $31,295
Wichita, Kansas
Priced-to-sell discount: 10.9 percent
Median savings: $28,655