All very good points, thanks very much for sharing, Looks like you put a lot of time and thought into this blog post, please keep it up.

James - Thanks for the feedback. I hope none of your houses are brk. :)

Hi Angie -- how about TIL, RESPA, GFE, LTV, CLTV, DTIR, TDTIR, and TIR.  Our whole industry is rife with these initials.  How did we ever learn this crazy business?  Aloha

Hi Bruce - So true. I can't even begin to learn all the mortgage words!

I just ran across this description...

"Stunning Kit w/granite, tumbled stone&HW, Keeping RM/Den w/2nd FP. MBR dn w/tray ceiling, lux BA..."

It really took me a minute to figure out the the HW in the kitchen was hardwood. And I only figured it out because there was a picture of the 'kit' included.

Angie -- Some times we are our own worse enemies.  I gave your post a 5 though because it was so well written!

Angie, lets try and keep it simple, I think abbreviations should be left out of our written conversations with our clients.  Ya think?  LOL  Good post as usual.

Thanks Bob - I think we should try to keep them out of our verbal conversations as well. Yesterday I tried to say the word 'lol' to someone when I found something funny :)

This is too funny!  I can't believe I wrote about the same thing without even knowing about your post. Yours is entirely better written!  I guess it just makes you think about how irritating those abbreviations are.  Seeing you write them makes it look hysterical!

My head's brk, but not 2 brk to LOL at this one. It's hysterical. Am just thinking of how they would abbreviate in the Delta. Makes my head... spn.

Forever I had no idea what a WIC was on WC.

You have to look at how the general public sees things when writing descriptions.  If you use our industry jargon, abbreviations or even the dreaded all caps you will often lose the interest of the reader and potentially a buyer of the property.  The only other step that you can do to discourage buyers is to not put any pictures on the listing.  Writers of these should also consider that potential new sellers are looking at these as well...do you think that they would be impressed...I highly doubt it!

Bobbie - Thanks for stopping by to check it out. Funny how sometimes posts happen at the same time. 

Gary - I'll try to find some abbreviations from some of our offices in lower Mississippi or Alabama :)

Rebecca - What is WIC or WC? When I think of WIC, I think of the program that helps out mothers with young babies.

I think that is one of the reasons that newspaper classified ads are dying a slow death.  When one must pay by space, and wants to put a lot of into in, the abbreviations start going over the top.  I think the next time I advertise a property in the paper, I might just put in a URL...

Lane - That is a great point about the newspaper. When I see all of these abbreviations online I sometimes wonder if some of the MLS's are too restrictive on how many characters you can type in these fields. With the newspaper there are definitley limits. I think your idea of advertising the url is a great one. Plus if they go to the web site to get more information, they might also continue to search on your web site for other properties. I am planning a post on a really inexpensive way to do single property web sites... when I post it I will include a link here if you want to check it out.

I don't like to abbreviate, but it's necessary.  My MLS doesn't give us enough room to write in a very nice, detailed description unless we cut corners and abbreviate some words.  However, I only abbrev the obvious ones and most of what you have above are fairly obvious.  If the MLSs would allow us to write what we need to write, that wouldn't be an issue.  Whenever I have ads online, I turn all abbreviations into full words.

I especially love it when a client asks me what one of the abbreviations stands for and even I can't decipher it for them. Its embarrassing.  I love your pig latin analogy. Made me giggle. 

At some point the categories on our MLS went to real words rather than abbreviations but in the remarks and on ads I am like every other agent I want the most words for my money.   Of course if no one can read it, it is a waste of money. 

I had no trouble with any of the lingo in your entry... ADJ  in  "ADJ HEARTHRM+SUNRM" slowed me down but I got it pretty quick.

Our company listings we don't need to abbreviate for what is online.  We can be long and wordy but to use the same listing in the system to make fliers, brochures, fact sheets, post cards I find myself abbreviatiing to get the most words in I can

I see this all the time (since I work with print advertising as well as online) and I often have wondered if people are able to decipher some of the more obscure abbreviations. I think it would be better to leave something to the imagination (not price or location), instead of abbreviate so much. 

Nice art by the way! I had a good giggle ! 

Stick to the key points in advertising in print or where you are limited . We also have to get back to SALES 101... Remember your target audience! What ever happened to less is more?

This can only go downhill with the advent of txt messaging. Someone had an abbreviation the other day in their marketing remarks that left me scratching my head.

Angie, very good post. I agree that abbreviations are pretty tricky to understand but with the limited space that we have on MLS what are we supposed to do!

Angie,

Great post. To me abbreviations are helpful, but when I see them on flyers or in the MLS that implies that a Realtor is "tooooo busy to spell out the whole thing". In the buyers market, we should put in an extra effort and try to tell a story about our properties and reading abbreviations destructs from the content of the message.

I think what we're missing in the effort to jam as many words as we can into the MLS description field or newspaper ad, is that we're still trying to sell mundane features over benefits. 

The details section of the MLS page tells the story . . . but the description section paints a picture.  Forget cramming in how many BDS / BTHS it has in a limited space.  Show me why this home is more than just HW and GRNT FLRS . . . let me live it briefly.  I'm chasing a dream, not solving a riddle.

Tranquil
Shaded
Luxurious
Sunset
Panorama
Family
Laughter
(You get the idea . . .)

It's not how many words you use -- it's which words you use.  Even one by itself can evoke emotion. Lure me in, entice me, and maybe I'll follow you to a website or a phone number to learn more. 

Confuse me? Lose me!

Angie,

Fabulous post.  After reading the comments, I have to say that I would think most MLS's allow many more characters than 250.  There is plenty of room to use whole words in order to "sell" your listing to the member agents.  Once you win the member agent, then you will begin to see more showings and offers. 

I write ads for the buyers who know nothing about real estate, but know what they like.  Some abbreviations are mandatory, obviously.  But I try not to abbreviate anything in newspaper ads besides the BR, BA, and sq. ft. and still I keep it less than 250 characters.

Writing ads is definately a different creature than writing a blog. :)

Kathy

I remember not being able to interpret those printouts as an agent, I still haven't figured out what the abrreviation CAM means?  It has someting to do with what's included with condos.  Does anyone know? 

The one question I get the most from buyers is "What is a TSK ?  Why of course it's a Table Space Kitchen!

The information contained in the post was great, so were the comments. The more clients can visualize through descriptions and pictures/ virtual tours, the more likely they are to want to see the listing. Two other MLS abbreviations all buyers want to know are DOM (Days on Market), OPr:(Opening Price). Keep up the good work.

I was very imprested with your blog abbreviations have become a daily exceptance.  Just look at all the marketing McDonalds, became MickyD's.  We even loose the personal effect when we cannot address our Best Friend Forever, but state BFFE.  We have become a lazy nation consumed by abbreviations and think it is O.K. for our business.  We also have the issue of space on the MLS, but I find it more rewarding to feature the story of the home rather then the facts.  You can see the facts in pictures, if you stage it correctly.  Thanks for the reminder.

Angie, I hate to abbreviate as well and sometimes those crazy abbreviations can be hard to figure out.  I had a hard time with EIK (eat in kitchen).

Do any boards charge by the letter to enter a listing?  I know mine doesn't but i still see these abbreviation all over the place.  The discription that you enter into the MLS is an add not only for the property but you as a listing agent, make then easy to read and a joy to read.  Each ad should be a work of art in itself, have an order and progresstion of features that make the reader fell like they are strolling through the home not jumping around.  Uses the most of the space provided even if you have to over look some features to make a "prittier" ad, that way people will call you for more.

My MLS doesn't charge for words, however, we're only allowed 400 characters... not 400 words, but 400 characters.  In order to tell the story about the house to peak people's attention, many abbreviations are needed or you're left with 2 full sentences that don't say much at all.  Our descriptions have to be choppy and to the point with abbreviations, unless the house doesn't have much to offer and then everything is written out in full words.

My personal pet peeve with this problem is with agents who waste time listing the number of bedrooms and baths when that info is in the data part of the listing. They waste words repeating unnecessary info. Save the rhetoric for important features that can't be described in the data portion of the listing.

From my experience it depends on who supplies the MLS site to your local board. In Florida, the Pensacola Association uses Solid Earth - there is no word limit on the description text, so an agent doesn't ever have to abbreviate. It is one of the best MLS providers I have ever seen. Now here in the Twin Cities, we have Northstar MLS. The description is limited to so many characters so everyone has to abbreviate. It is quite annoying, especially after having use the Solid Earth system in Florida.

Hate those little abbreviations. Clients always want to know what they are and some are so obscure, you have to think pretty hard to remember what they are.

Full words work so much better in selling, your client won't feel isolated and too embarrassed to ask you what the HECK that stuff means!

Certainly an obvious indicator of the differance between "Listing" a property for sale and "Marketing" a property for sale.

Wow - thanks for the great response on this. Several interesting points have been brought up in the comments... I would like to add a couple things. Also several of you listed some other confusing abbreviations. I've added those in the main article above. But CAM - that's still up for grabs. Anyone know what it means?

For MLS's with character limitations in the fields... My preference would be to use a shorter description with full words and omit the repetitive pieces of information. For example if there are already fields that list the number of fireplaces and the number of garages, those could be left out. At the same time I do think that some mls's restrictions are too limiting and in that case a nice phone call would be in order to see if they can expand the field (and/or ask their software vendor too). And get all the other member agents you know to call too!

Writing different descriptions for the MLS display and then in other marketing displays.... I think it is important to realize that with IDX in place the MLS descriptions are the main marketing descriptions. Many sources are downloading that data and displaying it online. Buyers see it in their email updates of new properties etc. Many agents email listings directly from the MLS. The MLS description is probably the most widely see by buyers and agents alike.

On good words for real estate descriptions....  I think Trent had some excellent ideas above:

Tranquil
Shaded
Luxurious
Sunset
Panorama
Family
Laughter

Please list links to more articles that talk about writing real estate descriptions. Here's a couple I found. Words that Sell Houses  and 10 tips for writing good real estate descriptions

I like to keep it simple... All we are really trying to do is give them enough information to make them want more right?

Sue I like that.... here's a type of description I see fitting that.... "Must step inside to appreciate the open atmosphere and light filled space. Enjoy beatiful views from the living room" etc.