Anglin's study isn't alone in efforts to determine what language moves the market.
Last year, the impact of listing language was covered in a National Bureau of Economic Research study that looked at whether real estate agents selling their own homes hold out for a higher price. (They do; the study found they take longer to sell but fetch a higher price.)
Descriptions of houses that indicated an obvious problem -- such as "foreclosure," "as-is" and "handyman special" -- drew substantially lower sales prices. Words that suggested more desirable attributes of the house -- "granite," "maple," "gourmet" -- translated into a higher sale price, the study found.
One interesting problem discovered was that "superficially positive" words that, in effect, damn with faint praise -- such as "clean" or "quiet" -- had zero or even a negative correlation with prices.
Those findings echo ones made in a 2000 paper called "Real Estate Agent Remarks: Help or Hype?" researched by University of Texas finance and real estate professor Ronald C. Rutherford.
Rutherford found, among other things, that buyers read between the lines. If you can't find anything better to say than "new paint," perhaps it's best to say nothing at all.
Positive and factually verifiable comments such as "golf" or "lake" drew increased sales prices; other presumably positive comments regarding new paint or new carpet brought lower ones.
"What you say needs to be extravagant," Rutherford said, "or the signal that is received by buyers is that it's not worth talking about."
But what do sellers know? "New paint" appeared on 15% of the listings and was the most commonly listed comment.
Rutherford said sellers would be best served by a listing with "just the facts, ma'am."
"In today's market," he said, "if it's a good deal, you need to convey it with factually verifiable language."
An example: "Needs repairs," he said.
Of the information from his study, conducted between 1994 and 1997 of almost 60,000 closed residential transactions in Tarrant County, Texas, what surprised him most?
That homes with "motivated" sellers stayed on the market 15% longer than average and sold for 4% less. His theory: "They overpriced the house to start with and eventually had to lower it. That explains the length of time on the market and the lower sales price."
Does he have any advice for today's sellers?
"Yes, avoid the word 'motivated,' " he said.
ann.brenoff@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Wordplay
Can you guess which of these terms help -- or hurt -- your house listing?
motivated seller
handyman special
curb appeal
good value
move-in condition
as-is
landscaping
granite
clean
gourmet
quiet
golf
new paint
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Wordplay answers
Terms that help a listing:
handyman special
curb appeal
move-in condition
landscaping
granite
gourmet
golf
---
Terms that hurt:
motivated seller
good value
as-is
clean
quiet
new paint
