Throwback Thursday: Grrrrrrreat!

This post from April 2012.

Beautiful, wonderful, great—also known as the three weariest adjectives in Realtorland…

Of these, "great" is the most worn out because it fits so conveniently in so many places. When in doubt, throw the word "great" into your copy.

Note, for example, the Brief Property Report I printed from Multiple Listing Service (MLS) yesterday. My intent was to refer to it during a meeting with buyers. But it works nicely as a random sampling of Realtors’ MLS comments for my investigation of the over-exploitation of the word "great."

Here’s what it revealed:

• Property #1 is listed at a “great price”

• Property #2 is a “great property for the first-time homebuyer”

• Property #3 is a “great value”

• Property #4 skips the word ‘great’ (as well as ‘beautiful’ and ‘wonderful’), so extra points for the agent for Property #4

• Property #5 uses great twice, as in “great light” and “great room,” the latter describing the type of room not the quality of the room

• Property #6 has no comments at all (aside to agent for Property #6: Come on, you can do better than that!)

• Property #7 points to the “great weather” in the neighborhood

Okay, so you’re asking, “What’s the big deal? Who cares whether an agent uses the word ‘great’ one time, fourteen times or not at all?”

And I’m answering. Or I’m starting to answer and then shutting my mouth. I’m thinking. What IS the big deal? Who DOES care? Why AM I railing about the verbiage in MLS comments?

It has only to do with my interest in words and writing. It has nothing to do with real estate or selling real estate. I can use the word "great" as much as I want, but in the end no buyers are going to take my word for it. They’re going to see the property themselves and decide if it rates a "great."

Meanwhile, it’s another great day in San Francisco. What a great place to live. What a great place to work. What a great place to sell real estate.

Cynthia Cummins is a Top Producer and Partner at McGuire. For info on SF real estate visit http://CynthiaCummins.com.