|
If you're writing your own ads because you're selling your house without using an agent, don't put everything about your property in the ad. For one thing, running a big ad every week is expensive. In addition, describing your property in too much detail isn't smart; good ads always leave out one essential bit of information — the address, number of bedrooms — so buyers have to call whoever placed the ad, and those calls can lead to showing appointments.
When you describe your house, failing to disclose information won't get you in trouble as long as you aren't withholding material facts that affect your property's value or desirability. What you do say, however, can turn out to be legally expensive if ever you cross the line between puffery and misrepresentation. Although today's consumers are wise enough to make allowances for advertisers' excessive enthusiasm (puffery), misrepresenting your home can lead to legal trouble.
 | Never assume anything. "I don't know" is a perfectly acceptable and absolutely safe response to any question you can't answer with complete certainty — never guess. |
How can you protect yourself from inadvertent misrepresentation? Here are six troublemakers to avoid when writing your ad:
- All: Comparable words such as completely, totally, none, entirely, and fully are equally naughty. They leave no room for exceptions, errors, or discrepancies. "All hardwood floors," "completely remodeled," and "totally renovated" can lead to a lawsuit if the buyer finds one thing that disproves your all-inclusive language.
- Fixed: The word fixed leads many buyers to incorrectly believe a problem was permanently rectified. A leaky roof, for example, is never "fixed"; it will leak again sooner or later, and when it does, the buyer will sue. Use repaired instead.
- New: What's new? Cars technically stop being new the moment they're driven away from the dealership. There isn't such a fine dividing line in real estate, but you can apply some logic. After appliances have been used, they're no long new. A roof is new for only a brief time after installation. It's best to truthfully state when appliances were installed or repairs took place. Rather than saying "new roof," use the phrase "new roof installed (date of installation)."
- Quiet: Even if it seems quiet to you, it might not be quiet enough for the buyer. You also can't control whether the house next door gets sold in the next year to a budding punk rock family band.
- Safe: Make no promise of safety or security. No matter how safe you think the neighborhood is or how secure the "child-safe pool cover" is supposed to be, bad things can and do happen.
- Square footage: Three appraisers can measure a house and get three completely different square footages. Always preface any mention of square footage with a word such as approximately, nearly, or around to allow for error or lack of precision.
The best ads are masterpieces of understatement. Ideally, you want to describe your property in such a way that it actually delivers more — not less — than the ads promise. No one ever complains about that.
|
