Mad Libs for homes
Issue 86 - May 27th, 2022
We have all seen the horrendous property descriptions on most home listings when you are shopping for homes online.
“INCREDIBLE HOME - NOT TO BE MISSED! 4 BEDS/3 BATHS/LIVING/DINING - perfect for entertaining - updates throughout in 2014, BLAH BLAH BLAH….”
Agents are typically not great writers, but they need great property descriptions in addition to great photos to help online shoppers fully understand and digest the features and highlights of the property for sale.
The typical process today for agents when they get a new listing is to look up the old listing, copy and paste the old listing description, make a few tweaks, throw in a few “beautiful” or “light and brights” and BAM, new description ready to rock and roll!
As you can see, I am being sarcastic, and I think this part of the agent’s job is one most people dread. Agents will procrastinate for days trying to dream up catchy descriptions, and I think there needs to be a fun tool to improve this part of the agent’s workflow.
There are some copywriting services for agents and some tools are starting to pop up to aid in the process, but I imagine an interactive fun “Mad Libs” style AI tool.
It should be as easy as an agent typing in a few descriptors of the home and a description is spit out that the agent can tweak and use for the description. For example, an agent could input the following: “modern, pool, private street, natural light” and a full blown description is generated. OpenAI has developed a natural language AI called GPT-3 that could be used in this scenario, and there are some other tools coming to the marketplace.
I look forward to the day when all agents are armed up with tools to make their job a little easier that will make the descriptions more entertaining for consumers instead of the garbage descriptions most listings have today - EEK. A brighter future is ahead for listing descriptions!
Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!
Newsworthy Links To Share
New York-based startup Moliving wants to solve for seasonality with mobile hotel rooms. And, no, they’re not tents: each ~400-square-foot room is made from recycled steel and energy-efficient structural insulated panels. They can be hauled by trucks or shipped, and use a self-leveling system that allows them to be plopped down on any terrain. They hook up to existing grids and water systems — like a boat — or use solar power off-grid. They’re also faster and 2x-3x cheaper to produce than traditional rooms. There are no weather delays because they’re made in a warehouse, and they produce less waste because the designs are the same between rooms, so no estimating required materials.
Residents fleeing some large US Cities: Across nine US cities with over 1 million residents, losses totaled 1.7%, or 419,000 residents, with seven out of the nine cities seeing a decrease in population. Of the largest cities, NYC lost 3.5% (305,000 residents), LA lost 1% (41,000), Chicago lost 1.6% (45,000), and San Francisco lost 6.3% (55,000).
Arrived has raised $25 million to give people a way to buy shares in single-family rental properties. Bezos Expeditions is an investor. (TechCrunch)
Hotels Using NFTs to Create a StubHub for Lodging Reservations: Some resort owners think they have found a way to avoid getting stuck with excess inventory when guests cancel at the last minute. It involves converting room nights for sale into NFTs that can be bought or sold by hotel guests, similar to the StubHub market for concert and sporting event tickets. (WSJ)
The surprising heart of drone technology is on the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma (Fortune)
PROPERTY HIGHLIGHT: Urban living in the Dallas Design District. I used to live in something similar to this place, and I have an affinity for modern, industrial design, but this one is absolutely impeccable and super cool. Check it out ————> CLICK HERE