Paul Anglin, a Canadian professor, as part of a broader study on real-estate sales patterns, found that homes where the seller was "motivated" took 15 percent longer to sell, while houses listed as "handyman specials" sold in half the average time.

"It surprised even me," said Anglin, who teaches real-estate and housing trends at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. The study dissected the wording of more than 20,000 Canadian home listings from 1997 to 2000.

Words that emphasized "curb appeal" or general attractiveness helped a property sell faster than those that focused on "value" and "price."

Homes described as "beautiful" moved 15 percent faster and for 5 percent more in price than the benchmark. "Good-value" homes sold for 5 percent less than average.

Another finding in Anglin's study was that "must see!" had an insignificant effect on the number of days homes took to sell.

Listings where "landscaping" was emphasized sold 20 percent faster, and homes in "move-in condition" took 12 percent less time to sell than the benchmark, although the study showed that "move-in condition" had an insignificant effect on the sales price.

Listings in which the seller said he or she was "moving" sold for 1 percent less compared with 8 percent less when the seller was "motivated."

Last year, the effect 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 sale prices.

Words that suggested desirable attributes — "granite," "maple," "gourmet" — translated into a higher sale price, the study found.

One 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 those made in a 2000 paper, "Real Estate Agent Remarks: Help or Hype?", researched by University of Texas finance and real-estate professor Ronald 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, or the signal that is received by buyers is that it's not worth talking about," Rutherford said. "New paint" appeared on 15 percent 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, if it's a good deal, you need to convey it with factually verifiable language," Rutherford said.

An example: "Needs repairs."

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 percent longer than average and sold for 4 percent 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," he said. "Avoid the word 'motivated.' "

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