You may not understand the true power of words until you've tried to sell a home.

All those flowery terms, catch phrases and over-blown adjectives used in listings become, well, just words when Internet browsing-for-housing buyers want to really hone in on the house of their dreams.

Real estate agents? Take note.

When the Roost.com home search engine for homes took a peck at what words their 100,000 Web visitors-per month used in June 2008 to narrow down broader searches for homes, it came up with a Top-20 list that might surprise real estate agents crafting listing ads.

Here's the Top 10:

1. Pool

2. Garage

3. Hardwood

4. Waterfront

5. View

6. Basement

7. Tile

8. Deck

9. Condo

10. Shop

"I wouldn't bet the house will sell when you use these words, but it can't hurt," says Roost chief marketing officer, Drew Izzo.

However, it is somewhat of a revelation that none of those words show up on a previous Roost analysis of the most popular words real estate brokers use to describe homes for sale.

Here's that Top 10:

1. New

2. Large

3. Great

4. Beautiful

5. Open

6. Huge

7. Finished

8. Spacious

9. Custom

10. Newer

On the Roost Web site, after housing browsers select the city and drill down by housing type, price, bedrooms, baths, square feet, year built, recently addeds, and other variables, they also get neighborhood and school filters.

Then, a new feature, the "Keyword Search Terms" filter, lets them zero in further for specific sought-after features. There are clickable listed terms browsers can add to their filtering effort -- pool, hardwood, yard, basement, private, fireplace, remodeled, vaulted (ceiling), renovated, parking, golf, tile, tennis, granite, reduced and motivated. Browsers can also type in one self-determined feature, say, "townhome" "loft" or "gated."

Roosters say their studies reveal even experienced real estate agents could use a little boning up on key words considering those consumers use to hunt for properties. Most would agree, the more marketing tools the merrier in today's tough real estate market.

"Business is down, so real estate agents need to be more effective in how they spend money. And that's why we are trying to be more helpful in terms of driving more qualified leads to their sites," said Izzo.

Izzo says Roost's deep search features allow for a more engaged housing browser and real estate agents should take note of what engages home shoppers.

The extra filter, which apparently serves consumers' desire for very customized home searches, gives consumers an edge in terms of weeding out properties they don't want.

"That's how we got the data. This is the stuff consumers are looking for. If I was a seller, these items (where available) would be something I would highlight in a listing," said Izzo.

Published: August 14, 2008

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.