The Magic Words in a Listing That Can Save You More Than $38,000 on a Home

Real estate listings that flaunt the words “bargain!” or “priced to sell!” are designed to capture the attention of cash-strapped homebuyers. Turns out, these words aren’t just lip service—they can translate into sizable savings.

A new Realtor.com report “What Is ‘Priced To Sell’ Really Worth?” analyzes listings with phrases like “priced to sell,” “under valued,” “under priced,” and “bargain” in the description. When compared against their asking prices, these listings were determined to come with an average discount of 8.5%—or just under $38,000 off the median-priced home.

“Certain ‘value’-based words used in listing descriptions are correlated with lower listing prices and can be used to help homebuyers find true bargain properties,” says Realtor.com® senior economist Ralph McLaughlin in his analysis.

This practice is more widely used in certain markets than others, with the percentage of listings with the term “priced to sell” ranging from 1.9% in Long Island, NY, to 6.7% in Sarasota, FL. McLaughlin also found a strong correlation between the share of listings in a market marked “priced to sell” and the size of the discount offered—but not in the way you might think.

“Metros with a higher share of ‘priced-to-sell’ homes on the market tend to have smaller discounts compared to metros with a lower share, likely reflecting the need of sellers to actually offer a discount when other ‘priced-to-sell’ homes are rare,” says McLaughlin.

Metros with the biggest discount on ‘priced-to-sell’ homes

Markets with the slightest “priced-to-sell” discounts were almost exclusively in Florida and Western markets. Homebuyers in Southern and Midwestern markets, however, can expect the largest discounts on properties with those words in a listing description. Here are the cities where these savings are most significant.

Little Rock, AR

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 23.0%

Median savings: $57,494

St. Louis, MO

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 18.7%

Median savings: $49,476

Charleston, SC

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 15.9%

Median savings: $79,558

Memphis, TN

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 14.5%

Median savings:$43,262

Kenosha, WI

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 12.6%

Median savings: $50,464

Nassau County, NY

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 12.5%

Median savings: $94,662

Cambridge, MA

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 11.5%

Median savings: $89,851

Tulsa, OK

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 11.4%

Median savings: $32,801

El Paso, TX

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 11.2%

Median savings: $31,295

Wichita, KS

“Priced-to-sell” discount: 10.9%

Median savings: $28,655