So, flaunt it if you got it. You absolutely should promote to the max everything your community has to offer in your home listing<\/a> and marketing plan<\/a> (we\u2019ve got some great pointers from a real estate expert on how to do that). But you also need to veer away from language or missteps that could cross into Fair Housing violation territory. We\u2019ll cover your bases there, too. Let\u2019s get into it!<\/p>\n For sellers who\u2019ve raised their own kids in the area, coming up with locale-focused info to feature in a family-friendly listing may seem simple. Just write down all the things your family loves about the neighborhood, right?<\/p>\n True, but don\u2019t stop there. There may be plenty of other family-friendly features nearby that your kids outgrew, weren\u2019t interested in, or never got around to doing. So it pays to do a little research on your area\u2019s family appeal so you don\u2019t overlook any big draw attractions.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve never had children in the house, or it\u2019s simply been too long ago to remember what raising kids in your area is like, it\u2019ll take a little extra legwork to research the assets that make yours a great family neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cMany families are looking for that Mayberry-ish neighborhood, with a tree-lined street or at the end of a cul-de-sac,\u201d says Aaron West<\/a>, a top-selling Modesto, California, real estate agent<\/a> and first-time homebuyer specialist.<\/p>\n \u201cThose things appeal to the majority of families because most are searching for a safe place to raise their kids and for a place that feels like home. And so the better we are noting those family-friendly features in our listing, the more appealing it is to families.\u201d<\/p>\n Need a refresher on the Mayberry vibe? Mayberry is the fictional, quintessential small town<\/a> featured in the 1960s black & white television series, The Andy Griffith Show<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n Picture white picket fences, soda shops, fishing holes, and streets so tame there\u2019s only one stoplight.<\/p>\n If your neighborhood doesn\u2019t have any of that vintage, yesteryear charm, don\u2019t worry. Most neighborhoods have assets that will appeal to families\u2014it\u2019s just a matter of identifying them.<\/p>\n Playing outside is a favorite pastime for families, so they\u2019ll be on the lookout for homes where they can enjoy the outdoors in safety and comfort.<\/p>\n So take a walk along your street and note everything that makes playing outside easier:<\/p>\n Parents want their children to have the best of everything, especially a quality education. That\u2019s why house hunters with children almost always ask their agents this question first: \u201cIs it in a good school district?\u201d<\/p>\n Mentioning the closest public schools, or the school district\u2019s rating, is a top priority, but that may not be the only educational asset worth mentioning in your family neighborhood.<\/p>\n Families that play together stay together, or so the saying goes. So make sure to mention in your listing if your neighborhood has venues and attractions designed for family fun:<\/p>\n People love lists, so there\u2019s a plethora of places that publish rankings like greatest movie lines of all time, most popular tourist destinations, and even the best places to raise a family.<\/p>\n So when you\u2019re searching for ways to highlight the family-friendliness of your locale, make sure to check out where it ranks on some of these lists:<\/p>\n While it pays to mention the highlights of your family neighborhood, fixating on it exclusively in your listing description sends up a red flag that your house isn\u2019t worth mentioning.<\/p>\n So you\u2019ll be better off if you balance out your family neighborhood focus by touching on why your actual house is family-friendly<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTypically when a couple is house hunting, one is an emotional buyer and the other is an analytical buyer. So you want to make sure that you’re listing language appeals to both,\u201d explains West.<\/p>\n Along with the factual information that the analytical person wants to hear, like close to schools, you should also include inviting, emotion-evoking language like a cozy fireplace in the spacious family room, to appeal to the emotional buyer.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a look that the top family-friendly features you should point out if you\u2019ve got them:<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just what you say in your listing, it\u2019s how you say it.<\/p>\n Simply listing off every family-friendly feature your house and neighborhood can overwhelm potential buyers, and it also means that none of your most special assets will stand out.<\/p>\n So, you need to treat the verbiage of your listing description like the ad campaign<\/a> that it is and take special care with the words you choose to describe your best family neighborhood features.<\/p>\n \u201cUse vibrant words that convey a cozy feeling when writing the marketing, so that you\u2019re painting a picture for buyers that the property is a warm, safe place that they can call home,\u201d said West.<\/p>\n \u201cThe better we are at using emotion-inspiring verbiage, the more likely they are to come take a look at the house.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Getting creative with your listing description<\/a> isn\u2019t easy, as you run the risk of being too wordy, clich\u00e9, or even corny.<\/p>\n It all starts with picking the most appealing words for your listing description<\/a>, and you\u2019ll be happy to learn that there are actually people who track those used most frequently by real estate agents.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.point2homes.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/TheMostPopularRealEstateListingKeywordsin2012.pdf<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve got the right words, it\u2019s all about painting a picture of the idyllic life awaiting the family lucky enough to move into your home and neighborhood.<\/p>\n Use the wrong words, and you might confuse buyers or turn them off entirely. And some might just be illegal.<\/p>\n Some words that are great for describing one feature, paints the wrong picture when associated with another asset.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you call the fireplace in the family room \u201ccozy.\u201d That works, because you create an image of curling up by the fire with a cup of cocoa on chilly winter nights.<\/p>\n Now think about the picture \u201ccozy\u201d paints when you pair it with \u201ckitchen,\u201d or \u201cbedroom.\u201d Suddenly cozy evokes images of a too-tiny kitchen, or a bedroom no bigger than a small walk-in closet.<\/p>\n There are other words that don\u2019t belong in listing descriptions because they\u2019re tainted with negativity. And what they are might surprise you.<\/p>\n For instance, in some places, highlighting the fact that your family neighborhood is a low-crime area<\/a> is a home run sales strategy. But that\u2019s not true everywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my area, you don\u2019t ever want to use verbiage like \u2018low crime,\u2019 because that insinuates that there is crime,\u201d advises West.<\/p>\n Others are less obvious,\u00a0 like “clean” and “new paint”<\/a>. These seem like they\u2019d be worth mentioning, but what they really say is that your house is so unremarkable, that this is all you can come up with to say.<\/p>\n Thanks to the Fair Housing Act, which\u00a0prohibits discrimination in the renting or sale of housing nationwide<\/a>, there\u2019s some verbiage that could land your agent in hot water.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fair housing laws in California are fairly specific about things you shouldn’t say in a listing when you’re talking about a great, family-friendly neighborhood,\u201d advises West.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re highlighting amenities, like a nearby park or close to a great school, you need to use the right verbiage in your marketing that appeals to a young family without saying specific things that would exclude other people. For instance, \u2018within walking distance\u2019 excludes someone who can\u2019t walk, and saying it\u2019s close to a specific church excludes buyers of other faiths.\u201d<\/p>\n In a nutshell, this means that your listing description cannot use any language that could be interpreted as discriminatory against any of the\u00a0seven protected classes<\/a>: race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or familial status.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s no official HUD list of banned words, most agents keep tabs on which wording is likely to violate the Fair Housing Act.<\/p>\n As do local real estate associations, like the Realtors Association of Northern Wisconsin<\/a>, who created this list of no-no words:<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to know what your regional Fair Housing Act language standards are, because they may vary from state to state.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s acceptable to say \u201cgreat for family\u201d in Northern Wisconsin, other regions similar phrases like \u201cfamily-oriented\u201d are verboten.<\/p>\n While you may not be allowed to say \u201cfamily neighborhood\u201d in your listing description, you can play up features that appeal to families.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can mention family-friendly facts like the school district you\u2019re in, or that the house has a family room, or playground equipment, or a nanny’s room. Those are features you can mention that are appealing to families but not at the exclusion of others,\u201d says West.<\/p>\n Also, since you can\u2019t explicitly say that you\u2019re targeting families as your buyer pool demographic, you may want to consider not trying to market to families.<\/p>\n After all, as the seller, what you really want is the buyer who brings you the best offer\u2014whether it\u2019s a family or a confirmed bachelor buying your family-friendly home.<\/p>\n Instead, simply focus on featuring the best assets found in your home and neighborhood, and let them do the talking for you. If yours is a family-friendly locale, those features will naturally stand out.<\/p>\n Spelling out in writing that yours is a family-friendly house in a family neighborhood may be out of the question, but you know what they say about pictures\u2026<\/p>\n When focusing on family features is your goal, you can capture a thousand words-worth of marketing copy simply by staging your home with kids in mind<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s just a few ideas of photos that can showcase family appeal:<\/p>\n By now you\u2019re probably overwhelmed with all the ways you can advertise that you\u2019re selling a family-friendly house in a family neighborhood.<\/p>\n For starters, the listing description is only a paragraph long, not a novel\u2014so you won\u2019t be able to fit all of this into one little description.<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design-6.jpg\")
<\/a>Focus on the family neighborhood features of your locale<\/h2>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design.jpg\")
<\/a>1. Assess your streets<\/h3>\n
\n
\nThese signs signal low traffic, which means you live on safer, quieter street<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nTalk about quiet, these streets see only a handful of drivers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nTaking family walks and teaching kids to ride bikes is a lot easier and safer on well-maintained sidewalks<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nSummer days bike-riding on sidewalks, or bike lanes is a lot more comfortable on shady, tree-lined streets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/family-neighborhood-school-bus.jpg\")
<\/a>2. Identify educational assets<\/h3>\n
\n
\nUnless you\u2019ve got kids in school, you may not know if you live in a good district or not. Luckily, your agent will. And you can always look it up online at sites like SchoolDigger<\/a>, or Niche<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nNot all parents plan to send their kids to public schools, so give them options by noting any nearby charter or private schools. It\u2019s even worth mentioning if these schools participate in school choice programs<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nEducation beyond the classroom is a huge priority for many parents\u2014particularly homeschoolers\u2014so point out local kid-friendly museums, science centers, stage theatres, art galleries, and historical sites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nMaybe your town isn\u2019t Star’s Hollow<\/a>, with dance-a-thons, bid-a-basket picnics, and Firelight Festivals, but buyers will be very interested to know if your community consistently offers family-friendly events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"amusement](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design-5.jpg\")
<\/a>3. Point out places to play<\/h3>\n
\n
\nIf you live near a water park, a lake, or your HOA maintains a splash pad and a community pool, say so. Especially if you live in the hot desert of southern climes where people use pools year-round.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nSpacious public parks with multiple playgrounds, small HOA-maintained courtyards, major and minor government-run parks with hiking trails\u2014note of all the local places where families can appreciate mother nature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nMini-golf fun centers, video arcades, movie theatres, indoor trampoline parks, rock-climbing gyms, even major theme parks deserve a mention to appeal to family buyers.<\/li>\n
\nLots of local parks have basketball courts or a baseball field, but if you live near sports-focused venues like golf courses, swim centers, or tennis clubs, it may pay off to point them out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"little](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design-1-1.jpg\")
<\/a>4. Play up your locale\u2019s reputation<\/h3>\n
\n
\nBest states to raise a family lists aren\u2019t mere puff pieces, many of them are based on hard data<\/a>, like child health statistics, in-state college tuition costs, and standardized reading scores. So, point it out if your state scores high on these lists to attract out-of-state family buyers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nIf you don\u2019t get a lot of out-of-staters in your area, look at where your town falls on Best Cities to Raise Kids lists<\/a>, which are based on similar, but more specific data.<\/li>\n
\nIf you live in a major metropolitan area, it\u2019s probably better to focus where your suburb ranks on \u201cbest family neighborhoods\u201d lists. Local newspapers and official city websites<\/a> often rank these for incoming residents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"family](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design-3-1.jpg\")
<\/a>5. Highlight your home\u2019s family-friendly features<\/h3>\n
\n
\nSaying how many bedrooms you have is a no-brainer, but also make note if they\u2019re bigger than average, feature kid-friendly built-ins, like a treehouse bunkbed, or conveniently located to the master suite.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nThree or four-bedroom houses are perfect for families\u2026unless they\u2019ve only got one bathroom. So even if all you have is an extra, but tiny half-bath beneath the staircase, mention it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nFamilies don\u2019t always like to leave home to enjoy the outdoors, so highlight your big backyard, along with any amenities staying with the house, like the swing set, fire pit, gazebo, deck, and swimming pool.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nThe kitchen is the hub of the house, which is why families need extra space in the kitchen to maneuver and eat together. So if you\u2019ve got it, flaunt it. Make mention of breakfast nooks, built-in banquettes, eat-in kitchen, kitchen island, extra counter space, and if you\u2019ve got a formal dining room, too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
\nWhen there\u2019s lots of kids and teens underfoot, one small living room may not be enough. So say so if you\u2019ve got a bonus room, a sunroom, a finished basement, playroom, den, or any extra hang out spaces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design-2-1.jpg\")
<\/a>6. Incorporate appealing language into the listing description<\/h3>\n
![\"most](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Screen-Shot-2019-07-26-at-3.05.24-PM-775x380.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"fireplace](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design-4.jpg\")
<\/a>Avoid unappealing language (and words that violate the Fair Housing Act)<\/h2>\n
1. Right word, wrong usage<\/h3>\n
2. Wrong words\u2026sometimes<\/h3>\n
3. Illegal language<\/h3>\n
![\"Fair](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Screen-Shot-2019-07-26-at-1.47.45-PM-e1564174283913.png\")
![\"kids](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Include photos that say family-friendly\u2026without actually saying it<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"learning](\"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Untitled-design-3.jpg\")
<\/a>A fine place for families<\/h2>\n