“Make Yourself At Home” with Good Grammar

Believe it or not, the quality of your writing significantly influences some of the most important milestones in your life.

In school, good grammar helps students to achieve higher grades. On the job, professionals with fewer grammar errors tend to achieve higher positions; their writing is demonstrative of the credibility, professionalism, and accuracy observable in their work. And in your personal life, better spelling and grammar can even earn you a date!

In honor of National Grammar Day, the Grammarly team partnered with Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage, to see if good grammar has an impact on other important life milestones – like buying a home. We surveyed nearly 1,300 people on our combined social media platforms, and here’s what we learned:

When researching a home for purchase, buyers prefer a “medium-sized” listing description. Somewhere around 50 words is the sweet spot. Beyond public opinion, Redfin looked deeper into listings across its platform and found that homes with descriptions of around 50 words are, indeed, more likely to sell within 90 days. What’s more, they also tend to sell for higher than list price.

The majority of survey respondents report that misspellings or improper grammar in a home listing matter “a lot.” As a matter of fact, 43.4 percent of survey respondents would be much less inclined to tour a home that features spelling or grammar errors prominently in the listing.

Redfin pointed out some examples of the spelling errors that have been known to haunt home listings in its blog post today, including:

• Low grime area
• This is a real germ!
• Fresh pain and carpet
• Curve appeal

Correctly spelled words used in the wrong context cause embarrassing mistakes. Luckily, Grammarly spots erroneous use of grime/crime, gem/germ, and many more commonly confused words (eg. lose/loose, affect/effect, lie/lay, there/their/they’re).

National Grammar Day is a great time each year to reflect on the ways that grammar truly touches your life and impacts your confidence, credibility, and success. At school, at home, or on the job, make sure that your grammar is something to write home about.

Happy National Grammar Day, friends!