20140923-HandsUpFrustration-GoogleImagesWASHINGTON DC – “What’s that you said?”

Under normal circumstances, that query may indicate the questioner didn’t hear you properly. In real estate matters, the same question may mean a client or prospect heard you just fine, but did not understand the answer.

Few members of the public are real estate professionals. Most don’t recognize or know the meaning of acronyms licensees regularly take for granted. To buyers and sellers, “MLS” could as easily stand for “must like snakes” as it does for “multiple listing service.”

Washington-based content and social media strategist Jovan Hackley re-emphasizes that point in a blog article published Tuesday (Sept. 23, 2014) by Trulia, titled “5 Real Estate Terms Your Clients Just Don’t Understand.”

The first two: Good-Faith Estimate (“estimates can vary drastically when it comes to closing time,” Hackley notes), and Pre-Approval (“make it clear they don’t have the loan until they’ve closed,” he advises.)

Read the other three, and find out why all five sometimes pose significant miscommunication problems for licensees.

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