Before we get started, know this:

There are typos in the Harry Potter books. There are typos in articles in The New York Times. (!!!)

And yet somehow, each of these mega successful empires keeps thriving.

I have reminded myself of this so many times when I spot a mistake I’ve made (after several rounds of edits), or am stressing about the possibility of making a mistake in something especially important.

Even after multiple rounds of edits, it can be easy to overlook typos and mistakes in your own writing. This is in large part due to confirmation bias, which in simple terms is our tendency to look for information that supports our own pre-existing beliefs. When you’re editing your own writing, this may lead you to read what you think is on the page vs. what is actually on the page.

No one is immune!

Before I share my proofreading tips for real estate agents, I want you to know that my tips here about proofreading are NOT going to be that dreaded grammar lesson from elementary school.

We’re not here to make sure everything is 100% perfect and grammatically correct all the time.
We just want things to be good enough so you feel (mostly!) confident about releasing your writing into the world.

Let’s get into it! Here are my proofreading tips for real estate agents:

Read your writing out loud. If you don’t do any other proofreading, at least do this one. It will help you see where your wording might be off or where your sentences might be too long, for example.

Step away from your writing for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes. After staring at your writing for too long, sometimes you just need a break. Mental fatigue is real! Give your brain a chance to rest and refresh.

If your writing is on a computer, print it out to make edits. Sometimes having that tangible piece of paper and a pen in your hand can make all the difference.

Have a friend read over your writing. Does the writing sound like you? Does it show off your personality? Is there a joke or moment of sarcasm that doesn’t land well or could be misconstrued? Does your meaning come across? Are there any confusing sentences or sections? Having someone else take a look at your writing can bring useful insight. And if you don’t agree with their feedback, graciously thank them and move on.

View your writing in its intended final format. If your writing is appearing in a blog post, on a webpage, on a graphic, in a brochure, etc., re-read your writing when it’s in that format.

Use a service like Grammarly or ChatGPT to proofread your writing. These tools are great for refining, but be careful. For example, Grammarly will likely suggest a bunch of edits to your writing, and you DO NOT have to make the changes it suggests. Sometimes their edits are incorrect or don’t make sense for what you’re doing, but sometimes it will help you refine just a bit. Same goes for ChatGPT. It’s going to try to revise what you wrote, but you should NOT accept all of its suggestions or you will end up sounding like, well, a robot. There are also many other editing tools out there.

Proof your writing in categories. Review all subheadings at the same time. Then make sure you don’t have any extra spaces. Next, make sure every sentence has correct punctuation. You get the idea. This way, your brain is only searching for one type of error, instead of thinking about everything that could go wrong the entire time.

Make sure you did not violate any Fair Housing laws. I’m not even going to try to list out dos and don’ts here, but keep Fair Housing laws top of mind as you review your writing.
Make sure the facts are correct. If you’re writing about your latest listing, did you get the address right? Are the correct number of bedrooms and baths listed? Double check these details.

Now hit the publish button, bless and release!

Hot tip: If you do post something on social media or write something in a newsletter and someone points out your mistake (there is always gonna be that person… sometimes it’s truly helpful, sometimes it’s… not, lol), just thank them (no matter how much of a know-it-all they are), make the edit where applicable, and move on.