# Real estate marketing: "2 sleeps and 3 washes" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431 "2014-02-15T17:19:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/21 "2014-02-17T00:32:21Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Maybe it’s next in the continuum. Realtors do absolutely not sell houses anymore. No, they sell _homes_. I know it’s been like this for a few decades, but seriously, I know it’s a damned house. A realtor was involved in selling me my _home_, which is not a _house_. :smack::rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/22 "2014-02-17T01:49:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Maybe it’s next in the continuum. Realtors do absolutely not sell houses anymore. No, they sell _homes_. I know it’s been like this for a few decades, but seriously, I know it’s a damned house. Around these parts, they sell neither houses nor homes. They sell _lifestyles_. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/23 "2014-02-17T02:18:32Z")
> [@Animastryfe](#): > > That ad would catch my attention, but in a negative way. I would avoid that place, as the wording makes it seem extremely unprofessional. Not only that – it seems deliberately unclear. They could be trying to trick you into coming to look at a house that is smaller than what you want. Saying “3 bedrooms” is clear, and everyone knows what it means. But they didn’t say that. Most bedrooms now have a double bed, so that’s 2 sleeps. Add a kids rppm for 3 sleeps. Heck, put bunk beds in the kids room and you have ‘4 sleeps’! Only an unscrupulous real estate salesperson would do that, though – anybody ever heard of one of them? ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/24 "2014-02-17T18:03:19Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > “Well, I would have put in an offer but the bookshelf was disorganized, and I didn’t like the pictures of grandma and grandpa on the mantle.” > > Does anyone in the world think like this when buying a house? The last time I sold a house, the sale was contingent on me leaving the fireplace tools. These weren’t attached, they just sat next to the fireplace. Umm, ok? You want the papertowel holder too? While house hunting, I’ve had a realtor comment that we were unusual, because we were looking at cracks in corners near the doors, waterstains in the basement, and sags in the roofline, but not commenting on the new paint. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/25 "2014-02-17T18:38:26Z")
Does anyone have an actual example of this? I can’t find anything on Google other than “sleeps 4”, etc. I don’t see anything described as cooks and washes. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/26 "2014-02-17T19:05:31Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I once saw an ad for a camper for sale, that said “sleeps four”. I was wondering how many it eats, in its dining space. That’s pretty common for camping equipment. It has room for 4 people to sleep, but it does not have 4 bedrooms. Not so common for housing, though … ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/27 "2014-02-17T19:30:00Z")
Master Bedroom and Master Bath are out, too. Now they are called “owner’s bedroom” and owner’s bath. More politically correct. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/28 "2014-02-17T20:56:50Z")
Nay, the one’s I’ve been looking at say ‘owner’s retreat’. As if fighting the damn hun all day in downtown Charleston is so exhausting I have to tell a corporal to hold them off while I catch forty winks or something. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/29 "2014-02-17T23:00:58Z")
I deal with a reasonable amount of real estate copy in my job and while I haven’t seen anything quite as bad as the OP describes, I have had to explain that a “robe” is an item of clothing and a “wardrobe” is the fixture into which a robe (or other clothing) goes. Because if you’re spending $500,000 on a house, a couple of items from the Arthur Dent or Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski daywear collections aren’t going to sweeten the deal, but knowing you’ve got a walk-in clothing storage space or somewhere to hang your wearables instead of leaving them on the floor is an important consideration. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/30 "2014-02-18T03:51:47Z")
What is driving me crazy is this local commercial for new homes that implies that only an idiot would buy a “used home”. Because, you know, once they’re used, the walls don’t hold up so well anymore. ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/31 "2014-02-19T12:45:42Z")
A related complaint (of which I was reminded by following a link from Cafe Society to a [critique of ROTJ](http://www.filmthreat.com/features/172/)) is when film critics talk about “the big reveal”. We already have a perfectly good noun form (revelation), so is this usage, like “sleeps and washes”, just meant to grab our attention (per post #2 above)? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/32 "2014-02-19T13:22:56Z")
At least they aren’t referring to the bathrooms as “craps.” ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/33 "2014-02-19T13:31:07Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Does anyone in the world think like this when buying a house? It seems completely unsurprising to me that people think like this unconsciously. I doubt many do so consciously, but it’s the unconscious stuff that makes most people buy things. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/34 "2014-02-19T15:15:02Z")
> [@biqu](#): > > A related complaint (of which I was reminded by following a link from Cafe Society to a [critique of ROTJ](http://www.filmthreat.com/features/172/)) is when film critics talk about “the big reveal”. We already have a perfectly good noun form (revelation), so is this usage, like “sleeps and washes”, just meant to grab our attention (per post #2 above)? Which reminds me of the workplace habit of saying “invite” instead of invitation. “I’ll send you the invite.” Bugs the hell out of me for some unknown reason. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/35 "2014-02-19T15:29:40Z")
Wouldn’t a simple explanation be trying to save money by limiting the length of the listing? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/36 "2014-02-19T17:18:30Z")
In the Denver area, listings will give the total number of bedrooms and baths INCLUDING the basement ones, then will mention that x number of bedrooms (in the basement) are nonconforming (no egress through the basement window). This is unlike any other market I’ve seen (maybe it’s a Western thing); in the East it’s a violation to count basement bedrooms and baths in the total count on the top of the listing. My guess is it’s a way to avoid use of the word “nonconforming” by using non-standard language. ---
**Author:** ![biqu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@biqu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/biqu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/37 "2014-02-19T17:21:09Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Which reminds me of the workplace habit of saying “invite” instead of invitation. > > “I’ll send you the invite.” Bugs the hell out of me for some unknown reason. Also common and irritating is when “fail” is used as a noun, especially in such constructs as “epic fail”. But this expression is more often spoken than written, so it’s not as jarring as the real estate ad in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/38 "2014-02-19T18:59:23Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > At least they aren’t referring to the bathrooms as “craps.” Line of the day. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/39 "2014-02-22T22:25:43Z")
My guess: Chinglish. I found one of those listings in Denver, and … well, [check it out for yourself](http://newhomes.move.com/plan/1038683/co/denver/parker/plan-5004-at-stepping-stone-spaces-discovery-collection). > [@](#): > > Ideal for a growing family, picture yours in this 3,110-square-foot plan with five sleeps, 4-1/2 washes, and a handy second-level clean. Main floor living features a well-designed cook with meal bar and large walk-in pantry, an open dine, comfortable watch with volume ceiling and fireplace, and a create. There is room for 3-cars with the 2-car park and 1-car side-load park. For the aspiring culinary aficionado consider the option of a chef cook, and for outdoor entertaining consider the option of a covered shade. Second level clean? 2-car park? Well-designed cook? And a create? I don’t think they’re trying to appeal to hipper-than-hip buyers, especially considering it’s a house in a second ring suburb. Around where I live, real estate listings for houses in one very crunchy neighborhood will often call backyards “gardens”, and there will commonly be more photos of the yard than the interior. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431/40 "2014-02-22T22:31:27Z")
It sounds like “second-level clean” means a washer-dryer upstairs, “well-designed cook” obviously means the kitchen, “comfortable watch” may mean the TV room? but I don’t know what they mean by “a create”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-estate-marketing-2-sleeps-and-3-washes/681431.md?page=3)