How to Advertise Your Property to Let: Tips From The Pros

The golden rule of being a great landlord is securing reliable tenants. You need to make sure that any tenants who move into your managed properties can be trusted to pay rent on time, take care of the property and follow the terms of the tenancy agreement. Finding tenants you can rely on will make life much easier and is a crucial step of renting out a residential property.

With this in mind, it’s important to make sure your property advertisements achieve the results you want. If you want to secure great tenants, your property listing must be engaging, informative and able to stand out in a competitive market. A successful listing will attract your target market and encourage interested parties to book a viewing – but where do you begin?

At Bunk, we understand just how important it is to advertise a rental property effectively, whether you’re a landlord or a property manager. We’re also dedicated to lightening the load for landlords by making it easier than ever to secure and retain tenants. For our top tips and advice, check out our step-by-step guide to advertising your property to let. 

Research other houses for rent in the local area

Before you dive into advertising a rental property, you need to understand the market you’re entering. Although this is true of all industries, it is especially important within the lettings sector; with the number of residential lettings on the rise, landlords must make sure they’re in a position to attract great tenants. It is predicted that rental properties will make up a quarter of the UK’s entire housing market by 2025, so the industry is only going to become more competitive in the near future. 

To begin, browse through listings for similar rental properties on all major property portals, such as Zoopla and Rightmove. This will give you an indication of the unique selling points that other landlords are promoting, in addition to popular facilities in the local area (such as primary schools, train stations and supermarkets) and average monthly rental prices. 

Decide what rental fees to charge 

Market research will give you an idea of the rental fees you should expect to charge for the property, but the most effective way to choose a suitable pricing range for the property is to get a free rental valuation. This is something we can take care of for you, so click here to receive yours. 

Remember – charging tenants fees that are lower than the property’s market value could cost you thousands, whereas charging too highly will make it difficult to attract great tenants. Make use of our free rental valuation tool to ensure you don’t lose money in the long-term. 

advertising your property

Advertise houses and flats to rent through major portals


A key part of advertising a property to let successfully is putting your property listing in front of the right people. You want to make sure it reaches your target market, and the most effective way to do this is to advertise through major property portals. By advertising through Zoopla and Rightmove, for instance, you can ensure that your property listing has the best chance of attracting great tenants. 

However, be aware that many major portals don’t allow private landlords or property managers to advertise through their platform. They are exclusive to estate agents, letting agents and online letting agents – such as Bunk! Unlike letting agents, however, we won’t charge you extortionate fees to manage your property listings. 

When you advertise a rental property through Bunk, we’ll upload your advertisement to all major portals, including Zoopla and Rightmove, where 95% of tenants begin their search. This gives you the best possible chance of securing great tenants. We also make it easier than ever to advertise one listing across multiple platforms. All you need to do is list your property to rent through our platform and we’ll take care of the rest!

 Write an engaging property listing

An engaging and informative listing is one of the most important features of any property advertisement. You can put your property advertisement in front of thousands of people, but without a great description, viewers won’t know what they’re looking at. This is your opportunity to promote the property’s USPs and make it as marketable as possible. 

To write a brilliant property listing, consider our top tips:

  • Pay attention to format. Your property listing should include no more than two small paragraphs of descriptive text and a bulleted list of features and appliances. 
  • In the first paragraph of the listing, describe the property and anything the viewer might be particularly interested in (such as a recently renovated bathroom, for example). In the second paragraph, you might want to write a few sentences about the local area.
  • Try to avoid flowery language, such as superlatives, and make sure the description is as informative as possible. When it comes to showing off how beautiful the property is, let your photographs do the talking. 
  • Make sure it’s concise. Keep your description under 200 words to make it easier for interested tenants to get all the information they need quickly.
  • Include the main information in the first sentence. This is what viewers will see before deciding whether or not to read your listing in full, so make it count. 

An engaging first sentence might read: ‘A spacious, furnished four-bedroom house located in the heart of XXX, available to rent from 1st June 2020’. 

Immediately, the viewer knows the size, location, and availability of the property, including whether it comes furnished or unfurnished. If this meets their criteria, they are more likely to continue reading the listing. 

  • Write a clear call to action at the end of the listing. 

For example:

To book a property viewing, contact Bunk. You’ll be sent a link to Bunk’s online platform, where you can request viewings and make offers quickly and easily! 

This lets interested viewers know what they need to do to book a viewing or where they can find out more information about the property. 

Take great property photographs 

A well-written property description is essential, but words alone won’t convert readers into viewers. To advertise a rental property effectively, you must also include a selection of professional-looking photographs. Tenants want to get a feel for a property before deciding to book a viewing and are likely to click off a listing if there are no photographs. 

To take great property photographs, consider our top tips:

  • Take high-quality photographs to make sure you capture the attention of potential tenants. If you don’t have a camera, a smartphone will do the trick! You can also edit your photographs afterwards to make sure they are bright enough.
  • Clean and tidy the entire property so it looks its best. Don’t forget to:
  • Wipe down surfaces 
  • Hide personal items, such as shoes and coats
  • Store away kitchen utensils, food, and toiletries
  • Remove any evidence of pets
  • Turn off electronic screens.
  • Pay attention to your garden and the front of the property. Mow the lawn, put away bikes and gardening equipment, and remove cars from the driveway.
  • Take advantage of natural bright light by photographing the property in the morning. Light can make rooms look more spacious and attractive.
  • Use a landscape format. This will allow you to capture wider frames without distorting room sizes and layouts. Taking every photo in landscape mode will also make your listing look neater.

Video tours have also increased in popularity recently as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, and are likely to become a popular feature of property listings even after the UK lockdown has ceased. You can read our top tips for recording a great virtual viewing here.

advertise your property bedroom virtual viewing

Manage viewings professionally

Once you’ve written a great property description and have uploaded the listing to all major portals, you should start receiving requests for viewings. It pays to plan your viewings in advance as this is your chance to convert enquiries into tenants. 

As a landlord or property manager, remember that tenants are not only interested in the house or flat on show – they will also assess your service during the viewing. If you arrive on time, dressed smartly, and are able to answer their questions in full, your property viewers are much more likely to remain interested. Future tenants will rely on you throughout the tenancy, so create a winning first impression by being professional and well-prepared. 

On average, properties are viewed five times before being let, so it’s important to make sure you book and manage property viewings efficiently to impress potential tenants. Luckily, this is something we can help you with. When you let properties through Bunk, you can manage viewing requests and offers from tenants from one handy dashboard. With Bunk, it’s never been easier to get organised! 

Bunk: The ultimate digital lettings platform for property managers and landlords

Landlords and property managers, make life easier for yourself with help from Bunk. A digital lettings platform with a difference, we can help you advertise your property, screen tenants, monitor maintenance requests, and much more. With everything you need to manage properties available on one handy dashboard, it’s never been simpler to stay on top of your responsibilities. To help you stay compliant, we match with a dedicated account manager who is up-to-date on all relevant legislative changes.

The best part? With Bunk, you can say goodbye to expensive letting fees. Our features and resources are all available to landlords and property managers at highly affordable rates. For more information about how we could help you, book a consultation with one of our lettings experts today. 

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Heather Mitchell

Heather Mitchell

Originally from the midlands, Heather is our client success lead here at Bunk. When she is not making the lives of our landlords a whole lot easier, you can find her cooking spicy food and painting canvas art.

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