Finding great tenants starts with a compelling, informative and well-written property listing. A property listing that showcases a rental home well can be enough to convert viewings into enquiries, so putting time and effort into your advertisement is key to attracting great tenants.
As every landlord knows, finding reliable tenants is the first step to establishing a positive manager-tenant relationship and a problem-free rental agreement – so creating a successful listing is more important than you might initially think!
You don’t need to be Shakespeare to win tenants over with your property description, but it pays to know what works and what doesn’t. With this in mind, we’ve put together our top tips for writing a great rental property listing.
Plan before you write
Before you start writing the description, make a list of the key features you want to include. Then, circle the most important qualities that will help you advertise the property effectively and strike through anything which isn’t important.
For instance, you don’t need to describe the layout of the property in detail, as your photographs, video tour and floor plans will do this for you. However, you do need to include the location of the property and how many bedrooms it has.
Pay attention to the first sentence
Once you’ve decided which features are the most important to your target audience, you can start to write the description. You should pay particular attention to the first sentence of your listing, as an effective first sentence will draw the viewer in and encourage them to read the rest of the description.
A great first sentence may look something like this:
A two-bedroom apartment in the heart of Manchester’s city centre, available on a furnished basis from 1st August 2020.
Instantly, anyone scrolling through property listings can make a quickfire decision about the property and whether they want to read the rest of your description.
Be concise
A great property description should be informative yet succinct. You want to give prospective tenants all the information they need to make a decision about the property, but not too much that you lose their attention.
With this in mind, you should aim for 150-200 words split across two small paragraphs: the first detailing the property itself, and the second describing its location and any nearby amenities worth noting (such as train stations or supermarkets).
Use bullet points
A readable and user-friendly property description is much more attractive to potential tenants than large paragraphs of dense text. Use bullet points to create a shortlist of noteworthy features and appliances and include this underneath your property description.
Proofread for grammatical errors
Once you’ve written your description, it’s time to proofread it. Read through the listing a couple of times to make sure it’s easy to follow and isn’t full of spelling errors or grammatical mistakes; these will detract from the information you’re trying to convey. Obvious spelling mistakes will also give the impression that you haven’t paid much attention to the listing.
Upload the listing to Bunk
Once you’ve written a great property description, it’s time to upload it! Uploading the listing to Bunk’s digital lettings platform is a quick and easy way to put your description in front of the right people. We’ll advertise your property across all major portals, including Rightmove and Zoopla, and will help you manage viewing requests with our handy Viewings Organiser.
At Bunk, we take the hassle out of portfolio management with all the resources you need to advertise properties, find great tenants and stay compliant under one roof. For more information about how Bunk makes life easier for landlords and property managers, talk to one of our lettings experts today.
