A property description is made up of 2 parts, key features and property details.
The key features section is your opportunity to tell potential tenants about the key selling points of your property. The property details section allows you to go in to more depth about your property and describe it in more detail.
Key features
Tenants will first and foremost be interested in the practical information about your property. This information should be contained within the “key features” description of your listing, and may include:
- Number of bedrooms
- Number of bathrooms/ensuites
- Parking arrangements, garage, driveway etc
- Size of garden/outside space
- Whether the property is offered furnished/part furnished/unfurnished
- Type of heating – gas/electric/storage heaters
- Location/ proximity to local facilities – shops, bus routes/train
You should consider any particularly good features of your property. Remember that potential tenants are going to glance at the key features of your house description, and then decide whether they want to read on.
It is also important to include items in the key features which will be appealing to your target audience. A good way to do this is to imagine your ideal tenant, and think about what would be important to them. For example, if your ideal tenants are a young professional couple, their main points of interest may be the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, parking & train links, and whether the property is close to restaurants/bars. If your ideal tenants are a family, they may be interested in, again, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, but also parking, school catchment and proximity to bus routes.
Other things which you might mention within the “key features” or the property description include:
- Double glazing
- Security features, eg. Alarm
- Type of cooking facilities – gas/electric oven and/or hob
- Type of house – Detached/semi/terraced
- Design of house – bungalow/2 storey
- Available now/Available from…
- School catchment (you should definitely include this in the key points if, for example, you have a family-sized home within the catchment of a good school)
- Style of décor, contemporary/traditional etc
- Power shower
- Layout, for example multiple reception rooms, open plan etc
- Original features, for example, fireplaces or doors
- Fitted wardrobes
Key features are really those points that will be appealing to, or be of most importance to, your ideal tenants. Anything else should be included within the property details.
Property details
When writing your property description, it is important not to be misleading. The property details should accurately represent the property you are advertising.
A great way to start your property description is with a really positive introduction, such as:
- “A well presented three bedroom semi detached house on the outskirts of ….”
- “Brand new two bedroom house …”
- “A newly refurbished four bedroom family home in a sought after location close to …”
- “Spacious room to let …”
- “A great two bedroom apartment within walking distance of great rail links to …”
As you can see, each of these statements includes both the number of bedrooms and most positive aspect of the property within the first line of the property description.
You can then go on to describe all of the other important features of the property. Try to be as concise as possible, without simply listing the features. You can use phrases such as:
- “The property benefits from …”
- “Featuring …”
- “The accommodation comprises …”
- “The house includes …”
It is important to remain positive throughout your property description, and to describe things in an encouraging way. For example, a small living room might be described as “cosy”, or a small gravelled garden could be described as a “low maintenance courtyard”. However, please note that whilst your description can be poetic, it should most definitely not mislead the prospective tenant.
You should also include anything else you feel your property can offer a potential tenant, above and beyond that of another property. For example, if you have a luxury ensuite, with power shower and his & hers basins, or if you have a particularly large garden, or if your kitchen is great for entertaining. Remember that a potential tenant may view a number of rental properties online, before shortlisting some for physical viewings. Make sure yours is shortlisted by mentioning any features that you think may be appealing to your potential tenants.
Measurements, although not entirely necessary for a rental property, can be a good way to show off a particularly spacious room. Most often room sizes are given in feet and inches. If your room is not rectangular or square, take the longest dimension, and indicate that this is the maximum. For example, an “L” shaped room might be 8’ x 16’ (max).