Some people fall in love from the first sight (or the first photo). Some – most of them, actually – need a bit more to choose your one and only rental property. Of course, location, price, and photos are extremely important, but people are searching for a place they can call home, even if it’s a temporary one. Give them a warm and cozy feeling of a place where they are always awaited and welcomed and increase your chances to get your property rented fast!
You don’t need to be Shakespeare to write a good rental description. You don’t really need to even have writing experience. Of course, if you feel insecure, you may hire a professional writer, but who knows your rental investment property better than you? We collected some handy tips below. Just use these dos and don’ts and you’ll have the most attractive rental ad!
All Work and No Play Make Your Rental Property a Dull Place
Surely, people need to get the most important information first, but no one says that they only need to get that! Mix some funny features with vital pieces of information such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, price, overall area, and location. The magic of adjectives is at your service (but try not to be cheesy and overuse them).
Let’s have a look at a little example:
No more extra chores – own your space!
Minimalistic loft studio for a single person or a couple. 42 sq.m., full queen size bed that retracts into a wall. Turn your cozy bedroom into a disco place whenever you want!
Peaceful and green district. The studio is close to the subway station, neat and affordable restaurants around. Only 20 minutes to downtown and nightlife!
Pet-friendly place.
Utilities: (list of utilities)
Price: (price)
Available dates: (dates)
We start with a tagline. Think like your possible tenants: loft studio is mostly for young and busy people and what young and busy person is ready to spend their time cleaning? Then we add some ordinary info like the number of beds and the overall space. But after that, we describe the main feature that knocks out right away: a retractable bed! After that, we can use the space left as we please. Here we described the main interesting places around and the location in general using ordinary language, not just a list. And, when the prospective tenants are saturated with emotions, we can finally put down our laundry list of utilities. If they are reading the tail of your rental property description, they are ready for the naked data.
Related: How to Market Rental Property All the Way
Make Your Rental Description Client-Oriented
You should understand what kind of audience your rental property will attract. Lavish apartments, modest studios, comfortable two-bedrooms for young families – each property has its own category of fans with their needs and preferences. Try to do a little research: read blogs, use social networking topics to understand what exactly different groups of people want from their homes. As a bonus, you may also find another platform for promotion in local (or global) social networks.
Write About the Home You Want to Live In
Don’t use too many exclamation marks or capital letters. No cheap tricks like SALE!!! TODAY ONLY!!! Imagine you are telling your friends about a place you have just rented. Use natural language and the active voice, just to make your text live. You may try to read it aloud (without lists of course). When you are hearing the words, not reading them from paper or screen, you perceive them differently. It may help you look at your rental description from a different angle, find, and correct somewhat clumsy parts.
When Too Much Is Too Much
Fitting everything into 4-8 sentences can look like Mission Impossible, but it’s an easy thing to do if you know the secret. First, write everything you want to. Then let the rental description cool down for an hour or two (even the greatest writers did that before editing the text – the freshly written words will naturally look like perfection to you). When your mind shifted from the text to something else, you are ready to edit. Just throw away anything you can without distorting the sense and turning the rental description into a dull list. You will be surprised how short, precise, and interesting your text will be.
Housing Laws
While it’s definitely not the funny part, it can be useful to add some words about housing laws: from legal information and documents needed to your own rules of handling your rental property. You don’t need to put them first, but for some people, especially foreigners, this information can be very useful, in case they don’t know the cultural and legal norms of your country.
Don’t Discriminate Against Your Tenants
We were talking about different groups preferring different things – and here we give you some advice about not stating these groups in your text. It’s illegal to recommend your rental property only to people of a certain age, sex, marital or financial status. You know the game where you need to describe something without naming it? That’s a similar game. For example, you may describe affordable prices, proximity to a university campus, free wi-fi and snack bars around – but never say that you prefer renting to college students. Be creative and the people you want to see renting your property will come to you!
Some Words About Yourself
The personality of the landlord or landlady is also an important factor in choosing the flat. Be honest with your tenants. Describe your rules at once, persuade them that you are responsible and understand the concept of their private space. If you are talkative – say it. If you prefer seeing them once a month when paying rent – say it too. The psychological compatibility is an essential part of long-term relationships, even if it’s only property rental. Don’t be afraid to repel some of the potential tenants: you will be left with the best of the best for you!
This article has been contributed by Phoebe Hart.