How to Write a Rental Listing

Getting a reliable renter who pays their rent on time, respects your property and leaves you with few worries is difficult — and finding one starts with your apartment, house or condo rental listing. So how do you appeal to the right kind of renter, get the income you’re looking for and do it fast all at the same time? We’ll show you how with these top tips for creating an effective rental property listing.

Tips For Writing a Rental Property Listing

Writing a stellar rental listing isn’t easy — but if you put the extra effort in, you can reduce the amount of time your property stays vacant by days, weeks or even months. Here’s how:

Describe your property honestly. It might be tempting to exaggerate your rental’s location, the condition of its appliances or any of its elements. But if you list your property as a lake-view luxury condo built for a family and a potential renter can barely see the water from a cracked living room window, your rental chances — and reputation — will almost immediately go down the drain.

Grab potential renters’ attention right away. Just like any article or blog post, it’s your headline that will get a reader’s attention. Consider taking your property’s best feature, such as its upgraded appliances or new flooring, and putting it in the header of your listing along with the price and square footage.

Don’t waste valuable space repeating yourself. There are plenty of other listings out there with only basic information in the headline. Make sure your ad gets the clicks it deserves by highlighting the best part of your property. In any real estate listing, the number of bathrooms, bedrooms, square footage and rent will be included in the header or the details section of your listing. So when you’re describing your property, don’t bother mentioning those details again.

Highlight recent upgrades. Whether you add new modern light fixtures or replaced all of the windows, highlight those changes in your listing. It’ll emphasize your willingness to keep the property in good shape and boost your renters’ quality of life.

Avoid vague descriptions. You know what kind of listing doesn’t get attention? One that describes the kitchen as “nice” and its appliances as “high quality”. Instead, opt for actual descriptions — and when possible, include the brand names of appliances.

Include lots of high-quality pictures. Help your potential renters imagine living in your listed property without stepping foot in it. Avoid using deceptive techniques to make the apartment appear more spacious than it is, take the photos during the day to take advantage of natural light and include photos of any particular features you mention in your description.

Answer common questions up front. Almost every renter will want to know what utilities are included in their monthly rent, when the property is available, whether pets are allowed and what parking accommodations are included with the property. Give them straight answers in the description and avoid having a deal fall through because of minor details.

Include information on the area. Every real estate agent knows that location is a huge factor in almost every sale. Truth is, it’s a major factor in rentals, too. Include information on nearby amenities like grocery stores, restaurants, laundromats and anything else a renter might visit regularly.

Research other nearby listings. Combing through other rental property listings in your area can give you a great idea on which features of your property you should leverage. You know the pros and cons of your property — capitalize and highlight the major benefits in your listing.

Keep your content clean. Overused exclamation points, too many hyperbolic adjectives and a lack of capitalization can doom your listing from the beginning. Keep your wording simple, your sentences to the point and your grammar correct.

Include plenty of contact information. It seems obvious, but if your listing includes only a phone number and you missed a potential renter’s call, you could be out of luck. Give at least one phone number and an e-mail address for interested parties to contact you at — and be prompt about replying to their messages.

Diversify your posting. Don’t just list your property on one real estate classified website and call it good. There are plenty of places to post rental properties — take advantage of each and every one you can and you’ll have a renter in no time.

With American Family Insurance, protecting your rental property doesn’t have to be complicated. Get in touch with your agent today to find the right insurance policy and peace of mind you deserve.