The typical listing text begins with we are delighted to offer you this well-kept property in a sought-after location – and has spent three lines without delivering a single piece of information.
The problem is not the style. It is that adjectives occupy the space facts would need.
The reader skims, they do not read
A prospect comparing ten listings reads none of them fully. They search for specific details: layout, condition, orientation, service charges, renovation needs, transport links.
A text hiding these details in running prose is not read but skipped. That is why short paragraphs, subheadings and bullet lists work better than one continuous block – even if it looks less elegant.
The cut list: phrases without content
These appear in almost every listing and say nothing:
- "in a sought-after location" – which location, and sought after by whom?
- "well-kept condition" – state the year of the last renovation instead
- "generous layout" – state the square metres per room instead
- "lots of potential" – reads as "in need of renovation"
- "quiet location" – without transport details it reads as "remote"
- "a connoisseur's property" – widely read as a warning sign
The test: could the phrase apply to every second property? Then it can go.
What belongs in instead
Concreteness builds trust because it can be verified:
Instead of "bright rooms": "living room with a south-west-facing window front, afternoon sun until about 7 pm"
Instead of "good transport links": "suburban rail 6 minutes on foot, motorway junction 3 km"
Instead of "modern fittings": "bathroom renovated 2021, heating replaced 2019, triple glazing"
Instead of "family-friendly": "primary school 400 m, nursery in the same estate"
Each of these answers a question that otherwise leads to a call or an exit.
The structure that works
1. One sentence of orientation – what is this, for whom, where
2. The facts – area, rooms, year, condition, energy
3. The walkthrough – rooms in viewing order
4. The location – concrete, with distances
5. The extras – parking, cellar, communal areas, service charge
6. The open point – what needs doing, stated honestly
7. The next step – how to get an appointment
Point six is almost always missing yet works hardest. Naming the renovation needs openly loses the wrong prospects before the viewing instead of after it.
Honesty as a filter
An example: "The flat faces the street. The windows were replaced in 2020 with acoustic glazing; the bedrooms at the rear are quiet."
That sentence costs some prospects. But it saves viewings that end after three minutes – and it builds trust in every other statement for those who remain.
Legally sensitive points
Listing statements are not non-binding advertising. They can become part of the contract. Particularly sensitive:
Area figures. Name the source and the calculation basis. Where uncertainty exists, a standards-compliant area calculation helps more than a disclaimer.
Condition statements. "Renovated" is a strong word. What exactly was renovated, and when, belongs with it.
Energy details. The mandatory disclosures must be complete – details in our article on the energy certificate.
Visualisations. Furnished images from virtual staging or renderings must be labelled as such.
Known defects must not be concealed. That extends to images: a retouched damp patch is not image optimisation.
Length
Between 300 and 600 words is right for most residential properties. Shorter looks careless, longer goes unread.
Commercial may run longer because more technical detail is needed – but structured, not as running prose.
The first two sentences decide
Portals show only the beginning of the description in the preview. What sits there decides whether anyone reads on – and in most listings a greeting sits there. Use the first two sentences for the property's strongest argument instead: the south orientation, the freshly renovated condition, the transport link, the layout. Whatever you fail to place there, a substantial share of readers never sees. A simple test: read only the first thirty words of your text. Would you know afterwards whether the property is a candidate for you?
Audience-specific beats universal
A text meant to address everyone addresses no one. Consider before writing who realistically buys: the young family, the investor, the retired couple, the trade business. Each group reads the same floor plan differently. For the family, school run, garden and children's rooms count; for the investor, yield, rent level and maintenance backlog; for retirement, accessibility and reach of doctors. A text tailored to the most probable group produces fewer but markedly better-fitting enquiries.
Lists beat prose
Reading on a portal is scanning, not linear. What is phrased as a continuous paragraph gets skimmed; what stands as a list gets read. Use lists for everything factual – features, modernisations with years, service charges, transport with distances. Keep prose for the passages about effect and context: how the rooms flow into one another, how the light moves through the day, what the side room suits. This separation makes the same content palpably more accessible without writing a word more.
What differs for lettings
Rental listings follow different rules from sales. Prospects decide faster, compare more properties and filter harder on hard criteria. Accordingly, service charges, deposit, availability date and pet policy belong prominently in the text, not at the end. Managing enquiry volume also matters: anyone wanting to avoid mass responses names the requirements concretely – proof of income, non-smoking, maximum occupancy. That reduces replies considerably and spares rejections to people who never had a chance.
Text and images must tell the same story
A common break occurs when the text speaks of a bright, open living area and the photos show a dark room. The reader believes the image – and then doubts the entire text. Check every statement against the available imagery. Where the images fail to support a true statement, the problem is not the text but the photograph. Then a reshoot or edit pays better than a watered-down phrase.