How to write an effective property listing

In a veritable flood of property listings, we either stand out, intrigue the client and stay in their memory. Or we vanish forever. Writing a property listing is therefore a great marketing challenge. That is why today we will deal with this issue and discuss how to write a catchy property listing.

There are a few pieces of information that a property listing almost always has to contain. These are, of course:

• Location
• Floor area
• Type of property (house, flat, etc.)
• Technical condition
• Number of rooms
• Price
• Information on whether the price is negotiable

It will be hard for the reader to answer the question of whether a given property interests them if they do not receive the information above.

The order in which information is given matters

It so happens, however, that it is not only the information above that influences a potential client's decision on whether to arrange a viewing – but also the order in which it is given.

If you start with, say, the price – the client may subconsciously reject the listing quickly, classifying it as too expensive. As a result they may remain deaf to the other arguments in favour of the property, such as a large floor area or an attractive location. Psychology calls this the primacy effect – which says that people best remember the first item in a given sequence of information.

That is why the first place should go to information about the property's greatest asset – e.g. its good technical condition, or a large number of rooms that can be used in various ways. This will make it easier for us to build a good first impression of the house or flat for sale.

Psychology also says that people remember the last item in a given sequence of information quite well – this is called the recency effect. That is why the last thing should certainly not be the price (which may leave a feeling of discomfort) – but the information that it can be negotiated. This will give the client a sense that they may be able to buy the property for less than the advertised price.

Using the information gap

This technique was described by Dr George Loewenstein and is based on the observation that people are naturally inclined to fill gaps in their knowledge.

It is not an easy technique to apply – but if it succeeds, it can significantly increase interest in the property. In the property context it consists in deliberately leaving out of the listing one of the key (and favourable) pieces of information about the property.

Why do it?

If a client is, say, only slightly interested in buying a property, but notices that the listing does not contain full information about the house or flat (e.g. floor area or location) – they will be inclined to call and ask about it. If it suddenly turns out that the property is hiding some important asset from those interested (the flat is, for example, in a very attractive area) – the potential client will think they have come across a great opportunity that others do not know about. And their desire to get to know the property better will grow.

Besides – if they call, it is much easier to persuade them to visit. This is explained by the principle of commitment and consistency. Since they called and are interested, the natural consequence is to arrange a viewing.

Additional information in a listing

The Internet has made the work of estate agents much easier. Thanks to it, listings are not limited by space and size. We can add to listings:

• Property floor plans
• Photo galleries
• A promotional video for the property
• The option of a virtual tour of the property

What is more – because we can change a listing at any moment, we can also say how many people are interested in viewing a given property (e.g. waiting in a queue) – which will significantly increase the level of interest in the property (if so many people want to see the property, it must be attractive – this is the so-called social proof principle known from social psychology).

Such interactive, content-rich listings stay in potential clients' memory much better – than listings that are poor in content and lack photographs.

Emotions sell

All marketers in the world know this – people make decisions on the basis of emotions. And only then do they rationalise them – looking for logical and rational arguments (e.g. "I bought two packs because they were on offer").

So why not approach property sales in this way?

A brilliantly constructed, emotional description of the property, a film with fantastic background music promoting the house or flat, giving the property a unique and interesting name or coming up with a catchy slogan for it – all this will help viewers become more excited about the property and the tempting vision of buying it that unfolds before them.

And what if you have no idea?

No problem. Contact me – I will help you build the listing properly so that interested buyers come forward quickly!

Do you know any other interesting ways to make a property listing more attractive? Share them in a comment!