The Art of Property Writing
6 March 2020
Written by Acme Mag
“A picture may say a thousand words, but property images aren’t much without a good property description.”
Adjectives
Descriptive words (adjectives) are key for property descriptions. They give a sense of the property and engage readers, however, some adjectives are better than others. Your first instinct when writing a property description may be to include adjectives such as stunning, beautiful, amazing or luxury – but these words are exceedingly common, thus making a potential buyer disengage with your listing.
Broaden your linguistic horizons by learning new words that engage, or if you’re short on time you can simply use a thesaurus to exchange your ‘first instinct’ words.
Grammar Punctuation
Just because you’re writing a property description that doesn’t mean you can ignore basic grammar and punctuation – this includes writing your entire body copy in capitals. Your writing should make sense, flow and have zero spelling errors and should use punctuation correctly. If you think your writing is a little rusty, we recommend using Grammarly to proof your text as you write.
Sleek, Short, Sharp
Studies suggest that people read only 20% of the text on any given website, with long areas of text being the least read. This is why it’s key to keep your descriptions appealing but also minimal in length. Ideally, your property description should have a strong and compelling introduction that tells a short story, followed by dot points that list the key features and finished with specifications (plus any terms as specified by your employer or franchise agreement).
Knowledge is key
The main function of property descriptions is to communicate what can’t be seen in the accompanying property photos. If the neighbourhood is a major drawcard then use it. If the property comes with prestige appliances, make sure to mention that. As a rule of thumb, if you can’t obviously see something that is considered a selling point within the photos, be sure to include it in the description.
To learn more about the importance of communication, check out our article on brand storytelling here.
