5 Tips for Writing Effective Listing Descriptions

Listing descriptions allow you to provide either the first impression of a property for sale, or continue to tell its story if people have already seen it in-person. Listing descriptions also provide an opportunity to educate buyers, as well as represent your sellers’ property in an optimal way that helps drive interest and draw in prospective buyers.

Before you begin writing your listing descriptions, you’ll want to make sure they’re impactful and effective. Here are our five top tips to keep in mind as you get started.

#1. Accuracy Above All

First and foremost, you should write your listing descriptions from an accurate standpoint. Consider including key facts about the home, such as square footage, any upgrades the seller may have made, and number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

This will provide the basis of the listing description, allowing you to cover the basics and create a starting point before you jump into using more descriptive language or emphasizing unique features of the home and its surrounding area.

You’ll also want to be honest: if a property is being sold as-is, needs renovations, or is anything beyond “move-in ready”, ensure that’s included.

Finally, review your listing description repeatedly to ensure that grammar and punctuation are correct.

#2. Be Thoughtful with Adjectives

Now that you have the bare essentials of the listing description fleshed out, you can begin adding your own touch to the description by telling the story of the property and all of its unique features and details.

This is where you take the listing description from being merely informative to being a description that sells.

Infusing your listing description with powerful or even creative adjectives helps take a listing from informative to engaging. Here’s an example of a listing description going from “good enough” to “great”:

• Before: “See this 2-story home located near downtown Austin, TX. This 3-bedroom, 2.5 bathroom property is available.”
• After: “Picture yourself in this beautiful home! Fun is just around the corner – literally. Located half a mile from the heart of Downtown Austin."
  

Remember: This is not the time to embellish or exaggerate, it’s the time to represent the home and provide exactly why home shoppers should buy it.

#3. Put Yourself in the Buyers’ Shoes

Think of this as the time for your real estate expertise to truly shine — the listing description not only does justice to the property for sale, it should help compel a home shopper to buy.

If you’re feeling stuck with what to write for the listing description beyond the basics, try a shift in perspective and put yourself in home shoppers’ shoes.

From this viewpoint, consider writing the listing description as a means to answer the following questions:

• If you were buying a home, what details would you want to know?
• What details would be nice to have?
• What details would make you feel driven to submit an inquiry?
  

Keeping these questions in the back of your mind as you craft listing descriptions can spark a powerful, informative, and even actionable listing description.

#4. Get Started with Artificial Intelligence

Still truly hitting a writing wall? Consider getting a headstart on your listing descriptions using an artificial intelligence tool like ChatGPT to help.

With ChatGPT, you type in a prompt to the tool, and it generates human-like text as a result.

For example, you could write a prompt that says: “Please write a listing description for a 2-bedroom, 1.5-bathroom home with a sizable yard and detached garage that was built in the 1920s and is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico.”

Important reminder: ChatGPT is artificial intelligence — meaning it doesn’t replace human elements of writing. Used wisely, it can help jumpstart your ideas for writing listing descriptions for properties you’re selling. But it is not a replacement for you or your expertise. Review its outputs very carefully to ensure that it sounds natural and most importantly, that it’s accurate.

#5. Keep Fair Housing in Mind

Last but certainly not least, you’ll want to ensure you’re writing in ways that align with Fair Housing Laws. Housing discrimination isn’t always obvious, but there’s no need to sprinkle in any legalese in your listing descriptions.

Instead, avoid any discriminatory language or phrasing, regardless of whether it's blatant or subtle. You’ll also want to skip language that favors — or seems like it may favor — certain demographics or potential types of buyers over others.

When writing listing descriptions, it’s always best to keep it focused on what the home and its surrounding area offers.

You’re Ready to Write

Now that you’re equipped with our top tips for writing effective, actionable, and accurate listing descriptions, you can accurately and excitingly represent your seller’s property, all while enticing prospective buyers to take action.

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