Morgan
Updated on Jul 24 • 3 minute read
Rental listings complete with descriptions and images are more competitive and compelling. Complete listings on HousingAnywhere receive 3 times more tenant reservations than the average property listing.
As most tenants will be moving from abroad, your listings must be attractive enough to convince tenants to book and pay directly online without viewing the place in person. This requires a lot of trust, which you can build by having a complete listing and profile.
Here are 5 simple tips and tricks on how to polish up your profile and make it more attractive to tenants:
1. Upload at least 5 clear images
The first impression about you and your property is determined by the images you use. Pictures are essential in validating the claims in your listings.
Take and upload at least 1 picture for every property space [bedroom, kitchen, living room] to allow tenants to imagine the space and have realistic expectations. A picture-perfect representation of your property could increase your number of bookings by 50%.
How to take pictures of your property
- Make sure your property is clean and tidy.
- Ensure the rooms are bright and well-lit. Open the curtains and take pictures in natural daylight. If needed, don’t hesitate to switch the lights on.
- Taking photos from a corner of the room, rather than from a side, gives a better perspective of the space and size.
You don’t have to spend money on a professional camera to take great shots of your place, a mid-range smartphone will work just as well.
2. Write a detailed description
Writing a complete, personal, and accurate description makes your listing more appealing and engaging. It also increases your chances of receiving more enquiries from tenants. The description should include information about yourself, your property, eventual roommates, what appliances are included, the neighbourhood, transportation, proximity to universities, grocery stores, local hotspots, etc.
Use the description in your favour, highlighting the advantages and benefits of your property. It’s important to be honest and set the right expectations to avoid cancellations or misunderstandings.
Having a clear and detailed description also allows you to respond in advance to potential doubts and questions, saving you a lot of time in the long run.
Read more about how to write an outstanding description in this guide.
3. Give as much information as possible
Add all the information required in the appropriate fields on the Add listing page. The more information you include, the better the quality of your listing. It will also increase the chances of your listing being viewed by tenants. Our algorithm rewards complete listings with a higher ranking on the search page.
Whenever the field requires a 'yes or no' answer, we advise you to make a choice. If a field is left blank, it will be shown as 'Unknown', which could affect your trustworthy image.
4. Make sure your calendar is up to date
When searching for a room, tenants must select a rental period which reflects their preferred move-in and move-out dates.
Keeping your calendar updated allows you to receive more relevant tenant requests, so you won’t need to spend time responding to tenants who can’t move in on your preferred dates.
If your calendar is not up to date, your listing won't show in the search results during the desired period. Read more about our calendar function here.
5. Make your profile look trustworthy
As with any online purchase, customers want to be sure they’re purchasing something authentic. Having a profile that’s real and reliable helps generate trust. The more information you include, the higher the chance someone will book your place. Read more on how to build trust with your HousingAnywhere profile here.
How to improve the quality of your profile:
- Use a recent representative picture of yourself.
- Use your real name.
- Maintain a 'response rate' above 90% and a 'response time' below 24 hours. The response rate indicates your responsiveness to tenants; the response time indicates how long, on average, it takes you to reply to their messages. Since your response rate and response time will be displayed on your profile, make sure you pay attention to these factors when interacting with users.
- Get more bookings on HousingAnywhere. The number of bookings you have is a sign of quality and success.
When creating new listings, always follow the rule that ‘More is more’. Including clear and bright images, giving as much information as possible in the listings and on your profile, and ensuring your calendar is up to date will improve the trustworthiness of your overall profile.
Complete listings give tenants the confidence to book your place without needing in-person viewings; they also ensure that you'll only receive requests from tenants that are right for you.
Find more information on how to improve your listings in the articles below.