Published by: Tom Bloomfield
The first purpose of a property’s detailed written description is to highlight the positive features which are not immediately obvious from the photos but which are unusual and appealing.That a property has a “wash hand unit” with “drawers underneath” or that its dining room has a “window” is either irrelevant to its value or obvious to the point that it does not need to be mentioned.
The value and appeal of any property is principally made up by those factors which cannot be easily changed and those are the points that need highlighting. The downside of listing features like plug sockets and radiators is that the interesting features become buried from view among statements of the obvious.
This is a practice which should have ended a decade ago - the reason it prevails is because stating the obvious an easy way to bulk up an advert on Rightmove, which saves investing the time it would normally take to produce enticing content.
It’s not just fixtures and fittings that need to be stripped out of property descriptions. Here is a list of obvious or irrelevant phrases which we found on Rightmove which are used to fill space which could otherwise be used productively:
Early viewing is highly recommended
We are delighted to offer for sale
As the vendor’s chosen sole agent
We are pleased to bring to the market