How To List Your Property On Rightmove

Rightmove has quite literally changed the way we look for properties. Gone are the days of thumbing through the local paper and browsing estate agent windows.

Now you can view almost every property on the market on one single website.

But, there’s a catch. You might be wondering how to list your property on Rightmove? Let’s take a look…

Why Use Rightmove?

The first question you should ask is why list your property on Rightmove? There are a couple of really big reasons:

1. The Rightmove website gets over 130 million visits every month!
2. 77% of the time spent on the top 4 property websites is on Rightmove

So, you can see, Rightmove is simply the best way to get your home in front of as many people as possible. The internet never sleeps and so, by being on Rightmove, your property details are available for prospective buyers to find 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Who Can List Properties On Rightmove?

Put simply, only registered estate agents, letting agents, and new home developers can list properties on Rightmove. Even then, they still need to meet a strict set of criteria in order to qualify for listing. This is also true for other portals such as Zoopla.

This is so that the quality of listings can be maintained. If the site was open to anyone to list properties, it would be difficult for the site to maintain the current high quality of listings.

This comes at a cost though, as anyone who is approved to list properties on Rightmove must also pay a fee to do so. That’s one of the reasons why estate agents are so expensive.

How To List Your Property On Rightmove

So, if you can’t list on Rightmove yourself, what is the best course of action? Most traditional estate agents now advertise on portals such as Rightmove for no additional fee.

However, our recommendation would be to use an online estate agent. Not only do online estate agents get your property on Rightmove quickly, they also do it for a fraction of the cost.

Plus, online estate agents also tend to give you more control over your Rightmove advert so you can easily change things to suit. It’s essentially the next best thing to listing on Rightmove yourself.

When we sold our last home, we used an online estate agent. Having a good knowledge about the property market and selling a home, we wanted to be involved in the writing of the Rightmove advert.

After all, we know our home better than the estate agent, so are better placed to sell it. Our agent was very amenable and let us write the advert. All he did was making sure that the information needed was included.

Most adverts written by estate agents are the same: they tell just list all the features the property has. They try to sell a house. But the buyer wants to buy a home.

As the homeowner you know what you love about the house, what made you buy it in the first place. Rather than saying it has a kitchen/diner, you can talk about how it’s the perfect kitchen to cook a meal for your family and enjoy it around the kitchen table.

Or tell potential buyers how your living room is the perfect place to relax on cold winter’s day with a cup of tea and a good book.

While buyers want to know how many bathrooms or bedrooms a property has, they can find this information in the bullet points. What they want to know is what it is like to live in your house.

So by telling them what they want to know, you can make your home look much more appealing. It will also set it apart from others that are advertised in the traditional style.

Don’t be afraid to ask your estate agent to have an input in the Rightmove ad, it will be worth it. Our estate agent said that our advert got much more attention than other comparable properties, which proves our point.

Head on over to our online estate agent reviews to find out which are our most recommended agents.

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How To Create A Good Rightmove Listing

If you want the best results from your advert, then you need to know how to list your property on Rightmove in the best way. Here are a few quick tips:

• Double-check the details. Simple mistakes can lead to a 3-bed property being listed as a 2 bed, or a detached house being listed as a semi-detached, meaning your target buyers may automatically discount your home.
• Use the best-featured image. There’s a trend to always show the front of the house as the featured image, however, we recommend trying the photo that shows off the best feature of your house. It can often lead to better engagement of buyers.
• Arrange the pictures like a tour. Many Rightmove listings show pictures randomly. You jump from a picture of the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the living room and back to the kitchen. The pictures are the first thing a potential buyer sees of your house. If you guide them through the house as if they are there, they will get get a feeling of familiarity when they come for a viewing. And houses that feel familiar are more likely to give a buyer “the feeling”.
• Upgrade to a premium listing. Most agents offer the chance to upgrade to a premium Rightmove listing to give your property exposure. If you have this option and it’s reasonably priced, take it.
• Don’t describe, sell. Many modern agents simply describe a home without really explaining the benefits of it. Make sure your listing is worded in such a way that buyers will find it irresistible.
• Provide extra details. Make sure your home has plenty of photos and a floorplan as standard. But also, don’t forget things like virtual tours that can add a little extra punch to a listing and attract more enquiries.

All of these tips have come from our experience selling and buying several homes. Most estate agents won’t offer you the chance to have any input in the Rightmove advert, as they see it as part of their job.

But if you want it to be effective, than it is worth talking to your agent about getting involved. We had to convince our estate agent who sold our last house for us to use a picture of the garden as the best-featured image.

He was reluctant at first, because he wanted to have the front of the house, like most estate agents do. But after some discussions he agreed to try it. Our argument was that the view on the garden was the main selling point of the house. It was what sold the house to us.

The living room had a huge window giving onto the garden, which was fairly big, south facing and gave you the impression of being in the countryside.

Even though the house was in a big city, the view on the garden gave you a feeling of calm and relaxation. By leading with this pictures, we were able to draw people in, wanting to see more. And from what many people said who came for a viewing, this picture made them want to come and see the house.

But if it wouldn’t have been the best-feature image, some of them might not have clicked through and would have never come to see it in person.

The fact it was something different to all the other listings must have certainly helped, too!

There you have it, a few tips that should help you understand how to list your property on Rightmove for the most impact.

Don’t forget to use our online estate agent comparison to find the best agent for you. You may also be interested in our article on 5 ways to get higher offers for your house.