How to Write an Apartment Rental Listing: 7 Steps

Make a good first impression with photos

It is a cliché, but people often make up their minds about something within the first few seconds of seeing it. An apartment for rent is no different. If the listing does not make a good first impression, the person scrolling through the offers will simply skip it.

What decides the first impression of a rental listing? Four things:

• The first photo. It is usually the only picture visible in the list of offers, so it is the first thing a tenant sees. Make it your strongest shot: a bright living room, a renovated kitchen, or a new or freshly renovated building. If the first photo does not convince, the rest of the listing will not be opened.
• Photo quality. The photos should be a) at a decent resolution, b) without distortion, c) bright, and d) showing the whole apartment, not just one corner of it. Take them in landscape orientation, from a corner of the room, with the lights on and the curtains open.
• Tidiness. Show the apartment in the best light, literally and figuratively. If the rooms look messy or dark in the photos, that is the image the reader keeps, whatever the real condition of the apartment. Clean up, remove personal items and clutter, and only then take the photos.
• Timing. Shoot at the right time of day, in good natural light. Sometimes the time of year matters too: if there is a beautiful park next to the building and you want to show it as an advantage, a photo taken in spring or summer will do more for you than one taken in November.

Add a photo of every room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the balcony and the view, and one of the building from outside. More on how many photos to add in the FAQ below.

State the floor area and number of rooms

The floor area is one of the first things a tenant looks for, and sometimes the deciding factor. In Poland it is always given in square metres. But the number of rooms can be just as important, or even more so: a 40 sqm studio (kawalerka) will be more attractive to some tenants and less attractive to others than a 35 sqm two-room apartment. Give both pieces of information in the listing: the floor area and the number of rooms.

A few conventions worth knowing when you write for the Polish market:

• The number of rooms counts the living room and the bedrooms, not the kitchen or the bathroom. A "two-room apartment" (mieszkanie dwupokojowe) is a living room and one bedroom.
• Say whether the kitchen is a separate room or a kitchen annex (aneks kuchenny) open to the living room.
• If you know the layout, mention it: a separate bedroom, a walk-through room, a hallway with storage, a bathroom with a bathtub or a shower.
• The floor and whether the building has a lift are useful here too, especially for higher floors.

Set the right price

The apartment rental market in Poland is competitive, and tenants can pick and choose among many offers. Setting the right price, one that matches the apartment's floor area, number of rooms, location and amenities, can decide whether you find a tenant quickly or not at all.

Ask yourself one question before you set the price: is it better to wait longer for a tenant who will accept a higher monthly rent, and risk months in which the apartment brings no income, or to rent faster at a slightly lower price? There is no single right answer.

How to price an apartment for rent in Poland:

• Look at current listings of similar apartments in the same district: same number of rooms, similar floor area and standard. Price yours within that range, not above it.
• State the price in Polish zloty (PLN) per month.
• Say clearly what the price includes. In Poland the monthly rent (czynsz najmu) is often quoted separately from the building's administrative fee (czynsz administracyjny) and from utilities such as electricity, gas, water and internet (media). Tenants want to know the total they will pay each month, so spell it out.
• Always state the price. A listing without a price gets fewer replies, and most of the questions you receive will be about the price anyway.

Describe the location and commute

For most tenants, where the apartment is matters as much as what it looks like. Describe the location the way a tenant thinks about it: how to get to work or to the university, and what is nearby.

• Give the district and the street. On mapawynajmu.pl the listing is also shown as a pin on the map at the address, so tenants see the location at a glance.
• Describe the commute: the nearest bus or tram stop, the metro station in Warsaw, the railway station, and roughly how long it takes to get to the city centre.
• Mention what is within walking distance: a grocery shop, a park, a school or a kindergarten, a gym, a university campus.
• Note what makes the surroundings pleasant: a quiet side street, a green courtyard, a view of the river or the park.

Keep it honest. Tenants will check the address on a map before they call, and an "excellent location" that turns out to be a long walk from any public transport only wastes everyone's time.

Highlight the apartment's features

Photos, price, floor area and location are not everything. An apartment can stand out thanks to features the tenant will not see in the list of offers unless you mention them. Does it come with a storage room in the basement (komórka lokatorska), a parking space or a garage? Does it have a beautiful view, a large balcony, a loggia or a terrace? Everything that increases the usable value of the apartment belongs in the rental listing.

Features that tenants in Poland often ask about:

• a parking space, a garage or an underground car park,
• a storage room or a cellar,
• a balcony, a loggia, a terrace or a garden,
• the floor, a lift, and whether the building is new or renovated,
• a gated or monitored building, an intercom, a bicycle room,
• a quiet side of the building, a view of a park or the river.

List the amenities

For some tenants, what is in the apartment decides for or against it. An apartment that comes with a good fridge, a fitted kitchen with utensils, a TV and comfortable furniture is usually easier to rent than an empty one. If your apartment is well equipped, say so in the listing, item by item.

What to list:

• furnished or unfurnished, and which rooms are furnished,
• kitchen: fridge, oven and hob, dishwasher, microwave, kettle, pots and plates,
• washing machine and dryer,
• TV, internet connection,
• a bed with a mattress, a wardrobe, a desk (important for students and people working from home),
• air conditioning, a bathtub or a shower.

Expats and foreign tenants often arrive with a suitcase, so a fully furnished apartment is a real advantage for them. Mention it.

State the rental terms

The last part of a good listing saves you a dozen questions: the rental terms. Put them in the listing as short, clear fields rather than a long paragraph.

• Deposit: how much, usually expressed as a number of months' rent.
• What the price includes: rent only, or rent with the administrative fee and utilities.
• Available from: the exact date the apartment is free, or "available now".
• Minimum term: for example a one-year agreement, or shorter terms if you accept them.
• Pets: allowed or not, and under what conditions.
• Smoking: allowed or not.
• Who it suits: a family, a couple, students, or anyone.

Stating the terms up front filters out people who would not accept them anyway and makes the people who do contact you more likely to sign.

Sample listing description

Here is an apartment for rent listing example you can use as a template. Replace the placeholders with your own data and do not copy a price from anywhere else: use the research from the price step.

Bright two-room apartment, [floor area] sqm, [district], [city], available from [date]

A bright, fully furnished two-room apartment on the [floor] floor of a [new/renovated] building with a lift, at [street] in [district]. The apartment has a separate bedroom, a living room with an open kitchen, a bathroom with a shower, and a [balcony/loggia] facing a quiet courtyard.

The kitchen is fully equipped: fridge, oven and hob, dishwasher, washing machine, kettle and all utensils. The living room has a sofa, a TV and a dining table; the bedroom has a double bed with a new mattress, a wardrobe and a desk. Fast internet is installed.

Location: [X] minutes on foot to the [bus/tram/metro] stop, about [X] minutes to the city centre. A grocery shop, a park and a gym are within walking distance. A parking space in the underground car park and a storage room in the basement are included.

Price: [amount] PLN per month, which includes the administrative fee. Utilities (electricity, gas, internet) are paid by the tenant according to use. Deposit: [amount]. Minimum term: [12] months. No pets, no smoking. Contact: [phone number], Polish and English spoken.

The mapawynajmu.pl form takes the photos, floor area, number of rooms, monthly price and address, the description has room for the features, amenities and rental terms, and your listing is shown in Polish and English automatically.

Add a free rental listing

See also

• How to post an apartment for rent on Facebook
• Facebook groups for renting out property in Warsaw
• All guides on renting in Poland

Have an apartment, room or house to rent in Poland? Listing it on mapawynajmu.pl is free, and your listing is shown on the map and in the list in Polish and English automatically. The form takes the photos, floor area, number of rooms, monthly price and address, and the description has room for the features, amenities and rental terms.

Add a free rental listing

Looking for a place? Browse apartments for rent on the map.