In this article, we will guide you through all the steps of creating a rental listing on Wunderflats and at the end we will collect the most important tips for a perfect listing in a checklist.
- What are the advantages of a professional listing?
- What should I prepare for the creation of my listing?
- The Wunderflats listing creation step by step
- How do I publish my listing?
- What happens after the listing is published?
- Checklist for your perfect listing
What are the advantages of a professional listing?
The aim of a listing is to arouse the interest of future tenants in the apartment and at the same time to provide them with all the information they need to envisage the apartment as their new home. The most important thing is to create a realistic picture of the apartment. Therefore, the listing text should be detailed and informative, and a large number of relevant photos should be added to the listing. Good quality photos and descriptive text that contains all the important information will increase the attractiveness of the apartment and increase the number, as well as the quality, of requests for bookings. If you receive a lot of requests, you can choose the right tenant for your apartment, such as someone with or without a pet. You will also significantly reduce the length of vacancy of your apartment.
What should I prepare for the creation of my listing?
In order to create your listing quickly and easily, there are a few things you can already do to prepare it:
- Calculate a reasonable monthly all-inclusive rent.
- Create a floor plan of the apartment in one of the following file formats: .png, .pdf or .jpg.
- Ensure that there are enough high-quality photos of the apartment, or make an appointment with us for a professional shoot of your apartment.
- Think of a meaningful title for your listing that perfectly describes your temporary home, such as “Cosy 3-bedroom apartment in a quiet location with 2 balconies” or “Wheelchair accessible apartment with 2 bedrooms in Schöneberg”.
- Write a template for your listing text in both German and English.
- Have the energy performance certificate ready or apply for it if necessary.
- Think about availability periods for your apartment. Your apartment should be available for at least one month.
Now you can start creating your listing. We recommend that you first create an account on our website. Then start the process of creating your listing by clicking on start renting now.
The Wunderflats listing creation step by step
With us, you can easily create a listing for your temporary furnished apartment online. The creation and publication of your listing are free of charge. Only after you have successfully concluded a rental agreement do you pay the Wunderflats service flat-rate of 10% (plus VAT) in Germany.
Below, we will guide you through all the steps of creating a listing so that you can publish a professional and successful apartment listing in no time at all.
1. Specify the address of the apartment
The first step in creating a listing is to enter the address of your apartment: the street and house number as well as the postcode and the town. The location of your apartment will be shown on a map after the listing has been published. So future tenants can get a good idea of the location of your apartment. However, the exact address of your apartment will not be published in the listing but will be mentioned in the rental agreement.
2. General information about the apartment
Enter the key data of your apartment and upload the floor plan in one of the specified file formats.
Please enter basic information about your apartment, such as the area and the maximum number of tenants. It is also important to upload a floor plan (in .png, .pdf or .jpg format) so tenants can better visualise the layout of the apartment. With regard to the minimum rental period, the shorter the period, the lower the vacancy rate. Nevertheless, your apartment must be available for at least one month. We also recommend that you familiarise yourself with the regulations in place in your city regarding the misuse of an apartment. In some cities, apartments must be available for up to six months in order to avoid falling under the ban on misuse. You can find detailed information on this in our article An overview of the misuse of residential space & temporary furnished housing.
3. Details of the rooms
Here you can change the sleeping arrangements or remove rooms that have been added.
Give more detailed information about the rooms in your apartment. How many rooms are there and what sleeping arrangements are available?
4. Add pictures and define a cover image
We recommend 15-25 photos and a compelling cover photo.
You can change the order of the categories with the arrows on the right side.
You can use the “Move to” button to change the category of selected photos afterwards.
Make sure to add at least four pictures of each room and take your potential tenants on a virtual tour of their temporary home. The ideal image size is 1200×1800 pixels and should not exceed 25 MB.
You will receive an overview of the pictures uploaded, automatically sorted by room. You can move images to other room categories, upload or delete additional images, and select a compelling cover image for your listing. To increase the visibility of your listing, we recommend setting a photo as the cover picture that shows a unique feature of your apartment, such as a beautiful garden or a roof terrace. Often the living room or bedroom as a cover image makes a good impression and will be clicked on most often.
What makes the perfect listing photos stand out?
We recommend professionally shot listing photos as they increase the attractiveness of the listing and achieve up to 25% higher demand. However, you can upload your own pictures first and replace them with professional ones later. We have put together a few helpful tips for shooting your own apartment photos in this article: The 5 Dos & Don’ts of taking apartment photos.
At Wunderflats you have the opportunity to have your apartment photographed by a professional real estate photographer. We offer this service free of charge to landlord’s/-lady’s whose apartment has been available on Wunderflats for at least one year. As soon as you have created a listing on Wunderflats, we will contact you to arrange a professional photo session on request.
Would you like to make an appointment for the photo service? Simply send us an email at service@wunderflats.com so we can suggest an appointment for you.
5. Set the monthly all-inclusive rental price
Enter the monthly all-inclusive rental price (including all additional costs) for your apartment here. Also, specify the deposit amount and the final cleaning fee. The final cleaning fee is charged once and is not part of the monthly rent.
What do I have to consider when setting the rental price?
You determine the rental price yourself. You should consider various factors, such as the location and size of your apartment, the facilities and number of beds, the rental price of similar apartments in the area, as well as certain regulatory influences that might apply in your region, such as regulations regarding the misuse of an apartment. A reasonable and competitive rental price will increase both the visibility of your listing on our website and the number of booking requests.
At Wunderflats we work with all-inclusive rentals. This means that all additional costs such as water, heating, electricity, internet, purchase costs of furniture (in the form of a furnishing surcharge), property tax and other running costs should already be included in the rental price. In specific terms, the monthly all-inclusive rent is made up of the following costs: the rent per square metre, all additional costs, the furnishing surcharge and the Wunderflats service apartment rate. Please note: In the case of an all-inclusive rent, there are special regulations regarding the settlement of additional costs. You can find detailed information on this in our article Temporary furnished rentals: All you need to know about the legal aspects.
Are you unsure about determining your rent? Our experts will be happy to help you determine the price and can be reached at realestate@wunderflats.com.
6. Insert title and descriptive text
Highlight special features of the apartment as well as the location and/or neighbourhood in the title.
Translate the description into English to appeal to foreign professionals and international tenants.
Also note the monthly surcharge if a service is not included in the rental price.
Now you can insert your pre-written title and description text in German and in English.
What makes a compelling listing title?
With the title, you want to draw the attention of potential tenants to your listing. Therefore, try to mention the most important feature of your apartment in the title. The title should be short and to the point. It should immediately make readers understand what makes your apartment special and different from other apartments. The use of descriptive adjectives can be helpful here, as they stimulate the reader’s imagination. Is your apartment in a particularly quiet location? Is it flooded with light, spacious or perhaps even wheelchair accessible? You should definitely include such advantages in the title of your listing.
How to create an informative description text?
After you have found a meaningful title for your listing, it is time to write the description text. As a rule, you should always write the text in German and English. Although 60% of our tenants come from Germany, with an English text you can also appeal to professionals from abroad or non-native speakers and thus increase your number of potential tenants. Describe the advantages of your apartment in detail to attract tenants. Highlight special features and provide information about the location, immediate surroundings, public transport connections and the distance to the city centre, places of interest and the nearest supermarket. Make your information as detailed as possible, but at the same time make sure that your text is not too long. Also provide information about important house rules, such as certain night-time rest periods. If you offer additional services for your apartments, such as a concierge or cleaning service, you should also mention this.
Important: Give a lot of details. Detailed information is particularly interesting for potential tenants and increases the attractiveness of your listing. For example, you can highlight special features of the apartment or the individual rooms. After all, the furnishing of a furnished apartment has a great influence on both the demand and the rent. You can find tips for furnishing your apartment in our article 5 tips for the ideal furnishing of your temporary furnished apartment.
In general, we recommend that you first write out the text of your listing and then preferably have someone else proofread it. This will help you avoid spelling mistakes and ensure that the text is easy to understand and reads smoothly. A well-written text, in addition to the photos, contributes significantly to a positive first impression of the apartment and also of you as a landlord/-lady.
7. Information on the type and condition of the apartment
Are you renting out your entire apartment or is it a private room? Here you can simply click on what applies to your apartment. How do you describe the interior and what is the general condition of the apartment? Has it been renovated recently or is everything unchanged?
8. Information on energy efficiency
Since 2014, it has been compulsory to include information on the energy efficiency of your apartment in the listing. If the energy performance certificate has just been applied for or is not required for the building, this can also be stated.
As a landlord/-lady, you are obliged to provide information about the energy efficiency of your apartment. If you already have an energy performance certificate for the apartment, you can easily transfer the information. You can select from a list what type of energy performance certificate it is, what the energy consumption rating is and what energy efficiency class your apartment has been classified in. You can also enter information on the main energy source, the type of heating and the year of construction of the house. If you do not yet have an energy performance certificate, you can apply for one and add the information to the listing at a later date. For some buildings, however, an energy performance certificate is not necessary; you can also indicate this.
9. Details of services
As a landlord/-lady, you are obliged to issue your tenants with a landlord’s/-lady’s confirmation, as this is required for the registration of residence.
Indicate whether the available services are included in the rent or available for an extra charge.
Choose which services are available to the tenant of your apartment from the various options here. For example, is there a parking space or fitness facilities? Around 50% of all apartments on our platform offer such additional services, such as a concierge, cleaning service, fitness facilities or a parking space. Make it clear in your information whether the services are included in the rental price. You should also indicate the speed of the internet connection. This is important information for many tenants, especially if they work from home.
Note: As a landlord/-lady, you are obliged to issue a confirmation of residence (Wohnungsgeberbestätigung), as your tenants need this document to register their address. You can find more detailed information on this document here.
10. Details of the equipment
For each room in your apartment, indicate here what features are available. In the case of a washing machine and dryer, you can indicate whether they are in the apartment, in the building or close to the building. By specifying features, we can place your listing in the Collections on our website, making it faster and easier to find the perfect tenant for you. In the Collections, we group together apartments with certain features, making them easier to find for tenants, such as apartments with balconies or pet-friendly apartments. It also makes your apartment appear to tenants who use filters to search for apartments.
11. Information on house rules
Inform your tenants about relevant house rules: whether pets are allowed in the apartment and whether smoking is allowed in the apartment. You also have space here to explain additional rules – for example, whether parties are allowed or when the night’s peace must be respected. If necessary, explain certain conditions in German and English.
12. How many keys does the tenant receive?
It is important to record how many and which keys the tenant will receive from you. This information will not be published in your listing but is important for drawing up the rental agreement. At the end of the tenancy, you will receive all the keys back from the tenant.
13. Details of rent payment
Enter your billing address and bank details. Also, provide a contact person that the rental person can turn to in case of questions.
All the information you provide here will not be published in the listing and will be kept strictly confidential by us. This information is used to enable us to draw up the rental agreement for you as quickly and smoothly as possible in the event of a successful rental. Only then will the new tenant receive this information.
14. Update availability calendar
It is important that you provide up-to-date information on when and for what periods your apartment is available. This is the only way to receive rental requests and avoid vacancies. We recommend updating the availability calendar as the last step before publishing your listing. To do this, click on “Availability” in the menu (dashboard) on the left. Here you can either import the availability from your iCalendar or enter it manually. If you do not want to rent out your apartment for certain periods of time, you can block the apartment. Tenants will then be informed that the apartment is not available for this period.
Even after publishing your listing, you should make sure that the availability calendar is always up to date. You can log in to Wunderflats.com at any time and update the information in your dashboard. Periods in which your apartment is rented via Wunderflats will automatically be added to the availability calendar and the apartment will be shown as unavailable.
How do I publish my listing?
After you have entered all the necessary information in your listing on our website and added photos, you can complete the listing by clicking on “Publish”. After that, the only thing missing is the verification of your listing by our team: as soon as you have published the listing, you will receive an email from us in which you can make an appointment for the verification call with us. After the call, we will immediately activate your listing and make it visible to all prospective tenants. If you have already been in contact with our support team, we will activate your listing without a verification call shortly after you click on “Publish” in the dashboard. Now you can sit back and receive the first requests for bookings.
Even after publishing your listing, you can log in to Wunderflats.com at any time and make changes to the listing. These are then immediately visible online.
What happens after the listing is published?
As a rule, you can expect the first booking requests within one to two days of publication. You will be informed via e-mail about new booking requests and can also activate SMS notifications. To do so, simply log in to Wunderflats.com and go to “My Account” and “My Settings”.
Then it’s up to you to choose the perfect tenant for your apartment from the requests. In general, you can expect an average booking duration of four months per occupancy when renting through Wunderflats. However, this also depends on the city, the rental price and the minimum rental period you set. We are happy to share our experience with you in order to achieve the highest possible occupancy rate for your apartment. Please feel free to contact us at realestate@wunderflats.com.
We will briefly introduce the potential tenants to you via e-mail for all booking requests we receive: What is their profession, do they have a pet, how long would they like to rent the apartment, how many people would like to move in. This allows you to view all requests transparently and saves you time, as it summarises the important information for you at a glance. As soon as you have decided on a tenant, we verify the person and draw up the rental agreement for you. If you wish, we can also handle the handing over of the keys and the entire administration of your apartment, so that you don’t have to worry about a thing.
Check the performance of your listing
Your dashboard shows you data on the performance of your listing. This allows you to see if there is a need for improvement.
As a rule, you can expect the first booking requests within one to two days of publication. You will be informed via e-mail about new booking requests and can also activate SMS notifications. To do so, simply log in to Wunderflats.com and go to “My Account” and “My Settings”.
Checklist for your perfect listing
As you can see, there are numerous elements that go into creating a perfect listing. We analyse all the information you provide and use it to show your listing first to the tenants most likely to be interested in your apartment. This allows us to find the perfect tenant for your apartment as quickly as possible. By following all the steps of the listing process and going through the checklist below, you can improve the ranking of your listing through our algorithm, which can significantly increase the number and quality of your booking requests.
Note: Your response time to booking requests received, your ratio of accepted to rejected requests, and your payment history are also taken into consideration. Therefore, make sure you always answer requests as promptly as possible, do not reject too many requests without reason and pay your invoices on time.
In order to make your listing particularly attractive to future tenants and to create high demand, we recommend that you pay particular attention to the following points:
- Have you uploaded a sufficient number of good-quality photos and chosen a meaningful cover image? Could you find your way around the apartment from the photos? All rooms and important features of the apartment should be visible.
- Is the text of the listing detailed and informative enough? Tenants usually come from another city and are therefore happy to receive more detailed information about the location and accessibility of the apartment, about shopping facilities and other tips about the surrounding area. Since many tenants also come from abroad, we recommend that the description text is always written in both German and English.
- Are the furnishings and fittings of the apartment sufficient and suitable for everyday use, so that your new tenants feel comfortable and can “start settling in” straight away? Are all the important features listed in the listing?
- Is your availability calendar up to date? Make sure that the availability of your apartment is always up to date so that tenants can assess whether it is worth making a booking request.
- Is the rent reasonable? If the rent is too high, your listing may receive fewer requests.
- Do you respond promptly to booking requests received? Responding quickly to requests and not rejecting an unnecessary number of requests improves your ranking. This increases the visibility of your listing and leaves a positive impression on potential tenants.
Would you like more support? We are happy to help you with the listing and rental of your furnished apartment. We can also advise you on rental pricing and arrange an appointment for you with one of our property photographers. Just send us an e-mail at realestate@wunderflats.com.
