One of my credos as a writer is to “write content that answers questions before they’re asked.” As a person who often rents in big cities, I find apartment ads woefully inadequate in this regard. So much information is missing! Why not provide as much information as possible in your ad, so the people who contact you to view the unit have already been qualified?

Apartment ads need to have the following information, at minimum:

• Pictures of the actual unit. It’s annoying how many apartment ads show “similar unit,” or a mishmash of pictures of different types of units (e.g. showing pix of a one-bedroom instead of the studio listed). I’ve seen some apartment listings for a complex that don’t even show the correct floorpan!
• Address
• Price/Deposit
• Bedrooms/bathrooms
• Which utilities are included
• If you can have pets, and if so, if there are any deposits or monthly charges (sadly “pet rent” is becoming a thing)

It’s even nicer to have are things like:

• The parking situation (off-street parking, on-street parking, permit parking, underground paid parking)
• A floor plan
• Which direction the apartment faces (some people want to avoid hot afternoon sun)
• Which floor it’s on (important to women like me, who had their first-floor apartment broken into)
• What kind of storage is available (including bike storage). Are there closets or a unit elsewhere in the building?
• Is laundry in the unit or in the basement?
• Is it a gas or electric stove?
• What’s the neighborhood like?
• What type of heating and cooling it uses

The Most Complete Ad I Could Write

So when I was trying to find a subletter for one of my apartments, I decided to write the most complete apartment ad in the history of apartment ads.

I still miss this apartment!