The Purecrest Guide to Listing Your Property: From Submission to First Enquiry

We launched the PureCrest property platform with a clear goal: to make it easier for property owners and agents across Nigeria to connect with serious buyers, renters, and shortlet guests, without the noise, the fraudsters, and the inefficiency that plague much of the market. Over the past year, we have listed hundreds of properties and helped connect owners with the enquiries they were looking for.

But we have also noticed that the properties which get the most enquiries — and the ones that close fastest — are not always the most expensive or even the most beautiful. They are the ones that are presented well. Good title, good photos, accurate information, and a clear, well-written description consistently outperform poorly presented properties, regardless of price.

In this guide, I want to walk you through exactly what happens when you submit a property to PureCrest, what our team does with it, and what you can do to maximise your chances of a fast, successful outcome.

Step 1: Submitting Your Property

The first step is submitting your property through our website. You can do this through our contact form or by reaching out to our team directly by phone or WhatsApp. We will send you a property information sheet to complete.

The information we need at submission stage includes:

• Property address and area
• Property type (apartment, duplex, detached house, land, commercial, etc.)
• Category (for sale, for rent, short-let)
• Price or nightly rate
• Number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and toilets
• Property size (if known)
• Key facilities and amenities
• Photos (we will advise on these — see below)
• Your contact details and the best time to reach you
• Your relationship to the property (owner, agent with authority, etc.)

We do not require formal documentation at this stage, but we may ask for it as part of the verification process.

Step 2: Review and Verification

All submissions go through our review process before being published. This typically takes 24–48 hours for straightforward submissions. During this review, our team checks:

• That the property details are complete and consistent
• That the price is realistic for the area and property type
• That the photos meet our minimum quality standard
• That the submitter is authorised to list the property (owner, licensed agent, or authorised representative)
• Where relevant, that we can verify basic ownership information

We may come back to you during this process with questions or requests for additional information. This is normal — it is our quality control in action, and it ultimately protects both you and potential enquirers.

Properties that do not meet our standards at first submission are not rejected — we will advise you on what needs to improve and give you the opportunity to resubmit. In most cases, the issue is photos or incomplete information rather than anything more fundamental.

Step 3: Going Live

Once your property is approved, it goes live on the PureCrest platform. You will receive a notification with the link to your live listing. At this point, your property is visible to all visitors to the site — buyers, renters, and guests searching for properties matching your criteria.

Your listing will include all the information you provided, your photos, and a contact/enquiry form that allows interested parties to reach out directly to our team, who will then connect them with you.

What Makes a Great Listing?

The difference between a listing that generates two enquiries per month and one that generates twenty is almost always in the presentation. Here is what our data shows makes the biggest difference:

Photos Are Everything

More than any other single factor, photo quality determines how many people enquire on a property. Our highest-performing listings all have one thing in common: excellent photography. By excellent, I mean:

• Well-lit (natural light is best — photograph during daytime)
• Wide-angle shots that show the full room, not cropped close-ups
• Clean and tidy — remove personal items, clutter, and laundry before photographing
• Multiple photos of each main room: bedroom(s), sitting room, kitchen, bathroom
• At least one photo of the compound or building exterior
• For furnished properties, show the furniture and amenities clearly

If you have the budget, professional real estate photography is a worthwhile investment. Our data shows that professionally photographed listings get approximately 40–60% more enquiries than equivalent listings with amateur photos.

Write a Compelling Description

Most property descriptions we receive from owners are either very brief ('Nice 3 bedroom apartment in Jabi') or very generic. Neither serves you well. A compelling description should:

• Highlight what makes the property genuinely special or different
• Be specific about location — not just 'Jabi' but '2 minutes' walk from Jabi Lake Mall'
• Mention the most appealing facilities (backup power, WiFi speed, pool, gym, etc.)
• Give a sense of the living experience for the potential tenant or guest
• Be honest — overpromising leads to disappointment and bad reviews

Price Competitively

Research comparable properties before setting your price. On the PureCrest platform, you can search similar properties to understand the market rate. A property priced 10–15% above comparable properties will receive fewer enquiries; a property priced at or slightly below market will receive more enquiries and typically let or sell faster — often at a price close to or at the asking price anyway.

Keep Your Listing Updated

If your availability changes, your price changes, or the property situation changes (e.g., it has been sold or let), please notify us immediately so we can update or remove your listing. Outdated listings frustrate enquirers and reflect badly on all of us.

After Your Listing Goes Live: Managing Enquiries

Once your listing is live, enquiries will come in through our platform. Our team acts as the first point of contact, qualifying enquiries before connecting them with you. This means you will not be inundated with low-quality or non-serious leads — we filter these out so your time is spent on genuine prospects.

When an enquiry comes through that meets your criteria (budget, timeline, etc.), we will connect you directly with the interested party to take the conversation forward, arrange viewings, and progress the transaction.

Our Role After Connection

Once we have connected you with a genuine buyer, renter, or guest, our role shifts to one of facilitation and support. We can assist with:

• Negotiation support and guidance on market norms
• Referrals to qualified real estate lawyers for transaction documentation
• Advice on tenancy agreement terms and landlord rights
• Referrals to professional photographers, surveyors, and other property professionals

Our business model for free listings is commission-based — we earn only when a successful transaction is completed through a referral we facilitated. For our paid listing optimisation and promotion packages, fees are paid upfront regardless of transaction outcome.

Ready to List?

If you have a property you want to list on PureCrest, the process starts with getting in touch. Whether it is a single apartment or a portfolio of properties, we would love to hear from you. Contact our team through the website or give us a call — we will walk you through the process and get your property in front of the right audience.