Is a longer listing description better?

Not by itself. A description is better when it names specific facts: what was updated and when, what is included, what is nearby. Length that comes from adjectives does not help. In our data, a third of descriptions say beautiful, most use an exclamation point, and only about one in five mentions a specific year.

Should the website description be the same as the MLS remarks?

It can start from the same text, but a property website has no character limit, so it can carry the details the MLS field had to cut. Use the website for the full version and keep the MLS remarks to the strongest facts that fit.

How Long Should a Listing Description Be? What 821 Agents Actually Write

Q: What is the character limit for MLS public remarks?

It depends on the MLS. The RESO Data Dictionary, the standard most MLSs build on, suggests a maximum of 4,000 characters for the PublicRemarks field, but each MLS sets its own limit, and it is often lower. Check your MLS's input form or help pages. Some MLSs, such as ARMLS in Arizona, also block phone numbers and websites in public remarks.

Three places, three lengths

Most listings need the description in three sizes. Write the long one first and cut down from it.

Where	Length	What decides it
MLS public remarks	Your MLS's limit	The field has a hard character cap that varies by MLS. It feeds Zillow, Realtor.com and other portals, so this is the version most buyers read.
Single property website	About 100–250 words	No cap. Long enough to name every fact a buyer would call about; the feature list carries the scannable details.
Text, email or social post	One or two sentences	Only the opening shows before someone taps, so lead with the one fact that makes this home different and link to the full page.

The MLS limit

There's no national number. The RESO Data Dictionary, the standard MLS software is built on, suggests a maximum of 4,000 characters for public remarks, but each MLS sets its own limit, and it is often lower. Your MLS's input form will cut you off or warn you, and its help pages usually state the number. Check it before you write, not after.

Many MLSs also limit what goes in the field. Arizona's ARMLS, for example, blocks phone numbers, websites and compensation terms in public remarks and warns on showing and open house wording. That's another reason to keep a full version somewhere else: a property website can carry the open house times, the documents and your contact details that the MLS field can't.

What 821 agents actually write

We looked at every agent who built a listing site on our platform from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2026: 821 agents. To keep one very busy account from skewing the numbers, we counted one site per agent: their most recent site with at least one photo, and measured the visible text of the description (not formatting). Our sites have no description limit, so this is what agents write when nothing cuts them off. As on our what to put on a single property website page, we split agents who had built three or more sites from those on their first or second.

Description on the agent's latest site	All agents (821)	Agents with 3+ sites (90)	Agents with 1–2 sites (731)
Median length	851 characters	887 characters	851 characters
Median words	129	138	129
Middle half of agents	92–171 words	93–192 words	92–169 words
No description at all	9%	7%	9%
Under 300 characters	13%	10%	13%
1,000 characters or more	30%	40%	29%
2,000 characters or more	4%	4%	4%

Source: My Single Property Websites production data, pulled October 3, 2026. Aggregate counts only; no individual site is identified. "Under 300 characters" includes empty descriptions.

Two things stand out. First, agents cluster: almost half of all descriptions (45%) fall between 600 and 1,000 characters, and only 4% pass 2,000 even with no limit. Second, the agents who build listing sites again and again write a little more, not a lot more. 40% of them pass 1,000 characters, against 29% of first and second sites. Practiced agents don't write essays. They write two or three solid paragraphs.

The words they reach for

Across the 747 non-empty descriptions:

The description…	Share
Uses an exclamation point	59%
Says "beautiful"	34%
Mentions an update, remodel or renovation	25%
Names a specific year (built, updated, replaced)	20%
Opens with "Welcome"	17%
Says the home "boasts"	15%
Says "stunning"	13%
Gives a square footage	11%
Says "nestled"	11%
Says "must see"	3%

Simple text matching on the 747 sites with a description, from the same 821 (one per agent). "Names a specific year" matches any four-digit year, so it includes year built.

The gap is the useful part. A quarter of descriptions say something was updated, but only a fifth give any year at all. "Updated kitchen" is easy to write; "kitchen redone in 2024 with quartz counters and a gas range" is rarer and tells a buyer far more. If you add one thing to your description, make it the year.

What to put in 130 words

One opening sentence with the home's best specific fact. Not "Welcome home!" but "A 1920s bungalow on a corner lot, two blocks from the park." This sentence is what shows in previews, texts and search results, and it may be all some buyers read.
Three to five facts a buyer would ask about, with numbers and years. "New roof in 2023", "fenced quarter-acre yard", "two-car garage with a 240V outlet". A fact with a year beats an adjective every time.
Where it is, by places. Streets, parks, schools by name, commute times. Describe the location, not the people who live nearby; the fair housing words to avoid page covers why.
What's included or unusual. Appliances that stay, a workshop, solar, an ADU, a shared well. These are the things that otherwise generate phone calls.
A plain closing line. On a property website, the open house time or how to reach you. In the MLS, check your rules first: some block contact details in public remarks.

What to cut

Adjectives without facts. "Beautiful" alone is in a third of descriptions, so it doesn't set this one apart. Replace each with the fact that made you want to write it.
Urgency and pressure. "Won't last", "must see", "priced to sell". Buyers have read them all.
Repeats of the feature list. Beds, baths and square feet are already shown on the page. Use the description for what the numbers can't say.
Who the home suits. "Perfect for a young family" or "great for retirees" is a fair housing problem, not just a style one. Run a draft through the free fair housing word checker.

A quick test: read your description and underline every specific fact (a number, a year, a name, a material). If there are fewer than five, the description is too thin no matter how long it is. If it runs past 250 words and the facts stopped halfway, cut the second half.

Common questions

How long should a real estate listing description be?

For the MLS, as long as your MLS's public remarks field allows. On a single property website, about 100 to 250 words. On our platform the median agent writes about 850 characters, or 130 words, and only 4% pass 2,000 characters even with no limit.

What is the character limit for MLS public remarks?

It depends on your MLS. The RESO standard suggests a 4,000-character maximum for the field, but local MLSs set their own limits, and they are often lower. Check your MLS's input form or help center.

Is a longer description better?

Only if the extra length is facts. Agents who build listing sites over and over write slightly longer descriptions than first-timers (median 138 words against 129), not dramatically longer. What separates a good description is specifics, and only one in five in our data names a year.

Should the website description match the MLS remarks?

Start from the same text, then let the website carry what the MLS cut. A property website has no character limit and no ban on open house times or contact details, so it can hold the full version.