mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING_INDEX('A bunch of words that you only want the first fifteen from goes here as this example shows nicely',' ',15) AS first_15 FROM property LIMIT 1;
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| first_15                                                                |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| A bunch of words that you only want the first fifteen from goes here as | 
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> SELECT SUBSTRING_INDEX('But what if only a few words?',' ',15) AS first_15 FROM property LIMIT 1;
+-------------------------------+
| first_15                      |
+-------------------------------+
| But what if only a few words? | 
+-------------------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)