Social Media Rules for Real Estate: A 2024 Guide

There’s no doubt that social media is an wondrous marketing tool for real manor professionals. But it’s important to remember that various real manor codes of values — and many local and national laws — wield to what you post. So surpassing you publish your next Reel, Snap, TikTok, or Tweet (Xeet?), make sure you know the social media rules for real manor agents.

Peruse this guide if you’re a bit fuzzy on what constitutes a good or bad social media post. We’ve laid out laws and guidelines to alimony your content ethical. We’ve moreover included several weightier practices and examples so you leave with a plan to make every post perfect.

8 social media rules for real manor teachers and brokers

There are several cooks in the real manor social media rule kitchen. The National Undertone of Realtors (NAR), state and federal governments, and some social platforms have guidelines governing how teachers and brokers present themselves online.

It may sound super complex, but for the most part, those rulebooks overlap. And if you swash it down, there are a few vital tenets to remember:

• Treat promotional posts on social media like advertisements
• Conduct yourself online like you would in person
• Nothing disappears from the internet

Now, let’s squint at eight specific social media rules you should follow as a real manor professional.

Rule 1: Identify yourself

For wage-earner identification, you should treat a promotional social media post like you would any advertisement. That ways unrepealable identifying information needs to be present.

In general, a promotional real manor post should include:

• The agent’s full name (e.g., “Rodney Jones,” not “Rod”)
• Point of contact information for the wage-earner or brokerage (e.g., phone number, email address, or physical address)
• The brokerage company’s licensed name or DBA (e.g., “Jane Smith Realty LLC” or “Smith Realty”)

The rules stating which information is required and how it’s presented may vary by state. For example, in Florida you just need the name of the wage-earner and broker. So make sure to review the laws where you work.

Here’s how real manor wage-earner Jay Gonzalez presents herself on social posts.

Notice how she includes the brokerage in her Facebook worth name. That’s a smart way to make sure it’s unchangingly visible. She moreover widow a link to her brokerage’s Facebook page, making it easy to see the undertone between the two.

Rule 2: Unchangingly credit the listing wage-earner when sharing their listings

There is some contention about whether you can promote a listing online without the listing agent’s (LA) consent.

The NAR’s lawmaking of ethics says it’s a no-go. Some states, like Georgia, moreover say you can’t promote a listing unless you’ve “secured the written permission of the owner, the owner’s authorized agent, or the owner of a leasehold estate.”

What’s not in contention is that you don’t want to represent yourself as the listing wage-earner if you are not. That ways citing the listing wage-earner in any post well-nigh a listing that’s not yours. Do so by giving the agent’s name, brokerage, and a link to their social media worth or website.

One situation that trips up some teachers is an unshut house. Say you visit an unshut house, snap some pics, and post them on Instagram. Your followers may get the impression that you represent the owner. So it’s weightier to make it well-spoken who does.

But what well-nigh an internet data mart (IDX) try-on that gives wrap permission to share listings? Social media platforms are not IDX compliant, meaning those agreements don’t imbricate social media posts.

Rule 3: Take ownership of your social media posts

According to the NAR lawmaking of ethics, you are responsible for any posts that end up on your social media account. Whether you, an intern, or an organ that posted it, if the message is shared through your account, you’re at fault for any rules it breaks.

That’s why you need to have a system in place so that only people with knowledge of industry regulations can review, approve, and publish content.

This rule is fundamental if you have third-party professionals on your social media team. They may be experts in creating and posting super-engaging content. But unless they have real manor experience, the chances are upper that they’ll unknowingly publish a questionable post at some point.

The good news is that it’s easy to set up a strict and customized approval workflow with Hootsuite.

 

In Hootsuite, you can designate which content requires clearance and which users can approve. You can plane set up a multi-approver process for sensitive posts or those that would goody from an uneaten set of eyes.

Rule 4: Present listings truthfully

Social media is often the weightier place to make a first impression of the property you’re charged with selling. But there’s a thin line between presenting a home in its weightier light and misleading buyers with too many embellishments.

The NAR’s vendible 12 and many state rules prohibit the false misrepresentation of real manor in marketing, which includes social media posts. That can midpoint outright lying well-nigh total square footage or misogynist parking. Or it can be adjusting a photo to hibernate a flaw.

Here are a few deportment to steer well-spoken of:

• Editing any MLS data
• Using vague descriptions (“close to the beach” vs. “0.2 miles from the beach”)
• Over-editing a photo to make spaces squint significantly larger
• Editing out significant features from a photo

The same rules wield if an wage-earner knows a property owner has given misleading or unverified information.

Rule 5: Don’t post negatively well-nigh other agents

There are all sorts of people working in real estate. Not everyone will see eye to eye. But walk frustrations publicly on social media isn’t just a bad squint — it could land you on the wrong side of an values violation.

That’s expressly true if the other wage-earner challenges what you’ve said. Article 15 of the NAR’s lawmaking of values requires real manor professionals to “refrain from making false or misleading statements well-nigh other real manor professionals, their businesses, and their merchantry practices.”

It’s moreover a good idea to never suggest that a disgruntled vendee take negative whoopee versus their agent. So don’t reply to a post from a frustrated homeowner saying they should fire their wage-earner considering you can do better.

Rule 6: List only correct and updated qualifications

Social media biographies are like the digital wall of your office where you hang diplomas and certifications. Clients peek at your profile and get the warm and fuzzies knowing they’ve hired a qualified professional.

But it’s important to remember that the information you place in a bio needs to be correct, current, and certified.

For example, resist the urge to put “#1 real manor wage-earner in San Antonio” in your bio just considering your mom said so. But if a local real manor magazine names you as such, add it with pride (and cite the source).

It’s moreover important to regularly update your bio as your certifications and associations change. If you let a certification lapse, leaving it on your bio is misleading.

Make it a practice to review your online bios regularly. It’s easy to forget to make a change. So setting a timetable reminder to trammels them every quarter is a unconfined failsafe.

Rule 7: Protect people’s privacy

This is one of the longest-standing rules for any real manor professional. It’s moreover one of the trickiest to follow when so much of your marketing relies on posting quickly to social media.

Of course, you’d never share confidential vendee information like their income. But what if you post a pic to show how rented your unshut house is and someone’s license plate is visible in the photo? They may not fathom the exposure.

Another potential danger zone is at closing. It’s fun to share your buyer’s excitement while they sign the paperwork on their first home.

Source: Zack.dallasrealtor Instagram

But there’s a lot of personal information on the latter table. One bad wile or unnoticed mirror can requite internet sleuths a well-spoken image of a social security number or wall account.

A few deportment you should take surpassing publishing any post:

• Scrutinize any photo you’re well-nigh to post
• Ask permission surpassing publishing a post with people in it
• Ask yourself, “if this was my information, would I want it shared?”
• Never share specific details well-nigh commissions or profits

Those few precautions will help you stave a lot of upstanding hot water later on.

Rule 8: Pinion to the Fair Housing Act

Most real manor teachers wouldn’t knowingly discriminate in their social media posts. But a post can go versus The Fair Housing Act (FHA) in some subtle ways.

One example is how you target social media ads. If you exclude a specific zip lawmaking to alimony a group of people from seeing the ad, you violate the FHA.

Some social media platforms like Facebook have recently built in new targeting permissions for real manor ads to make it easier to follow the rules. But not all have.

Here are a few other ways you could run afoul of the Fair Housing Act:

• Prioritizing a specific religion: For example, mentioning the proximity of a specific church.
• Discriminating based on family status: Targeting an ad so it excludes people who show interest in parenting blogs.
• Discrimination by photography: Choosing images that don’t reflect the area’s population.

The NAR moreover suggests focusing on the property, not the “ideal” proprietrix or renter, in your ads or social media posts. And don’t forget to include “Equal Housing Opportunity” in your posts to show you’re single-minded to those ideals.

5 weightier practices for real manor marketing on social media

With so many rules from several governing bodies, it’s easy to finger intimidated. But there’s no reason to tropical your finance and miss out on the benefits of using social media for real manor marketing.

Use these weightier practices to get the most out of your social media marketing strategy while staying within the rules for real manor professionals.

Create a social media policy

Every brokerage should have a codified set of rules for using social media.

This policy can imbricate everything from the clearance process to the types of content people should post. It should pinpoint how an wage-earner or usurer is identified in posts and comments and include proper trademark voice guidelines.

In addition, consider these topics for your social media policy:

• Rules versus plagiarism and the use of copyrighted images
• Rules well-nigh sharing other agents’ listings
• A confidentiality and privacy statement
• Rules well-nigh disclosing alterations to images
• A wrap statement well-nigh pursuit all local and federal laws

Once you have the policy put together, make sure everyone verifies receipt of a copy.

Don’t forget to share with new teachers and third parties that may post on your behalf.

It’s good practice to regularly monitor your social media accounts for worriedness vastitude what you post. That includes occasionally looking at what your teachers post and reading the comments on your posts.

Source: Savvy Co. Real Manor Instagram

Not only will this help you stay compliant, but you’ll moreover have increasingly opportunities to engage with clients who reply to your posts.

Protect your account

You spend a lot of time towers trust and a pursuit on your social media accounts. A hacker can steal your credibility—and plane lock you out of your account—in an instant.

Be enlightened of common social media hacks and scams. Protect your finance with two-factor identification and solid passwords. And don’t share your passwords or place them somewhere they can be stolen.

Archive your social media activity

You never know when you’ll need to reference an old post. Maybe you delete a post that’s no longer relevant, and someone misquotes you. Or you want to find a post from two years ago. A searchable social media archive makes calling up that old worriedness easy.

Facebook and other social media platforms have instructions for archiving your activity. Hootsuite moreover lets you create a taggable archive for your records.

Batch and schedule posts

If you’re posting multiple times per week (or per day!), it’s nonflexible to make sure all your posts follow the social media rules for real estate. Batching and scheduling your posts eases the pressure in two ways.

First, creating a week’s worth of content for all your channels in one session saves time and keeps you focused. You don’t have to worry well-nigh the time loss of context switching between the other 100 tasks on your list. Block an hour or two each week, knock out your posts, and get when to helping clients.

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Scheduling content superiority of time gives you space to come when and review what you’ve created surpassing it goes live. That can be you taking a few minutes to double-check your work. Or it can be someone you trust giving your posts a once over. Either way, you’ll reservation a lot increasingly potential problems.

Social media rules for real estate: FAQs

Hopefully, the rules of social media for real manor teachers will finger manageable now. Here are answers to commonly asked questions to help sieve them further.

Can you post flipside agent’s listings on social media?

Yes, but you should unchangingly reference the listing wage-earner and provide a link to their website or social media account. Depending on your location and affiliations, you may moreover need to get their written permission.

Can I use the word “REALTOR®” on social media?

You can use the word REALTOR® in your title and on social media posts as long as you’re a registered National Undertone of Realtors member. If you are, you can moreover use the REALTOR® logo.

What social media compliance standards do real manor teachers need to pinion to online?

Real manor companies need to consider several social media compliance standards when posting content online. These include state or local laws, the NAR lawmaking of ethics, your brokerage policies, and the rules of each social media platform.