1. Verify the milestone before announcing it
Begin with the transaction and listing record, not the celebratory graphic. “Under contract,” “contingent,” “active under contract,” “pending,” and similar labels can carry different meanings in different systems. Use the exact current public wording approved for this property. Do not translate one label into another because it sounds better in a caption.
- Confirm that the agreement is fully executed and the authorized status change is effective.
- Copy the exact public status from the current listing or transaction record.
- Ask whether the seller, buyer, both clients, or neither client may be identified or congratulated.
- Confirm which address, price, dates, terms, and transaction details may appear publicly.
- Check the brokerage, listing-service, state, client, and platform requirements for the post.
- Verify rights for every photo, clip, floor plan, logo, font, music track, and testimonial used.
- Name the person who will update scheduled and live posts when the status changes again.
Keep confidential terms, negotiation details, inspection findings, financing information, client motivation, and private communications out of the draft unless the responsible parties have specifically cleared them for the intended audience. A public post should not become an accidental transaction update.
2. Choose a useful job for the post
A status badge alone gives the audience little context. Choose one legitimate communication job, then use only the information needed for that job. The post can keep interested people oriented, explain the agent's process, help similar prospects find the agent, or close one chapter of the listing campaign. It should not claim a completed sale or imply a guaranteed result.
| Post job | Useful message | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Orient listing followers | State the current public status and direct them to maintained property information | Suggesting backup-offer availability or showings without current approval |
| Show seller service | Name a verified marketing or communication process, without promising causation | Attributing the contract to one post, video, tactic, or unsupported performance claim |
| Show buyer representation | Explain a permitted process lesson and invite a relevant conversation | Revealing offer terms, strategy, concessions, finances, or client identity |
| Manage the campaign | Mark the status change and pause or redirect time-sensitive promotion | Leaving old open-house, availability, or urgency messages live |
If the post has no useful audience or next step, skip it. The transaction does not need a public content asset simply because a template exists.
3. Create one approved status record
Draft every caption, graphic, Reel, Story, and email from the same short record. This prevents the video editor, social manager, and agent from publishing different status language or property details. Link the record to the broader listing social media planso scheduled content changes with it.
Property or campaign ID: [approved identifier]
Exact current public status: [wording / source / effective date and time]
Agent role: [listing agent / buyer agent / both sides if permitted]
Public property identity: [full address / partial address / area / withheld]
Approved public facts: [only details needed for this post]
Client wording: [names withheld / general congratulations / approved names]
Source media: [files / owner / license / permitted uses]
One post job: [orientation / process proof / prospect invitation / campaign update]
One next step: [current details / similar-home inquiry / buyer consultation]
Controlled destination: [current property page / agent page / monitored contact]
Approvers: [client / agent / broker / media owner]
Change trigger and owner: [status event / person / required action]
4. Copy listing-agent post templates
Replace every bracketed field from the approved status record. Delete a sentence when the underlying information is not public, necessary, or supported. Do not fill gaps with an assumption about the buyer, seller, market, or path to contract.
Concise listing-status post
Under contract: [approved property identity]. Thank you to our seller for trusting the process and to everyone who helped prepare and present the property. For current public information, visit [maintained destination].
Property-first listing post
[Exact approved status] at [approved property identity]. The campaign centered on [specific visible property feature or relationship], supported by [approved media or marketing asset]. If you are preparing a similar property for market, [one useful next step and monitored route].
Process-focused seller-service post
A new milestone for [approved property identity]: [exact approved status]. The work behind the launch included [verified preparation step], [verified marketing deliverable], and [verified response or communication step]. No two listings follow the same path. If you want to map the right launch sequence for your property, [contact route].
Minimal status card caption
[Exact approved status] · [approved property identity]. Current details: [maintained link].
Do not add “multiple offers,” “record time,” “over asking,” a number of days, or a causal marketing claim unless the exact statement is accurate, permitted, necessary, and supported by a retained record. Even a true transaction detail may be private or inappropriate for the intended post.
5. Copy buyer-agent and privacy-first templates
Buyer representation posts need a separate source and permission decision. Listing media may belong to a photographer, seller, listing brokerage, or other rights holder, and an accepted offer does not make the property or transaction the buyer agent's marketing asset. Use a neutral design, an approved exterior, or no property image when that is the correct boundary.
Buyer-agent milestone post
My buyers are under contract on [approved property description or area]. We kept the search focused on [non-confidential property requirement], reviewed the available information, and followed the offer strategy they approved. I'm grateful to represent them through the next steps. If you are planning a purchase, [consultation or question route].
Privacy-first milestone post
A client reached an important home-search milestone this week. We are keeping the property and transaction private while the work continues, but I'm grateful for their trust. If you need a clear search, review, and decision process for your own move, [contact route].
Exact-status update without celebration
Status update for [approved property identity]: [exact current public status]. See the maintained property page for current availability and contact instructions: [link].
Agent-network version
[Exact approved status] at [approved property identity]. Please use [current professional listing or showing route] for the latest public status and any permitted next step. Thank you to the agents who shared the listing and communicated with our team.
If you are not the listing agent, complete the another-agent listing permission checklistbefore using the address, listing description, photography, video, logo, or status language.
6. Build a 15-second under-contract status video
A short video can make the milestone legible without replaying the entire launch tour. Use a clean approved master or current listing photos, show the exact status once, and direct the viewer to a maintained next step. Do not animate still images in ways that invent room connections, views, condition, or unphotographed space.
| Time | Visual | Words | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–3 seconds | Approved hero exterior or defining property frame | [Exact current public status] | Status is effective, readable, and not described as closed |
| 3–8 seconds | Two related property images or one stable approved clip | [Approved property identity or one verified feature] | Crop and motion preserve the source image's meaning |
| 8–12 seconds | Property, preparation, or approved campaign evidence | [Concise client thanks or process line] | No private client, negotiation, or unsupported performance claim |
| 12–15 seconds | Calm final frame with clear identity | [One next step and monitored destination] | Link and response route are current |
“[Approved property identity] is now [exact approved status]. Thank you to [approved client reference] for trusting the process. For [current details / a similar-property conversation], visit [maintained destination].”
A photo-based video is a sequence built from still images, not a continuous walkthrough. Use the real estate video from photos guideto select, order, move, caption, and review the source gallery responsibly.
7. Review the complete advertising package
Review the final export and post preview together. The 2026 NAR Code of Ethics requires REALTORS® to be honest and truthful in real estate communications and to present a true picture in advertising. The exact law, client duty, brokerage policy, listing-service rule, and platform requirement for the post still need the responsible local review.
- The exact status, property identity, agent role, and as-of time match the approved record.
- The post does not call the property sold, closed, unavailable, or open to backups without support.
- Client names, images, quotes, emotions, and transaction details have specific clearance.
- Property facts are current and supported by the listing record or visible media.
- Words and visuals describe the property and transaction without prohibited preference language.
- Photo, video, music, voice, logo, font, floor-plan, and edit rights cover the account and format.
- Required agent, team, brokerage, listing, and alteration identification is accurate and readable.
- The caption, graphic, video, thumbnail, link preview, hashtags, comments plan, and destination agree.
- The exact scheduled or published version has an approver, date, change trigger, and owner.
Use the fair housing real estate video checklistwhen the post includes property video, audience settings, neighborhood wording, people, captions, or a lead destination. Review the complete message in context, not one sentence at a time.
8. Publish, respond, and manage changes
Update the controlled property record first, then release the approved post. Check the live result on mobile and desktop, verify the visible crop and link, and make sure the response owner knows what can be said publicly. Scheduled launch, open-house, and availability posts should be stopped or revised before they contradict the new status.
- Reconcile the source. Confirm the current public status and destination immediately before publishing.
- Inspect the live post. Check the account, property, status, media, text, tags, thumbnail, link, and accessibility.
- Use a bounded response. Answer only from approved public information and route transaction questions appropriately.
- Update the campaign. Pause incompatible ads, events, queued posts, automated replies, and stale property links.
- Record the placement. Save the URL, asset version, publish time, approver, owner, and next status trigger.
If the contract changes or ends
Do not use the post to explain blame or private reasons. Update the listing and controlled property page through the responsible workflow, stop scheduled derivatives, and follow the approved correction, archive, or removal decision for the live post. If the property returns to an active status, create a new current campaign record instead of quietly editing a dated celebration into a new offer.
When the transaction closes
Treat closing as a new creative decision with a new fact and permission review. Do not simply replace “under contract” with “sold” in an old file. The just-sold video templateseparates confirmed status, public closing facts, representation, media reuse, destination, and campaign closeout.
9. Copy the master production template
Under-contract post · [property or campaign ID]
Exact public status: [wording / source / effective time]
Agent role and approved identity: [listing / buyer / both / firm details]
Client privacy decision: [names / images / quotes / details allowed or withheld]
Post job: [orientation / process / prospect / campaign update]
Approved facts: [only the facts this post needs]
Media: [file IDs / owner / rights / crop / edit / music]
Format: [static / carousel / Story / short video / channel]
Caption: [final exact copy]
One next step: [action / maintained destination / response owner]
Complete-package review: [status / truth / privacy / fair housing / rights / identity / accessibility]
Approval: [reviewer / decision / date / exact version]
Publish record: [account / URL / time / live check]
Change trigger: [status / permission / property / destination / policy]
Change action and owner: [update / archive / remove / replace / person]
Measurement: [qualified replies / current-page visits / relevant conversations]
Measure the post by whether it kept the campaign accurate and opened relevant conversations, not by reach alone. Record qualified replies, current property-page visits, similar-property inquiries, and response quality while keeping transaction and client information out of the reporting record unless it belongs there.
Frequently asked questions
What should an under-contract real estate post say?
State the exact approved public status, identify the property only to the permitted level, congratulate the appropriate client only with permission, and add one useful next step. Do not describe the transaction as sold or closed before that status is confirmed.
Should a real estate agent post when a listing goes under contract?
Only when the post has client, brokerage, listing-service, media, and privacy clearance and serves a useful campaign purpose. A post is optional. Direct client work, transaction duties, and accurate property records take priority over a public milestone announcement.
Are under contract and pending the same status?
Do not assume they are interchangeable. Public labels, definitions, and required timing vary by listing service, brokerage, jurisdiction, and transaction. Use the exact current status approved for the property and avoid explaining conditions that are not public or authorized.
Can an agent use listing photos in an under-contract post?
Use them only when the photo rights and property permissions cover the account, edit, format, branding, timing, and intended reuse. Access to an MLS image or possession of a delivered file does not by itself establish every social or video right.
What happens to the post if the contract ends?
Follow the seller, brokerage, listing-service, and transaction plan. Update the controlled property destination first, stop scheduled status content, and correct, archive, or remove the post as approved. Do not publish private reasons or blame either party.