Listing operations · 5 min read
Real Estate Listing Media Kit: A Ready-to-Use Checklist for Agents
A real estate listing media kit is the approved set of files and facts for one property, kept in one place so everyone who publishes the listing uses the same version. It is not a marketing strategy. It is the bundle you hand from photographer to agent to whoever builds the portal listing, social posts and brochure. This checklist sets out what goes in it, how to name the files, who approves each part and how to keep it accurate when the price or status changes.
What belongs in a listing media kit
Realtor.com's new-listing checklist for agents covers professional photography, the listing description, the MLS entry, a yard sign, a virtual tour, a floor plan, open houses, an agent caravan with brochures, and print materials. NAR's consumer guide on marketing a home lists staging, professional photography, social media, signage, open houses and pricing, and reminds agents to market properties in line with their MLS rules.
A media kit collects the files those activities need, so that the photo on the portal, the caption on social media and the price in the email all match.
Minimum assets and optional assets
Every listing needs the minimum set. Add optional items only when they fit the property, the budget and the seller's approval.
- Minimum: a verified fact sheet with price, size, rooms, tenure, charges and availability
- Minimum: a rights and approvals record covering the photo licence and seller sign-off
- Minimum: one hero photo and a complete gallery, every image labelled by room
- Minimum: a floor plan with separately verified measurements
- Minimum: listing copy, a short email announcement, and social crops with captions
- Optional: a 6–10 second vertical property teaser, filmed or made from approved photos
- Optional: a longer video tour, only if the property was actually filmed
- Optional: a virtual tour, a downloadable brochure or printed flyers
A ready-to-copy folder and file naming template
Use one folder per listing and a fixed numbered structure so files sort the same way for everyone. Add a version number instead of overwriting an approved file, and put anything retired into an archive folder.
- [YYYY-MM]_[street-short]_[unit]/ (top-level listing folder)
- 01_facts/ fact-sheet_v1.pdf
- 02_rights/ photo-licence.pdf, seller-approval_[YYYY-MM-DD].pdf
- 03_photos/original/ 01_hero_living-room.jpg, 02_kitchen.jpg, 03_bedroom-1.jpg
- 03_photos/virtually-staged/ 01_living-room_VIRTUALLY-STAGED.jpg
- 04_floorplan/ floorplan_v1.pdf, floorplan_v1.png
- 05_video/ teaser_9x16_v1.mp4, tour_16x9_v1.mp4 (only if filmed)
- 06_copy/ listing-description_v1.docx
- 07_social/ post-01_4x5.jpg, post-01_caption.txt
- 08_email/ launch-email_v1.html
- 09_print/ brochure_v1.pdf
- 99_archive/ superseded files, dated
Who owns each file, and who approves it
A media kit breaks when nobody knows who signed off a file. Write down an owner and an approver for each part before production starts.
- Listing agent: owns the fact sheet; the seller approves it
- Photographer: delivers originals and licence terms; the agent approves the selection
- Floor plan provider: delivers the measured plan; the agent checks it against the property
- Marketing coordinator: prepares copy, crops, captions, email and video; the agent approves them
- Seller: approves photos, any staging and the facts they supplied
- Broker or compliance contact: checks MLS rules, disclosures and labels on altered images
Aspect ratios and export checks
There is no single universal specification. Portals, MLS systems and social platforms each set their own image sizes, video lengths and file limits, and they change them. Before exporting, check the current requirements for every destination and record them in the kit.
As a working pattern, many teams keep landscape originals for portals and websites, a vertical version for short-form video feeds and a square or 4:5 crop for feed posts. Whatever the format, check each export:
- The main feature of the room is not cropped out
- Text and captions sit away from edges where platform buttons appear
- Compression has not added visible blur or banding
- Videos have captions, because many feeds start muted
- File names match the template and include the version
Hypothetical example: a two-bedroom apartment pack
This example is hypothetical; the property and files are invented. A second-floor two-bedroom apartment with a balcony is listed for sale. Its kit contains a one-page fact sheet approved by the seller, a photo licence, 16 labelled photos with the living room as the hero, a measured floor plan and a 120-word description.
Social files include three 4:5 crops (living room, kitchen, balcony) with captions, plus one 8-second vertical teaser made from the approved balcony photo. There is no long tour because the apartment was not filmed, and the brochure is skipped because the seller did not want print. Every file is version 1 and dated.
Update protocol for price and status changes
When the price or status changes, update the fact sheet first and save it as a new version. Then update every published copy in a fixed order, so nothing is left showing the old figure.
- Fact sheet: new version with the change and its date
- MLS entry, then check that syndicated portal listings updated correctly
- Your own website listing page
- Social captions and pinned posts; delete or edit posts that show the old price
- Email templates and any scheduled sends
- Brochure and print: reprint or withdraw
- Video: re-export or retire any clip with the price in the frame
Publish QA checklist
Realtor.com's checklist advises agents to check that MLS information posted accurately and syndicated successfully. Extend that check to the whole kit:
- Every fact matches the latest approved fact sheet
- Every published photo comes from the licensed, approved set
- Staged or edited images are labelled, with their originals in the gallery
- Floor plan room names match the gallery labels
- Video shows only what is in the source photos or the filmed footage
- Every link, phone number and booking form works on mobile
- The change log is up to date
Where Vellivo fits
Vellivo does not build media kits, brochures, floor plans or listing copy. It turns an approved photo into a short promotional video scene, which can fill the vertical teaser slot when the property has not been filmed. Review each scene against its source photo before adding it to the kit.