Key facts
- Listings syndicated to a team's website through an MLS or IDX feed usually carry display rules set by the local MLS board, and a website vendor unfamiliar with those rules can build a listings page that violates the feed agreement without anyone noticing until the feed gets shut off.
- In the US, fair housing law affects the specific wording allowed in real estate advertising, restricting language that could be read as steering buyers based on protected characteristics, and this applies to ad copy and audience targeting settings, not just the written page content.
- A brokerage's compliance policy usually governs what an individual agent or team can say in advertising, including disclaimers and required brokerage branding, so a marketing vendor working with one team inside a larger brokerage needs both the team's input and the brokerage's sign-off.
- Buyer leads and seller leads behave differently and usually need different campaigns: a buyer lead often starts with a specific listing or a neighborhood search, while a seller lead usually starts with a home value question, and a single generic "contact us" campaign underserves both.
- A team with multiple agents needs lead routing built into the marketing setup, assigning a new lead to a specific agent by area, price range, or availability, and a vendor proposing one shared inbox with no routing logic is creating a bottleneck the team will feel immediately.
Scope boundaries
Name the channels in scope: website with IDX or MLS-fed listings, local SEO, and Google Ads. State whether the team is targeting buyers, sellers, or both, and in what proportion, since that changes the entire campaign structure and page design.
Out of scope unless separately priced: any advertising requiring individual brokerage compliance sign-off the vendor is not prepared to route through, and any ad copy or targeting setting that could conflict with fair housing law. Confirm the vendor understands the MLS or IDX feed's display requirements before they touch the listings page.
What the vendor must be given
Manager-level access, not ownership, to the team's Google Business Profile, Google Ads account, and analytics. Credentials or a data feed for the MLS or IDX system so listings display and update correctly on the website. A lead routing rule set, by agent, area, or price range, so new leads land with the right person instead of a shared queue.
The brokerage's compliance and branding requirements, since these often govern required disclaimers and logo placement regardless of what the team itself wants. A named compliance contact if the brokerage requires review before ads run.
Ownership and exit clauses
State that the team owns its Google Business Profile, Google Ads account, website, and domain outright, with the vendor added as a manager. Address directly what happens to the site and its listings feed if an agent leaves the team, since real estate teams see individual agent turnover more often than most small businesses.
On exit, require full handover within a set number of days, and confirm the lead routing history and contact list, which contains real buyer and seller information, transfers to the team rather than staying with the vendor.
Milestones and acceptance tests
MLS or IDX feed integration tested and confirmed compliant with feed display rules within the first two weeks. Buyer and seller campaigns built separately within 30 days, each with its own landing experience. Lead routing rules configured and tested with a sample lead before launch.
Acceptance test at 90 days: can the vendor show leads routed correctly to the right agent, split by buyer versus seller intent, and can they confirm no ad copy or targeting setting has drawn a fair housing concern during that period.
Scoring rubric
Weight bidders on real estate-specific operational fit.
Experience with MLS or IDX integration and understanding of feed display rules, 25 percent.
Ability to build separate buyer and seller campaigns, 20 percent.
Lead routing setup for a multi-agent team, 20 percent.
Price and contract terms, 20 percent.
References from other real estate teams, called directly, 15 percent.
A bidder who proposes one blended campaign for both buyers and sellers should lose points here regardless of price.
Questions every bidder must answer
Require written answers.
Have you integrated an MLS or IDX feed before, and how do you keep the listings page compliant with the feed's display rules?
How do you structure separate campaigns for buyer leads and seller leads?
What lead routing options can you set up for a team with multiple agents?
How do you review ad copy and targeting for fair housing compliance?
After we sign, who owns the Google Ads account, the Business Profile, and the website outright?
What happens to our lead history and contact data if we switch agencies?
Related questions
Usually yes, through an MLS or IDX feed, but the local MLS board typically sets rules about how listings must be displayed, including required disclaimers and update frequency. A website vendor unfamiliar with those rules can accidentally build a page that violates the feed agreement.
In the US, fair housing law restricts language that could be read as steering buyers based on protected characteristics, and this applies to both written ad copy and audience targeting settings in platforms like Google Ads and social media. Brokerage compliance policies typically add their own layer of required disclaimers on top.
No. A buyer lead often starts by browsing a specific listing or neighborhood, while a seller lead usually starts with a home value question. Separate campaigns and separate landing pages tend to convert both far better than one generic contact page trying to serve both.
Through a defined routing rule, by area, price range, or availability, rather than one shared inbox everyone checks whenever they get a chance. A marketing setup without routing logic tends to create delays that cost the team live leads to a faster-responding competitor.
This should be addressed in the contract before it happens, since real estate teams see more individual turnover than most small businesses. A clean setup separates the team's website, ad accounts, and lead routing from any one agent's personal involvement, so departures do not disrupt the whole system.
SearchPod is a vendor for this kind of work and would answer this RFP; the acceptance tests here are the ones we agree to.
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