Can You Post Another Agent’s Listing?
Only with the listing broker’s permission. NAR MLS policy requires it, and South Carolina and New York write it into state law. In South Carolina you need written permission and the listing firm shown on the ad. In New York you need permission and a “Listing courtesy of…” credit. Even in states without a statute, your MLS rules and your broker almost certainly expect the same thing. Ask first, get it in writing, credit the listing firm, and make sure you have rights to the photos.
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▼Why Agents Want to Post Other People’s Listings
We see it all the time. An agent finds a beautiful house, or the perfect starter home for a buyer they’re working with, or a listing that fits a “homes under $400K in this neighborhood” post. It’s not theirs. They post it anyway because it’s good content.
The impulse makes sense. Social media rewards fresh, interesting homes, and you can’t list enough houses to feed a feed. But a listing post is advertising, and advertising someone else’s listing without permission puts you in the middle of their client relationship. The seller hired a different brokerage to market their home. They didn’t agree to have you market it.
What NAR MLS Policy Says
If you’re a REALTOR® in an MLS that follows NAR policy, you need the listing broker’s permission before you advertise another broker’s listing. That’s the national baseline. A social post is advertising, so the rule covers Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and anything else you post to for business.
Your local MLS may add details, such as how the listing firm has to be credited or what counts as consent. Read your MLS rules. If you can’t find the answer, ask your MLS or your broker.
IDX is a separate system with its own rules. If your website displays MLS listings through an IDX feed, that display follows your MLS’s IDX rules. Pulling a listing out of that feed and posting it to social as its own post is a different act, and you shouldn’t assume your IDX agreement covers it.
States That Put It in Statute
Two of the states we track write the permission requirement into state law, per our state-by-state advertising rules guide.
South Carolina
South Carolina’s advertising statute, §40-57-135(E), requires written permission from the listing firm to advertise another firm’s listing, and the listing firm has to be shown on the ad. Verbal permission isn’t enough. Get an email or a text you can save.
New York
New York’s rule, 19 NYCRR 175.25, requires permission to advertise another broker’s listing plus a “Listing courtesy of…” credit. The credit goes on the ad itself.
Other states may have similar language in their advertising rules or rely on MLS policy and general rules about misleading advertising. Don’t take silence in your state’s rule as permission. The MLS requirement still applies to REALTORS®, and posting a listing as if you represent it can mislead consumers regardless.
How to Ask for Permission
Make it easy for the listing agent to say yes. A short message to the listing agent, copied to their broker if your market expects it, works fine:
Hi Sarah, I’d love to feature your listing at 123 Oak Street in a post on my business Instagram and Facebook pages. I’ll credit “Listing courtesy of ABC Realty” on the image and in the caption, and send anyone who asks to you. May I have your broker’s permission? Also, are the photos okay to use, or should I use my own exterior shot?
Then:
- Save the reply. If you’re in South Carolina, written permission is required. Everywhere else, it’s still your proof.
- Ask about photos separately. Permission to post the listing and permission to use the photographer’s images aren’t automatically the same thing. More on that in who owns listing photos.
- Note any conditions. Some listing agents will say yes but ask you to leave out the price or not to tag the seller’s neighborhood. Honor that.
- Check the status before you post. If the listing went under contract or was withdrawn after you asked, don’t post it as available.
How to Credit the Listing on Your Post
Once you have permission, the credit should leave no doubt about who holds the listing:
- On the image: “Listing courtesy of [Listing Firm]” in clear type. Don’t hide it in a corner in tiny print.
- In the caption: the same credit line, plus your own brokerage name as required in your state.
- No implied representation. Don’t write “my new listing” or “just listed” for a home you didn’t list. Say something like “Featured home” or “One I’m watching.”
- Both brokerages, clearly. Your own brokerage name still has to appear on your advertising. The listing firm’s credit sits alongside it, not instead of it.
What About Sharing the Listing Agent’s Own Post?
Clicking “share” on the listing agent’s Facebook post feels harmless. It puts their post, with their branding, on your page.
It’s still showing up on your business page as something you’re promoting. Many agents and brokers treat a share of a public listing post as low risk, because the original post carries the listing firm’s branding. Some MLSs and brokerages treat it as advertising someone else’s listing all the same. We don’t think it’s worth guessing. If you want to share another agent’s listing post on a business page, ask the listing agent. Most will be glad you asked, since it’s free exposure for their seller.
Never download someone else’s listing graphic and repost it as your own, with your branding added or theirs cropped out. That’s a permission problem and a photo copyright problem at the same time.
Safer Ways to Talk About Homes You Don’t List
You can post about the market without featuring individual listings you don’t hold. Some options:
- Market update posts. Talk about inventory, days on market or price trends in a neighborhood, using numbers you can source. See real estate market update posts.
- Neighborhood posts. Parks, restaurants, commute times, new businesses. Keep the focus on places, not on who lives there; our Fair Housing on social media article explains why.
- Your own listings and closings. These are yours to post, with your seller’s or buyer’s permission. See just listed post ideas and just sold posts that don’t overshare.
- Buyer stories. A buyer you represented who closed on another firm’s listing can be a “just sold” story about your client, without featuring the listing as if it were yours. Get your buyer’s permission, and leave the price out unless they ask for it and your MLS and state allow it.
- Open houses you’re hosting. If you’re holding an open house for another agent in your office, get that listing agent’s approval for the promotion. See open house social media promotion.
Brokers: Put This in Your Policy
If you run a brokerage, “no other firm’s listings without written permission” belongs in your social media policy. It’s an easy rule to write, an easy rule to check, and it heads off a complaint from another broker before it starts. Our brokerage social media policy outline covers what else to include.
How We Handle It for Clients
When Freedom runs an agent’s social media, another firm’s listing is on our never-list unless the agent sends us the written permission first. A Freedom VA builds the post with the listing credit on the image and in the caption, alongside the agent’s own brokerage name, and the agent approves the post before it goes out. Nothing is scheduled without that approval.
We don’t reach out to other agents on your behalf, and we don’t reply to comments or DMs. The permission request comes from you, and conversations with buyers who ask about the home stay with you. See our social media management service for what’s included.
Quick Check
Before you post a listing that isn’t yours:
- Do you have the listing broker’s permission, in writing?
- Do you have rights to the photos you’re using?
- Is the listing firm credited on the image and in the caption?
- Is your own brokerage name on the post?
- Does the wording avoid implying it’s your listing?
- Is the listing still active?
If any answer is no, post something else. There’s always another post.
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