What Has to Be in a Realtor’s Instagram Bio?
Your full brokerage name, every time, in every state. After that it depends on where you’re licensed: a firm phone number in Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana, your DRE license number in California, your license type in New York, and the IABS and Consumer Protection Notice links in Texas. The bigger catch is that in some states a perfect bio still doesn’t cover your posts. Alabama and North Carolina want the brokerage in the post itself.
Table of Contents
▼Why Your Bio Is Advertising
Every state we’ve researched treats social media as advertising, and the profile is part of the ad. Someone who lands on your Instagram from a listing post is going to look at the bio to figure out who you are. That’s the moment your state wants them to see which brokerage stands behind you.
The trouble is space. Instagram gives you a 150-character bio, a name field, contact buttons and a few links. Agents fill it with “Your Dallas Home Expert” and a booking link, and the brokerage gets squeezed out.
If you haven’t set up the account itself yet (Business vs Creator, linking to your Facebook Page), start with Instagram for Realtors: Setup, Bio and Compliance. This article assumes the account is set up and focuses on what the bio has to say.
Instagram Bio Requirements: 14 States Compared
This table comes from our internal compliance reference. “Bio enough?” answers the question agents care about: can the brokerage information live on the profile instead of in each post?
| State | Rule | What your profile should show | Bio enough for posts? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 22 TAC §535.155; §§531.18, 531.20 | Your name or team name plus the broker’s name (or TREC-registered assumed name), at least ½ the size of the largest agent or team contact info. Links to IABS and the Consumer Protection Notice | Yes, if readily accessible by direct link and noticeable |
| Florida | 61J2-10.025 F.A.C. | Licensed brokerage name; your last name as registered. Online, the firm name goes adjacent to, above or below your contact info | Not stated that way; firm name sits with the contact info |
| Georgia | 520-1-.09 | Firm name plus the firm phone on file; firm equal or greater in size and frequency than you or your team | Every viewable page; character-limited posts may link to a compliant display |
| Alabama | §34-27-36(a)(6),(15); Rule 790-X-3-.16 | Qualifying broker or company name, prominently, font equal or larger than other text or logo | No, unless the company name is in the account name |
| Arkansas (secondary) | AREC Reg. 10.5 | Firm name as recorded; firm equal or greater than agent, team or DBA | Yes, profile or landing page; one click or tap from limited posts |
| Tennessee | 1260-02-.12(3)(b),(6) | Firm name plus the firm phone; firm letters same size or larger | Yes, one click OK |
| North Carolina (secondary) | 21 NCAC 58A .0105 | Firm name | No, in the post itself; no one-click rule |
| South Carolina | §40-57-135(E) | Full firm name | A link from the ad to the firm homepage satisfies it |
| Arizona | R4-28-502(E),(L) | Employing broker’s legal or dba name, clear and prominent | All advertising; AAR suggests profile top or a watermark |
| Colorado | 4 CCR 725-1 Rule 6.10 | Firm name, clearly and conspicuously | Each page the broker controls; “within the first click” when space is limited |
| Louisiana | LAC 46:LXVII §2501 (§2515 unverified) | Business name plus sponsoring broker’s name and phone | Not specified for social |
| Oklahoma (secondary) | OAC 605:10-9-4 | Broker’s name or trade name, never the associate alone; broker at least 50% your size | All advertising, including social |
| California | B&P §10140.6; Reg. 2773 | Your name, DRE license #, responsible broker; license # not smaller than your name | No, per piece, including video and Live |
| New York | 19 NYCRR 175.25 | Broker name plus address or phone; accurate license type | Every page |
The longer version of this table, with the size rules and team-name rules, is in Real Estate Social Media Advertising Rules by State.
State Notes Worth Reading Twice
Texas: the links are the part people miss
Texas is friendly to the bio. Under 22 TAC §535.155, the broker information can sit on your profile if it’s readily accessible by a direct link and noticeable. The broker’s name (or the assumed name registered with TREC) has to be at least half the size of the largest agent or team contact information.
Then there are the two links. Texas requires links to the Information About Brokerage Services form and the Consumer Protection Notice (22 TAC §§531.18 and 531.20). On Instagram, captions don’t make links clickable, so the profile link area is where they go. If they’re buried three taps deep in a link page, ask your broker whether that counts as readily accessible.
And if you’re on a team, the team name has to be registered with TREC.
Florida: your name as registered
Florida’s 61J2-10.025 asks for the licensed brokerage name and your last name as it’s registered. That second part matters in the name field. If you go by a nickname or a married name that isn’t what’s on your license, make sure the registered last name shows up somewhere on the profile. For online ads, the firm name goes adjacent to, above or below your contact information, so put it right next to your phone and email, not at the bottom of a link page.
Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana: add the phone
All three want a phone number with the firm.
- Georgia (520-1-.09): the firm phone on file with the commission. Not your cell. The firm also has to appear at least as often and as large as you or your team.
- Tennessee (1260-02-.12): firm name plus firm phone, and one click is acceptable, so a good bio does real work here.
- Louisiana (LAC 46:LXVII §2501): the sponsoring broker’s name and phone. The rule doesn’t say anything specific about social placement, and we couldn’t verify whether §2515 adds anything. We treat Louisiana posts as needing the broker name and phone, too.
On an Instagram Business account, your contact button is probably your cell. That’s fine for leads. The firm’s phone still belongs in the bio text for these states.
Alabama: the account name loophole
Alabama is strict: the company name goes on every post, and at the start of any video. The exception is when the company name is part of the account name. That makes the name field more valuable in Alabama than anywhere else. If “Jane Smith | ABC Realty” fits, use it, and then confirm with your broker that it satisfies the rule for your setup. We’d still put the brokerage name in the posts.
North Carolina: the bio can’t save you
Association summaries of 21 NCAC 58A .0105 say the firm name goes in the post itself, with no one-click allowance. We’re working from a secondary source here, so check the rule text. But plan on in-post. A North Carolina agent with a flawless bio and bare posts is still exposed.
California: the license number, everywhere
California’s B&P §10140.6 and Regulation 2773 put your DRE license number on each piece of advertising, including video and Live, and the number can’t be smaller than your name or contact font. Put it in the bio and in every post. Don’t shrink it to fit. More in our guide to the state’s social media rules.
A Bio Template You Can Adapt
Here’s the structure we use. Swap in your details and add your state’s extras.
- Name field: Your name plus the brokerage name, as much as fits. Example: Jane Smith | ABC Realty.
- Bio line 1: Full brokerage name. Brokered by ABC Realty Group, LLC
- Bio line 2: Your state’s extras. Firm phone (GA, TN, LA), DRE # (CA), license type (NY).
- Bio line 3: What you do and where. Helping buyers and sellers in North Houston
- Links: Your website first. Texas agents add the IABS and Consumer Protection Notice links.
That’s tight at 150 characters, and something has to give. Cut the slogan before you cut the brokerage. “Your Trusted Real Estate Partner” has never satisfied a commission.
Why the Bio Isn’t the Whole Answer
Even in Texas or Tennessee, where the profile can carry the disclosure, posts leave home. People screenshot them, share them to Stories and forward them in group texts. The bio doesn’t go along.
That’s why our default for every client is the brokerage name in every post, in the image (a watermark or footer) and in the caption, at least as large as the agent’s or team’s name. We add the phone in Louisiana and Georgia and the DRE number in California. The bio then carries the full disclosure: brokerage name, phone and any required links. One template works in all 14 states, and nobody has to remember which state allows what. We explain the reasoning in Does My Brokerage Name Have to Be on Every Social Post?
Bio Mistakes We See Most
- No brokerage at all. Logo, slogan, link. Common, and easy to fix.
- Brokerage in the link page only. In a one-click state that might pass. In North Carolina or Alabama it doesn’t help your posts.
- The agent’s cell in place of the firm phone in Georgia, where the rule asks for the firm phone on file.
- Old brokerage still in the bio. When you move firms, update the bio, the name field and the profile photo the same day.
- “REALTOR” used as a job title or added to the name field when you aren’t an NAR member. That’s a trademark issue, not a state rule. See Using REALTOR® Correctly on Social Media.
How We Handle Bios for Clients
When we set up an agent’s social media, the bio is part of onboarding. We write it with the agent’s state disclosures, build the brokerage line into every post template, and the agent approves everything before it goes live. If you don’t have an Instagram Business or Creator account linked to a Facebook Business Page yet, we can set that up for a fee. A Freedom VA builds and schedules your posts after that, and you approve every one. We never reply to comments or DMs; that stays with you.
That’s Posted For You, our done-for-you social media service. Packages are on the service page.
The same rules apply to your Facebook Page “About” section, your TikTok bio and your LinkedIn headline; see Facebook Business Page vs Personal Profile for Realtors. Fix the bio once, put the brokerage on every post, and re-check your state’s rule when your broker sends a policy update.
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Related Articles
- Real Estate Social Media Advertising Rules by State
- Instagram for Realtors: Setup, Bio and Compliance
- Does My Brokerage Name Have to Be on Every Social Post?
- Real Estate Team Name Rules on Social Media
- Using REALTOR® Correctly on Social Media
- Virtual Staging and AI-Edited Photos: Disclosure Rules
- Posting Client Photos: Permission and Privacy
