How property marketingactually works.
Permit rules, disclosure rules, portal requirements and listing copy, answered properly and checked against the authorities that set them. Written for agents in the United Arab Emirates, the United States and the United Kingdom. Every guide carries the date it was last verified.
United Arab Emirates
Advertising permits in all 7 emirates, Trakheesi in Dubai and Madhmoun in Abu Dhabi, portal standards and the Arabic half of a listing.
Advertising property in Sharjah, what SRERD actually requires
Sharjah runs no Trakheesi style permit per advertisement. What actually gates a listing is registration with the Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department.
7 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
Renewing a Dubai broker licence, the deadline and CPD
A Dubai RERA broker card runs for one year and lapses fast. The renewal fee, the one month deadline and the ongoing training requirement behind it.
6 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
Bayut TruCheck, what it verifies and which listings qualify
Bayut actually runs two separate TruCheck verification tracks with different paperwork, and treating them as one system is the mistake that costs an agent the badge.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
UAE property photo rules: what gets a listing image rejected
Dubai and Abu Dhabi regulate the advertisement, not the photo. Most rejected listing photos fail Property Finder or Bayut's own review, not a DLD or ADREC rule.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
Property Finder listing getting no leads: what to check first
A live listing with no enquiries usually has one cause: the permit, the lead photo, the price, the verification badge or a description nobody reads past line one.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
Dubai cold calling rules for brokers: the Green List explained
Dubai has no public do not call registry. RERA runs the Green List instead: brokers may contact only registered owners, and contacting anyone else is a violation.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
Advertising a property in the UAE: the rules by emirate
Dubai runs Trakheesi, Abu Dhabi runs Madhmoun, and the other five emirates publish far less. A working map of who regulates a property ad in each emirate.
7 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Why a Trakheesi permit application gets rejected
DLD names three enforcement violations for advertising permits, and portals unpublish on top of that. The published causes and the unpublished ones, and the fix.
7 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Trakheesi permit: what Dubai brokers do before advertising
Dubai needs a Trakheesi permit for any property advertisement and the number has to be on the ad. What RERA requires, published fees, and the one day turnaround.
7 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
The three broker limit on a Dubai and Abu Dhabi listing
Dubai has capped a unit to three Trakheesi permits since October 2022. Abu Dhabi's Madhmoun runs an equivalent cap. What the limit stops, and what it does not.
6 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
RERA Form A, Form B and Form F, and when each is signed
Contract A gives a brokerage the right to market. Contract B is the buyer side agreement. Contract F is the sale. What each document does and who signs it.
6 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Why UAE portals pull a listing and how to keep yours live
Published image, title and description specs for Property Finder, Bayut and dubizzle, the permit checks that unpublish a listing, and how long you get to fix a flag.
10 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Advertising an off plan property in Dubai, permit by permit
Off plan advertising in Dubai needs project registration, an escrow account and, since April 2024, a unit level Primary Unit Permit. What each step requires.
6 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Madhmoun permits in Abu Dhabi and the other five emirates
Abu Dhabi has required an ADREC Madhmoun permit through DARI since 7 July 2025. Published fees, the ADGM rule for Al Reem and Al Maryah, and where the record ends.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
The Arabic half of a UAE listing, and how to write it
Arabic is the official language of the UAE and both major portals run Arabic sites. The terms machine translation gets wrong, and the words the regulators use.
6 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
United States
MLS rules, the fair housing language a description is measured against, and the photograph standards a board enforces.
Zillow's listing access standards, and what breaches them
Zillow blocks a third non compliant listing for the life of the agreement. What counts as a violation, and the narrow private listing exception that survives it.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
Who owns a listing photo, and what a lawsuit actually claims
A photographer owns the copyright the moment the shutter clicks, even under a work for hire agreement, unless narrow conditions are met. What a demand letter claims.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
What HUD's disparate impact rulemaking actually changes
HUD has proposed removing its own disparate impact regulation, not finalized it, and the proposal does not touch what the Fair Housing Act itself prohibits.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
Fair housing rules for Meta and Google property ads
Meta and Google both require a Special Ad Category on housing ads that strips age, gender and postal code targeting. What an agent actually has to select, and why.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
Why your Zillow listing isn't getting views
A Zillow listing can sit unseen for reasons that have nothing to do with the house, from the lead photo to a price band boundary to the opening line.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
The unbranded photo requirement, explained
Most MLSs ban any sign, logo, contact detail or watermark in listing media. What counts as branding under CRMLS, ARMLS and MLS PIN, and what gets a listing flagged.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
NAR Code of Ethics Article 12, the true picture standard
Article 12 requires REALTORS to be honest in every advertisement. Its 12 active Standards of Practice, with their adoption dates, set out exactly what that requires.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
What an MLS violation fine actually costs
There is no national MLS fine schedule. Named schedules from CRMLS, ARMLS and MLS PIN show how far the numbers and the warning process actually vary.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
Disclosing a virtually staged photograph on the MLS
When a virtually staged image needs a label, what the label must say, how long to keep the unaltered original, and why the rule changes at every MLS line.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Real estate listing photo standards in the US
What MLSs, portals and federal law require of listing photographs, who owns the files you paid for, and when virtual staging has to be labelled.
12 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
What an MLS actually checks before it publishes a listing
Signature paperwork, input deadlines and accuracy duties, and what the MLS explicitly refuses to verify before a listing goes live.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
MLS listing description character limits explained
RESO suggests 4,000 characters for public remarks, but that number is a ceiling, not a rule. What the rulebooks actually say, and why so many blog posts disagree.
7 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
How listings reach Zillow and Realtor.com
The feed path from your MLS to the consumer portals, what a seller can switch off, and why the fix for a wrong listing is almost never at the portal.
10 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
How to write an MLS listing description
Public remarks are a regulated field with a character limit, banned content and a fair housing test. How to write one that clears all three and still sells.
10 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Fair housing words to avoid in a listing description
Federal law bans any advertisement that indicates a preference on seven protected classes. What that means for the words you type into MLS public remarks.
10 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Clear Cooperation Policy explained for listing agents
The one business day rule, what counts as public marketing, and the two exempt listing options every MLS had to offer sellers by 30 September 2025.
11 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
California's AI photo disclosure law for real estate listings
AB 723 puts a disclosure duty into the Business and Professions Code for the first time. What counts as altered, what the statement must say, and who it applies to.
7 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Disclosing an AI written listing description
No federal law, no MLS rule and no 2026 change to the NAR Code of Ethics requires it. What the copyright and advertising rules that do apply actually say.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
United Kingdom
Material information Parts A, B and C, the EPC rating in the advert, and the description rules the portals apply.
Under offer vs sold STC on a UK listing
Under offer, sold subject to contract and let agreed are different statuses. Leaving the wrong one live is a portal breach and a possible misleading action.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
Home Report rules for selling in Scotland
A Home Report must exist before a Scottish house is marketed. What the single survey and property questionnaire contain, and the real exemptions.
7 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
Estate agent fee transparency rules in the UK
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 sets what a fee advert must show since 6 April 2025, VAT included, no charges added later.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
AML checks an estate agent needs before marketing
HMRC registration has to be in place before an agent can lawfully take a listing, and due diligence on the seller is due at that point too, not once a buyer appears.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-07
Rightmove, Zoopla and OnTheMarket image size requirements
What each portal actually publishes about photo pixel size, file format and image counts for agents, and the specs none of the three currently discloses in public.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
Why a Rightmove listing is not getting views
The four checks that explain a quiet listing, the price band boundary buyers filter on, and the added on date that decides where you sit in the default sort order.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
Floorplan requirements for UK property listings
Whether a floorplan is legally required, what the portals actually ask for, the measurement standard it should follow, and who is liable when one is wrong.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
EPC C rules for rental properties by 2030
What the 2026 government response settles about EPC C for rentals, what still needs a statutory instrument, and the cost cap, penalty and grandparenting dates.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-06
What must be included in a UK property listing in 2026
The fields a sales or lettings listing has to carry, the law behind each one, and what the portals still demand after the Trading Standards guidance was withdrawn.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Why Rightmove rejects or removes a property listing
The data quality process behind a pulled listing, the Category A and Category B count system, and the breaches that make a whole branch invisible.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Renters' Rights Act advert wording for letting agents
Stating the rent, the ban on inviting higher offers, and the phrases about children and benefits that became unlawful on 1 May 2026, with the penalties.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Rightmove and Zoopla photo rules for UK agents
Watermarks, text on images, borders, composite shots and the new labelling duty for AI edited photographs, taken from the portals own 2025 and 2026 rulebooks.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Property description rules for UK estate agents
What the DMCC Act, Trading Standards advertising terms and the portal rulebooks actually forbid in a listing description, and how to write one that still sells.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
What a misleading property description costs in 2026
CMA fines of up to 10 per cent of turnover, criminal exposure of up to 2 years, and the buyer's own right of redress under the DMCC Act 2024, with section numbers.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
Material information on UK property listings in 2026
Trading Standards withdrew the Parts A, B and C guidance in May 2025, but the disclosure duty survived it. What still has to appear on a UK listing.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
EPC rules when marketing a property in the UK
When an EPC has to be commissioned, where the rating must appear in an advert, the 200 pound penalties, and what the 2026 EPC reform changes for agents.
9 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02
AI edited property photos and the law in the UK
When an edited listing photograph becomes a misleading action under the DMCC Act, what has to be labelled, the criminal exposure, and the record that defends you.
8 min read · Last verified: 2026-09-02