Coming soon real estate video: what the rules allow in October 2026

Blunt version first: in most MLSs, a coming soon video on your public Instagram is public marketing, and public marketing means the listing has to be in the MLS within one business day. Agents who treat a teaser as a free pre launch, then enter the listing a week later, are the reason MLSs fine people.

The rules have changed a lot since 2019, and in 2026 they are in an unusually unsettled state. This piece covers where they stand as of late October 2026, the options a seller now has, and what a teaser can show inside each one. It is a summary, not legal advice. Your MLS's rules are the ones that apply to you, and they vary.

Clear Cooperation, in one paragraph

NAR's Clear Cooperation Policy, adopted in 2019 and in force since 2020, says that within one business day of marketing a property to the public, the listing broker must submit it to the MLS for cooperation with other participants. Public marketing is read broadly: yard signs, flyers, digital ads, the brokerage's public website, social media posts, and email blasts beyond the office. Most MLSs that follow NAR policy have written it into their own rules, often with their own wording and their own fines.

As of October 2026 the policy has not been repealed. It is also under more pressure than at any point since it was adopted. Some large brokerages have said publicly that they will not follow it, enforcement differs widely between MLSs, and there is active litigation between at least one large brokerage and MLSs over office exclusive marketing rules. None of that changes what your MLS's current rule says today, and an agent is in a weak position arguing a fine on the strength of an industry fight.

The 2025 change: Multiple Listing Options for Sellers

In March 2025 NAR kept Clear Cooperation and added a policy called Multiple Listing Options for Sellers, which MLSs had to implement by September 30, 2025. It creates a delayed marketing exempt listing and formalises the office exclusive. Both need a signed seller disclosure.

The delayed marketing option is the one that changes the coming soon video. NAR's FAQ says that during the delay period, the seller and listing broker can market the listing in any manner consistent with the seller's needs and interests, subject to applicable law, including on social media and other websites. What is held back is the IDX display and syndication to portals. So a Reel on your account is allowed, while the listing is not yet flowing to sites fed by the MLS.

How long the delay can be is up to each MLS. Some set a few days, some longer. Some have added their own conditions. Before a seller signs the disclosure, look up your MLS's number.

Portals have their own rules too

Zillow introduced Listing Access Standards in 2025 that could keep listings off its site if they were publicly marketed before being broadly available, and revised them in March 2026 to focus on whether a publicly marketed listing is broadly accessible to buyers. Those standards are Zillow's, not your MLS's, and they can change again. If a seller's plan includes a long private or delayed phase, check the current Zillow and Realtor.com policies on the day you start, not the version you read about last spring.

What a coming soon teaser can show

Assume your teaser is allowed. The next question is what it should contain, and here our advice is the same whichever route you are on: show less than you think.

A coming soon film that shows the whole house is just an early listing film, and it spends your best material before the launch. A teaser should make the viewer want the launch post. One or two detail shots, one line, a day.

• A detail, not a room: the pendant over the island, the brass tap, light through a stair window. Hold it for 3 to 5 seconds with a slow push in.
• A line with a fact and a date: "Mid century, fully restored. Thursday."
• No price, unless the seller wants price to be the story.
• No address on screen if the seller is still living there and has asked for privacy; the neighbourhood name is usually enough.
• Keep it between 6 and 12 seconds. Longer and it is a listing film.
• Vertical only, for Stories and Reels. Save the 4:5 and widescreen cuts for launch.

What a teaser must not do: imply that buyers can get in early when the seller has chosen a standard listing, promise a launch date you do not control, or invent scarcity ("already three offers") before the home is even listed. The Fair Housing and truthful advertising rules apply to a 6 second teaser exactly as they apply to the full film.

A worked example

A 1958 mid century in Phoenix, restored over two years. The seller wants the film ready on day one, and also wants a week of buzz. The agent offers three routes and the seller picks one.

1. Standard listing. No teaser. Enter the listing Thursday morning, post the full film Thursday afternoon. Simple, and nobody can fault it.
2. Coming soon status, if the MLS has one. Enter it Monday in coming soon, post a 9 second teaser of the original breeze block wall that day, then the full film when it goes active Thursday. Check whether the MLS counts days on market from coming soon and whether showings are allowed.
3. Delayed marketing exempt listing. The seller signs the disclosure. The listing is entered and visible to other MLS participants Monday; the agent posts the teaser and, if the seller wants, the full film on their own channels; IDX and syndication start when the MLS's delay period ends.

All three need the same film. The teaser is cut from it, not shot separately. In Property Video Generator that means making the film once, then asking the AI Director for "a 9 second teaser opening on the breeze block wall, no price" and posting the vertical cut. The MLS cut, unbranded, waits for the virtual tour field.

Before you post the teaser

Five questions, in this order. Which listing option has the seller chosen, in writing? Is the listing entered in the MLS in the right status? What is your MLS's delay period or coming soon rule? Does the teaser show only what the seller agreed to? Does every word in it describe the home rather than the buyer? If you cannot answer the first three today, wait a day and ask your MLS. A teaser that goes out a day late costs nothing. One that goes out a week early can cost a fine and a seller's trust.