KONAHNew construction marketing checklist.
Marketing a new community starts before there's anything to photograph and ends after the last home closes. Each phase needs different media. Here's a checklist builders and their agents can work through, phase by phase.
Phase 1: before groundbreaking
- Renderings of elevations and key interiors, clearly labeled as renderings.
- Site plan showing lots, open space and amenities.
- Location content: aerials of the land and the surroundings, and photos of what's nearby (parks, trails, shopping, transit), describing places rather than people.
- Floor plans for each model, labeled approximate.
- Interest list landing page with a clear call to action.
Phase 2: site work and framing
This is when progress media starts paying off. Monthly photos and aerials from the same positions show buyers and lenders that the project is moving. Repeatable angles matter more than artistry: buyers want to compare March and April. Short vertical clips of milestones (first foundation, first frame up, roads paved) work well on social media. KONAH's Builder / New Construction plan covers monthly progress photos and aerials for every active community; see construction progress.
Phase 3: the model home
- Full interior and exterior photography, staged and styled.
- Twilight exteriors for the hero image.
- A cinematic model-home film and vertical reels.
- A 3D tour, which keeps working for the whole sales cycle and for out-of-town buyers.
- Detail frames of finishes and options, labeled when they're upgrades.
KONAH's New Construction · Model Home package ($650) bundles photos, a community flyover, a model film and a property website.
Phase 4: community amenities
Pools, clubhouses, playgrounds, trails and dog parks sell communities. Photograph them as soon as they open and refresh them when landscaping matures, since first-season plantings look thin. Aerials of the whole community, updated quarterly, show progress and the overall feel. Use the photos across the website, listings and sales-office screens.
Phase 5: quick move-ins and spec homes
Completed spec homes need their own listing photos, not the model's. Buyers need to see the actual finishes and the actual lot. Shoot each spec home when it's complete and clean, and use the model photos only where clearly labeled as the model.
Phase 6: closeout
As a community sells out, shift to "final opportunities" content: the last available lots, the finished streetscape, a community flyover showing it complete. Archive the media library; it becomes the portfolio for your next community.
What to label at each stage
- Renderings: "Rendering, for illustration only."
- Model photos used for other homes: "Photos of the model home; finishes and features may differ."
- Virtually staged spec homes: "Virtually staged."
- Floor plans: "Dimensions approximate; plans subject to change."
- Upgrades shown in models: identified as optional where buyers could be misled.
MLS rules for new construction often address renderings and to-be-built listings; check yours. See our disclosure guide.
Drone over construction sites
Our Part 107 pilots fly progress aerials at every site we shoot. Near DC and the bases the pilot files the required authorization before the first flight and keeps it current for repeat visits; near Dulles, BWI and Manassas Regional, LAANC usually takes minutes. On active sites, crews check in with the superintendent, follow site safety rules and don't fly over people at work. Check a site with our airspace checker.
Content for the sales team
- A short, current video for the sales office screen.
- A library of approved photos and clips agents can use in their own marketing.
- Monthly "what's new" posts with real progress photos.
- Buyer update emails with photos of their phase.
A one-page checklist
- Renderings and site plan, labeled.
- Location aerials and nearby-places photos.
- Floor plans per model.
- Monthly progress photos and aerials from fixed positions.
- Model home photos, twilight, film and 3D tour.
- Amenity photos at opening and after landscaping matures.
- Spec home photos per home.
- Quarterly community flyover.
- Closeout content and an archived library.
Budgeting across a community's life
Media costs for a community are easiest to manage as a steady monthly line rather than a series of one-off bookings: progress and amenity media on a plan, plus a model-home package when each model opens and a listing shoot per spec home. The monthly content plans page lists the Builder plan's current price and what it covers.
Fair Housing in community marketing
Community marketing tends to sell a lifestyle, which is where Fair Housing risk creeps in. Describe the community's features (pool, trails, clubhouse, distance to the Metro or the VRE) and the homes' features (main-level primary suite, step-free entry, elevator option) factually. Avoid language or imagery that suggests who the community is for. Lifestyle photos without people, like a set table or a lit fire pit, sell the feeling without that risk.
Working with agents who sell your homes
Outside agents bring many new-construction buyers. Make it easy for them to market your homes: a shared library of approved photos, floor plans and renderings with the right labels, clear rules on which images can be used where, and fresh content each month. Agents who have good material share your community more often. Make sure your photography license covers sharing with cooperating agents for marketing your homes.
Measuring what works
Track which media actually moves buyers: website visits from the community flyover, sign-ups after a progress update email, tour requests from the 3D model, questions in the sales office about a reel. Even simple tracking (where did you hear about us, which video did you watch) tells you where to spend next quarter. Drop what doesn't work and double down on what does, rather than ordering the same package every month by habit.
Photos that age well
Communities sell over months or years, so choose media that won't date quickly: neutral styling in the model, exteriors shot in green seasons, and aerials refreshed as streets and landscaping fill in. Avoid seasonal decor, dated graphics and anything that pins the photos to a single month. Keep a running archive by date so you can show how the community has grown, which is persuasive content in its own right. When a phase sells out, retire its photos from active marketing so buyers don't ask about homes that are gone, and keep them in the archive for your next community's sales team.
Who owns the media
Before the first shoot, agree in writing who can use the photos, video and tours: the builder, the sales team, cooperating agents, the architect, the interior designer. Clear licensing up front means nobody has to ask permission each time a new phase launches. See who owns listing photos.