What questions should a property management company ask a marketing agency before signing?

Resident Intelligence is the practice of connecting reputation, marketing, and leasing signals to explain why apartment communities win or lose leases. HeyNeighborly delivers it, powered by its Resident OS platform.

Ask the questions that show how the agency will work after the contract is signed: how it measures results, who you will talk to every week, what happens in the first 90 days, who owns the accounts and data, what happens when a campaign underperforms, and how long you are locked in. A pitch deck covers the services; these questions show how the agency will operate.

HeyNeighborly does social media, content, review replies, ads and local search for apartment communities. This post is a checklist a management company can bring to an agency review, written from the side of the table that has to answer it.

Why do the usual RFP questions miss?

They ask for the easy parts. Lease Ups, a multifamily agency, makes the point in its August 2026 guide: a typical RFP asks an agency to list channels, show case studies and quote a price, while the more predictive questions about measurement, process ownership, data access and underperformance get skipped.

The measurement gap is real. In an Insights by Blueprint survey of multifamily operators, 28.6% said they don't track which social platforms generate leads at all. RealPage's 2026 marketing guide, citing Cushman & Wakefield remarks at the AIM 2026 conference, says 53% of multifamily leases are attributed to the wrong marketing source. If the reporting cannot be trusted, the agency review turns into a contest of presentations.

What should you ask about measurement?

What the agency will be judged on, in writing. In Apartments.com's 2026 survey of 700 multifamily marketing decision-makers, about two-thirds ranked high-quality leads and strong lead-to-lease conversion among their most important goals when evaluating an advertising source. The agency's report should speak to those goals.

• Which numbers will you report monthly, and which of them tie to tours and leases rather than impressions?
• How will you tell a lease-up apart from a stabilized community in your goals?
• How will lead source be tracked, and who checks it against the leasing office's records?

Who will you work with day to day?

My view: the person on the weekly call matters more to your results than whoever runs the pitch.

• Who is our day-to-day contact, and how many other communities do they handle?
• Who on your team creates content at our properties, and do they visit in person?
• How fast do you answer a site team's request, and how do they send it?

What happens in the first 90 days?

Ask for the plan by week. A specific onboarding plan shows the agency has done this before.

• What do you need from us in week one: logins, brand files, unit photos, pricing?
• When does the first content go live, and who approves it?
• What will the report look like at day 30, 60 and 90?

Who owns the accounts and the data?

You should. Get it in the contract.

• Are ad accounts, social profiles, Google Business Profiles and analytics owned by us, with the agency added as a user?
• If we part ways, do we keep the account history, photos and video you produced?
• Can we see live reporting, or only a monthly summary?

What happens when a campaign underperforms?

Every agency has a campaign that misses. The question is what they do next.

• What is the trigger for changing course, and who decides?
• Can you show an example of a campaign you cut or reworked, and what you changed?
• How will you tell us, and how soon?

How long is the contract?

Ask about term length, notice period and what happens to unused prepaid work. My view: a long lock-in with a heavy cancellation penalty tells you something about how confident the agency is in its own results. A short initial term with a clear review point is easier for both sides.

Frequently asked questions

How many agencies should a management company compare?

Lease Ups suggests three finalists is usually enough for a fair comparison. Ask all three the same questions and score the answers the same way.

Should price decide the choice?

Price matters, but compare it against what each agency will report and own. A cheaper agency that cannot show which work produced leases can end up costing more.

Should the agency handle Fair Housing in ad copy and targeting?

Yes. Ask how they review ad copy and audience settings for Fair Housing, and expect a specific answer.

If you are reviewing agencies for several communities, book a call with HeyNeighborly and we will answer this checklist for your portfolio.

Sources

1. Lease Ups, Choosing a Multifamily Marketing Agency: The RFP Questions That Actually Predict Performance (Aug 21, 2026): usual RFP questions; three finalists.
2. Insights by Blueprint, Scaling Social Marketing Without Scaling Staff (Mar 23, 2026): 28.6% don't track which platforms generate leads.
3. RealPage, The Ultimate Multifamily Marketing Guide for 2026 (Sep 2026): 53% of leases attributed to the wrong source, citing Cushman & Wakefield remarks at AIM 2026.
4. Apartments.com via Multifamily Dive, It's budget season for multifamily marketers: 5 tips to get ready (sponsored, Aug 24, 2026): 2026 survey of 700 decision-makers; about two-thirds.