Create a listing

All FirstList users can add unlimited listings. To add a listing:

Log in to FirstList
.
Click Listings in the sidebar menu to open a sub-menu.
Click My listings.
Click Create listing in the header.
Enter in the details of your listing.
Click Save Draft.
If your listing does not include an MLS date then it is considered an exclusive listing. You will be asked to confirm that you have written permission from you client to abstain from listing on an MLS.
If it’s an exclusive listing (no MLS date) then click Publish.

See Listing types to learn more about how listings are shared on FirstList.

Saving a draft

Save Draft stores your work even when the listing is incomplete. An address is enough to keep a draft. Missing price, description, photos, or MLS details do not block the save — finish those before you publish.

If a photo is flagged, too low quality or already used on another listing (see Listing photos), you can still save the draft. Publishing is blocked until those photos are removed or replaced.

Listing photos

Gallery photos are checked automatically as soon as they finish uploading. While the check runs, the gallery shows a notice such as Checking 2 photos for quality and branding. It usually takes a few seconds, and you can keep editing the listing in the meantime.

The check runs in three steps, one after the other:

Quality. The photo must be at least 640 × 480 pixels and must not be blurred across the whole picture. A photo that fails this step is marked as too low quality and is not checked any further.
Duplicates. The photo must not already be used on another listing. A photo that is is marked as a duplicate and is not checked any further.
Branding. Photos that pass both steps go to the AI photo check. FirstList only blocks marketing that was added to a photo, such as “Coming Soon” banners, brokerage logos, and agent contact details. Ordinary signage that was in the scene when the photo was taken is fine.

See Listing photos requirements for the full rules.

A photo that fails a step is marked in the gallery with a short explanation. Quality problems are listed first, then duplicates, then branding problems. Remove the photo with the × on it, or upload a better version. If you think the check is wrong, contact support@firstlist.co.

Flagged, low-quality and duplicate photos do not stop you from saving a draft. They do stop Publish, and they also block Save on a listing that is already live.

Listing photos requirements

Listing photos should be sharp, large enough to view, taken for this listing, and show the property and nothing else. FirstList first checks each gallery photo’s quality, then whether it is already used on another listing, then uses an AI photo check to catch marketing added onto it, such as banners, logos, and contact details, before a listing goes live.

Photo quality

A photo is too low quality when:

It is too small. Photos need to be at least 640 × 480 pixels, in landscape or portrait. Thumbnails, screenshots of thumbnails, and tiny images are rejected.
It is blurry. Photos that are blurred across the whole picture, for example with a blur filter, are rejected. A photo with a soft background, a blurred window view, or one blurred detail is fine.

Buyers see your photos large, so a small or blurry photo makes the listing look unfinished. Low-quality photos are not sent to the branding check: replace them first.

Photos used on another listing

Every listing needs its own photos. A gallery photo is a duplicate when the same photo is already in the gallery of another listing on FirstList, whoever posted it. The check compares what photos look like, not their file names, so a copy that was downloaded, resized, re-saved, converted to another format or slightly brightened is still found.

The photo that was posted first stays. Only the later copy is marked.
Your own photos count too. If the other listing is yours, the message names its address. When that listing is an old draft you no longer need, delete it, then upload the photo again.
Deleted listings and unsaved drafts do not count. Photos you uploaded to a listing you never saved are not compared.
Photos of the same listing do not count. Uploading the same photo again to the same listing is not a duplicate.
Different shots of the same place are fine. Another photo of the same room, or a twilight edit of a daytime photo, is not a duplicate.

Why photos are checked

FirstList listings reach well beyond your own network. They are seen by other agents, in the Website Popup, and on partner sites such as Property.ca (see Distribution). Much of that audience belongs to someone else. For example, a buyer browsing a brokerage’s website through the popup is that brokerage’s lead.

Branded photos would let one brokerage advertise itself to another agent’s clients. Banners such as “Coming Soon” or “Just Listed” also clash with the status FirstList already shows on the listing. The check keeps every gallery clean and consistent, so listings compete on the property rather than the marketing.

What is not allowed

A photo is flagged when it contains:

Type	Examples
Status banners	“Coming Soon”, “For Sale”, “Just Listed”, “Sold”, “Open House”, prices, or open-house dates laid over the photo, in any language (for example, “À vendre”)
Brokerage branding	Brokerage, team, or franchise names and logos, brand colour bars, corner logos, and repeated (tiled) brand watermarks
Agent details	Agent names with REALTOR® or broker titles, headshots, phone numbers, email addresses, websites, and QR codes
Yard signs	A real-estate sale or lease sign that is a main, readable subject of the photo, such as a lawn sign, sign rider, open-house A-frame, or “Sold” sticker
Watermarks	Photographer, stock-photo, MLS, staging, or virtual-tour stamps
Other overlays	Captions, price tags, arrows, frames, collages, and contact cards
Not a property photo	Offensive content, or images that are not a photo or rendering of a property, such as screenshots, documents, or memes

What is allowed

These are normal and pass the check:

Shop, restaurant, bank, and other business signs on a building or along the street, even when they are large and readable
Street names, traffic and parking signs, and licence plates
The building’s own name or address on its façade or entrance
Brand names on things inside the home, such as appliances, TVs, artwork, and product labels
Floor plans and site plans with room names, dimensions, and legends. A brokerage logo or contact block on a floor plan is not allowed.
Camera timestamps
Distant signs in the background, including a neighbour’s small for-sale sign
3D renderings, drone photos, and aerial shots of the property

What the check does not cover

Only gallery photos are checked. Profile photos, documents, and the images FirstList creates for AI-generated social posts are not checked.
Duplicates are found within FirstList only. The check does not search the web or MLS for your photos, and it does not catch a photo that was heavily cropped or mirrored.
Quality means size and sharpness only. The check does not look at lighting or framing, and it does not confirm that a photo shows this particular property.
You cannot override a result. There is no button to dispute a flagged photo yet. If you think a photo was flagged by mistake, email support@firstlist.co with the listing address and the photo.
AI can make mistakes. The check can miss branding or, occasionally, flag a clean photo. Passing the check does not guarantee a photo is compliant, so review your gallery before you publish.

Saving and publishing with flagged photos

Action	Photo is flagged, too low quality or a duplicate	Photo is still being checked
Save Draft	Allowed	Allowed
Publish	Blocked	Allowed
Save on a live listing	Blocked	Waits for the check to finish, then saves the listing

Publishing

Publish is the completeness check. The listing must have required fields filled in, at least one photo, and no flagged, low-quality or duplicate gallery photos. Fix any issues on the draft, then publish from the listing page.