Workflow
Every Marketplace post you create should follow this 7-step workflow. Once you've done it a few times, the whole thing takes about 15-20 minutes per listing.
The big idea: a great Marketplace post is conversational, has a strong lead photo, and a clear price. The body copy matters less than people think — most prospects scan the photo, the title, the price, and the first line of your description before deciding to click.
Start on the internal listings page. From your dashboard, click into one of the neighborhood links to see what's currently available in that area.
Pick any property you think will move. You know the audience — if you have a hunch a unit will perform, post it. There's no pre-set list. The only rule: it must currently be available on the internal listings page.
Pro tip
Don't overthink which property to pick. Pick one, post it, see what happens. You'll learn faster from 5 posts than from 30 minutes of deliberation. Reps who post often, learn fast, and adjust are the ones who hit their numbers.
Click the property's photo or title on the listings page. You'll land on the full internal listing page for that unit — this is where you'll grab everything you need to build your Marketplace post.
The listing page has all the facts you need:
Highlight the property description on the listing page, copy it (Cmd+C on Mac, Ctrl+C on Windows), and paste it into a notes app or doc. You'll either rewrite it yourself (Step 4 — Quick mode) or paste it into ChatGPT (Step 4 — Smart mode).
Facebook Marketplace requires you to upload photos directly — you can't link to them. So you'll save them to your computer first.
How to download:
Aim for 8-10 photos total, with at least one strong shot from each of these categories. More angles = more clicks, but only if every photo is sharp and bright. Skip blurry, dark, or unflattering ones.
Lead photo = kitchen or living room. Never the bathroom.
Marketplace previews show the first photo as a thumbnail in search results. If your lead photo is a toilet, you'll get fewer clicks. Always reorder after uploading so the kitchen or living room is the first thumbnail viewers see.
You have two ways to write your Marketplace post. Pick whichever fits your style — both produce great results when done right.
Quick mode
If you're a strong writer and you'd rather just write the post yourself, here's the formula that works:
If you get stuck, switch to Smart mode below.
Smart mode
If you'd rather have a draft to work from instead of staring at a blank screen, paste the internal listing copy into ChatGPT along with the prompt below. ChatGPT will give you a Marketplace-ready post you can lightly edit and use.
How to do it:
[PASTE THE LISTING TEXT HERE] with the internal listing copy you grabbed in Step 3The prompt to copy:
You're rewriting a rental listing as a casual, conversational Facebook Marketplace post. Requirements: - Tone: friendly and personal, like a real person, not a leasing office or real estate listing. - Length: 4 to 7 short sentences. Marketplace shoppers scroll fast — every word counts. - Lead with the most appealing fact about the unit (great price, great location, available immediately, fully furnished, etc. — pick whichever is strongest). - Must include: monthly rent, number of bedrooms in the unit, neighborhood, available date, and that it's a furnished room with utilities and cleaning included. - End with this exact CTA on its own line at the bottom: "Interested? DM me and I'll get you set up with a quick virtual tour." - Do NOT include any URLs, links, or website addresses anywhere in the post. The only call-to-action is to DM. - Do NOT mention "RoostUp," any company name, brand, or platform. Strip any brand mentions from the source copy. The post should read like a real person sharing their place, not a company listing. - Do NOT use language that targets a specific demographic (no "perfect for students," "great for young professionals," "ideal for singles," etc. — this violates Fair Housing law). - Do NOT invent details. Only use facts from the listing below. - Do NOT include the full street address. Use the neighborhood and cross-street only, if mentioned. Here's the internal listing copy: [PASTE THE LISTING TEXT HERE]
Always sanity-check ChatGPT's output
ChatGPT occasionally adds details that aren't in the listing (made-up amenities, wrong neighborhood, wrong price). Read every draft before posting. If anything looks off, fix it or regenerate.
Open Facebook, click Marketplace → Sell → Home for Sale or Rent. Facebook will walk you through a form. Here's exactly what to put in each field.
Listing type
Select "For rent" and "Room for rent" (NOT "Home for rent" — RoostUp rents private rooms within a shared unit).
Critical toggles to flip on
Facebook's housing form has two toggles that often get missed but matter a lot for how your listing surfaces to the right audience:
Both are true for every RoostUp listing. Flipping them on tells Facebook's algorithm to surface your post to people who are specifically searching for furnished coliving — way higher-intent than the generic apartment audience.
Photos
Upload 5–8 photos from the folder you saved in Step 3. After uploading, drag to reorder. The first photo is your hook — make it the kitchen or living room.
Title
Use this formula: [Optional adjective] Furnished Bedroom in [Neighborhood] — Utilities & Cleaning Included
Examples: "Furnished Bedroom in South Boston — Utilities & Cleaning Included" · "Bright Furnished Bedroom in Allston — Utilities & Cleaning Included" · "Newly Renovated Furnished Bedroom in JP — Utilities & Cleaning Included"
Do NOT include "RoostUp" or any brand/platform name in the title. Marketplace's algorithm de-prioritizes posts that look like they're from a commercial operator — a generic title gets more reach than a branded one. "Furnished Bedroom" + "Utilities & Cleaning Included" does the real work of differentiating from regular apartment listings without naming a brand — most apartments include some utilities, almost none include cleaning.
Price
Enter the rent exactly as shown on the internal listing page. Do not round up, round down, or change it.
Address / Location
Use the neighborhood and ZIP code only — e.g., "South Boston, MA 02127". Never post the exact street address. This protects current tenants and the property.
Number of bedrooms in unit
Use the number of bedrooms in the apartment (not just the one you're renting out). Get this from the internal listing page.
Number of bathrooms
Same — from the internal listing page.
Available date
From the internal listing page. Use the exact date shown.
Square footage
Skip if not listed. Don't guess.
Description
Paste the post copy you wrote in Step 4. End with the "DM me" CTA from Step 6.
Important: Do not include any URLs or links in the description. Facebook's algorithm de-prioritizes posts with external links, and you'll get less reach.
Amenities
Check every amenity that's mentioned on the internal listing page. Common ones to check:
Pet policy
Only fill in if the internal listing page tells you. If you're not sure, leave it blank — better to handle pet questions in DM than to misstate the policy.
Do not use Facebook's "Generate description with AI" button
Facebook recently added a button that auto-writes the description for you. Don't use it. It generates generic copy that overrides what you wrote and won't convert. Always write your description yourself (Quick mode) or with ChatGPT (Smart mode), as shown in Step 4.
Every post you publish must end with a clear "DM me" call to action. Use this exact line at the bottom of your description:
Interested? DM me and I'll get you set up with a quick virtual tour.
Why DM-only — no URL in the listing:
Your referral URL is NOT for listings — it's for form submission
Your personal URL (reps.roostupcoliving.com/referral/?referrer=YOUR-NAME) still matters — but you use it on the dashboard when you're submitting a captured lead's info yourself, NOT in the listing description. Find it on your dashboard whenever you need it.
Hit publish. Facebook will review your listing — this typically takes 2-4 hours before it goes live and starts surfacing in search results. If yours takes longer or gets rejected, check the rules and re-submit. Don't panic, this is normal.
A strong listing in a busy neighborhood will get 20-50 DMs in the first 48 hours. Most of them will be noise — that's normal. Here's what your funnel should look like if you're working the lead-capture playbook:
Reps who hit the high end of that range actively work the DM funnel. Reps who just answer questions and hope prospects book on their own see closer to 1 tour per 30+ DMs. The lead-capture workflow is the difference.
When a DM comes in: capture the lead yourself
This is the single biggest lever for your earnings. Don't just answer questions and wait. Qualify them in the DM (move date, budget, neighborhood, fit), gather their name, email, and phone, then submit the form yourself on their behalf using your personal referral URL. Prospects you capture this way convert to tours at a dramatically higher rate. See the DM workflow on the training page for the full scripts.
Facebook's algorithm tracks your response rate and uses it to rank your posts. If you respond to every message — even the weird ones, the half-sentence ones, the "is this still available?" ones with no follow-up — Marketplace boosts your listing's visibility. Ghost a few inquiries and your post drops in search results.
For low-effort inquiries, you can keep it short ("Yes, still available. Want me to set up a quick tour?") — the act of replying is what matters to the algorithm.
If a prospect shows interest then goes cold, send one friendly follow-up 24-48 hours later. Something like:
Hey [name] — just circling back, the [neighborhood] room is still available if you want to grab a virtual tour time this week. Otherwise let me know what would work better for you.
Don't pester them with multiple follow-ups, but a single nudge often resurfaces 10-15% of stalled conversations. Stale convos rarely come back on their own.
Side by side
Same property. Same photos. Wildly different results.
✓ GOOD
Bright Furnished Bedroom in South Boston — Utilities & Cleaning Included
$1,650/mo
Just-renovated furnished room available Sep 1 in a 3-bed apartment two blocks off Broadway in Southie. $1,650/mo all-in — rent, utilities, cleaning, and furniture all included, zero setup needed. Walk to the Red Line, plenty of restaurants on Broadway, easy commute downtown.
It's a shared apartment (your own private bedroom, shared kitchen + living room), so a good fit if you want a clean, ready-to-go place without the hassle of buying furniture, splitting utility bills, or figuring out cleaning schedules with roommates.
Interested? DM me and I'll get you set up with a quick virtual tour.
Why this works: leads with the hook (just-renovated, prime location, available Sep 1), price is upfront, neighborhood is specific (Broadway), explains the coliving model in plain English without using "perfect for [demographic]" language, ends with a clean DM-only call to action — no external link to hurt reach. Conversational tone — sounds like a person.
✗ BAD
BEAUTIFUL ROOM AVAILABLE!!!
$1,650/mo
Stunning, well-maintained property in the heart of South Boston. This exclusive opportunity offers a generous bedroom in a fully appointed three-bedroom dwelling featuring premium finishes throughout. Perfect for young professionals looking for a vibrant urban lifestyle. The unit boasts modern amenities including but not limited to a fully equipped kitchen, in-unit washer/dryer, and central air conditioning. Located in a desirable area with excellent transit access and a wide variety of dining and entertainment options. Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity! Contact for showing.
Why this fails: title yells in caps with no useful info, copy is corporate/spammy ("stunning," "exclusive opportunity," "boasts"), zero specifics (what neighborhood within Southie? Available when?), uses Fair Housing-violating targeting ("perfect for young professionals"), no clear DM call to action — "Contact for showing" is passive and doesn't drive engagement. Reads like a bot.
Leading with a bathroom photo
Always make sure the first photo is the kitchen or living room. Reorder after uploading.
Using FB's AI description button
Generic copy that converts poorly. Always write it yourself or use the ChatGPT prompt.
Posting the exact street address
Neighborhood + cross-street only. Protect current tenants.
Putting a URL in the listing description
Kills your reach. FB de-prioritizes posts with external links. DM-only CTA — always.
Ignoring "dead-end" DMs
Even one-line replies help your post's algorithm ranking. Reply to every inquiry.
Targeting language
"Perfect for young professionals" violates Fair Housing law. See the rules section.
Changing the price
Use the rent on the internal listing exactly. Don't undercut or upsell.
Letting ChatGPT invent details
Always cross-check against the original listing. Made-up details burn trust.
Slow response time
Marketplace moves fast. Check messages every 2-4 hours during the day.
Skipping the toggles
Flip on "Private room in shared property" and "Furnished" — they boost your post's visibility to the right audience.
Just answering questions
DMs that don't move toward a booked tour don't earn bonuses. Always be pushing to schedule.
Need to brush up on scripts or the rules?
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