Overview
This guide explains how to set up multifamily properties and floorplans in RentEngine and link your available units.
This setup is recommended for all buildings with 2+ rental units, so that accompanied showings can be scheduled back-to-back at different units of the same building.
Do you need a paid contract? Zillow requires a paid multifamily contract for buildings with more than 24 units total. Apartments.com requires one for buildings with more than 4 units total. These thresholds apply to the total number of apartment (not condo) units in the building — not just the ones you're advertising.
Step 1 — Create a multifamily property
Open the Properties tab
At the top of the page, switch from Units to Multifamily Properties
Click Add New
Enter property details
Fill out the required fields:
Property name
Street address
Number of units
Structure type
Year built
Property description
Add amenities and photos
Select the property’s amenities from the dropdown
Upload property photos
Drag and drop photos to control display order
At least one building photo is recommended
You can also add:
Office hours
Special offers
Open houses (if applicable)
Note: If you have a paid marketing contract for this building, we recommend filling out all the fields so that it displays best
Syndication Feed Settings
At the bottom of the property setup page, you'll see toggles for Syndication Feed Settings:
I have a paid Zillow multifamily contract for this building
I have a paid Apartments.com multifamily contract for this building
Important: Only toggle these on if you have an active paid contract with Zillow or Apartments.com for this building. Enabling these without a contract will send the listing through the wrong feed, and Zillow or Apartments.com may block the property as a result.
Save the property
Click Save Changes to finish creating the multifamily property.
Step 2 — Set up floorplans (optional)
Floorplans are only required if your multifamily building has a paid Zillow or Apartments.com contract and has no active units at the time of setup. Adding a floorplan ensures the property continues to display on those platforms even when no individual units are available, so the contract can be connected to RentEngine.
If your building does not have a paid contract, you can skip this step.
Open the Floorplans tab
Click Add New
Select the multifamily property the floorplan belongs to
Floorplan details
You can include:
Floorplan name
Bedrooms and bathrooms
Total units that share this layout
Minimum and maximum square footage
Market rent
Floorplan-specific amenities (e.g., balcony, washer/dryer)
Special offers for that layout
Note: we do not recommend manually adding floorplans unless directed by RentEngine support
Step 3 — Connect vacancies to the property
Once the multifamily property and floorplans exist, link your active units.
Go to the Properties tab
Find the individual unit in the building
Click Take action → Edit property
Scroll to the bottom of the first page
Select the Multifamily property from the dropdown (in most cases this will be 'auto-matched' for you)
Click Next to save
Repeat for all active units in that building
The unit is now connected and eligible for syndication with your paid contract.
Step 4 — Notify your Zillow or Apartments.com rep
Once you've completed the steps above, send an email to your Zillow or Apartments.com rep to connect your paid contract to RentEngine. You'll need the building name, address, and Multifamily ID (MFID), which you can find in the Multifamily Properties view under the Property ID column.
Zillow email template:
Subject: Feed Transfer Request – RentEngine
Hi there,
We'd like to apply our paid Zillow Multifamily contract to properties syndicated via the RentEngineMFH feed.
Here are the buildings covered under our Zillow contract:
[Building name] | MFID: [Property ID] | Address: [Full address]
Please let us know if you need anything else to move forward.
Thank you,
[Your name]
Apartments.com email template
Subject: Feed Transfer Request – RentEngine | [Your company name]
Hi there,
We'd like to apply our paid Apartments.com (CoStar) contract to properties syndicated via the RentEngine feed.
Here are the buildings that need to be connected:
[Building name] | MFID: [Property ID] | Address: [Full address]
Please let us know if anything else is needed to move forward.
Thanks,
[Your name]
How to confirm Zillow or Apartments.com is connected
Once your rep processes the request, you can verify the connection in RentEngine:
Go to Intelligence > Syndication Status
Find the property and confirm the status shows as POSTED
A link to view the listing live on Zillow or Apartments.com will appear there as well
How to update the widget on your multifamily website
To showcase your multifamily units on your website, you can build a custom listings widget in RentEngine:
Go to Settings > Company > Listings Widget Builder > Build Custom Widget
Scroll down and on the left side, go to Filtering Options
Select the multifamily property you want to create the widget for
On the right side, copy the embedded code
The embed code is an iframe that your developer can add to the section of your website where you'd like to display the units. It will look like this:
<iframe src="https://rentengine.io/c/yourcompany?desktopViewStartAs=grid&mobileViewStartAs=grid&sortBy=id&defaultSortDirection=asc&multifamilyPropertyIds=YOUR-MFID-HERE" width="100%" height="600" id="listings-iframe" frameborder="0" allow="camera https://app.rentengine.io; web-share https://www.rentengine.io;"></iframe><script src="https://app.rentengine.io/embed/listings-widget.js"></script>
You can create different widget versions for different buildings by selecting different multifamily properties in the Filtering Options.
How to update the contact form on your multifamily website
You can send leads to RentEngine from any contact form on your website, as long as form submissions are forwarded to your RentEngine email forwarding address. You can find this address in Command Center > Add Prospect (top right). It will look like this:
For the prospect to be automatically created in the Command Center, the email submission must include:
Name
Phone number
Email address (optional)
Property of interest (full address with unit number, or the address of the multifamily building is required)