How to pre-sell townhomes: a practical playbook for developers

Pre-selling townhomes comes down to three things: have your plans, pricing and reservation terms ready, show buyers enough to understand each home before it exists, and give brokers and buyers a simple path to reserve. A clear launch sequence (assets, broker preview, public launch) does more than any single piece of marketing.

Matan Assulin, Founder of Unbuilt
Updated November 14, 2026 · 3 min read

This playbook is written for small and mid-size townhome projects: a row of three to thirty homes, often on infill or waterfront lots. It isn’t legal advice. Deposits, escrow and contract terms are regulated, so settle them with your attorney before you market anything.

1. Prepare before you market

• A plan set that won’t change. Buyers reserve against a layout. Lock floor plans, elevations and the main finish level before launch so every asset matches.
• Pricing by unit. End units, water or park views and corner lots usually price differently. Decide the premiums before brokers start quoting.
• Reservation and deposit terms. Work these out with your attorney, including where deposits are held. Buyers ask on the first call.
• A unit matrix. One sheet listing each unit, its plan, square feet, outdoor space, parking and price. It becomes the backbone of your website, broker packet and tour.

2. What townhome buyers need to see

Townhome buyers compare floor by floor. The questions we hear most come down to layout and light, not finishes:

• How the ground floor flows: garage, entry, stairs and where the kitchen sits.
• Which floor the bedrooms are on, and whether the primary suite has its own level.
• How end units differ from interior units: extra windows, side yards, sometimes a different plan.
• The roof terrace or balcony, and what you see from it.
• Parking, storage and where the elevator (if any) lands.

Renderings answer the first impression. A floor plan answers the layout on paper. An interactive tour answers both at once, because the buyer can tap a room on the plan and stand in it. That matters most for multi-level homes, where flat plans are hardest to read. Our Trine case study covers all three floors of three waterfront townhomes, dock to roof terrace.

3. An example launch timeline

Every project is different. This is one workable sequence for a small townhome row, counted back from public launch:

1. 8–10 weeks out: final plan set, unit matrix and pricing. Commission hero renderings and the interactive tour. Our tours take 2–4 weeks from plans and deposit.
2. 4–6 weeks out: project website live with the tour embedded. Broker packet ready: unit matrix, renderings, tour link, private broker view password, commission terms.
3. 2–4 weeks out: broker preview. Brokers get the private view with pricing, so they can pre-qualify buyers before the public sees anything.
4. Launch: public tour, ads pointing to it, signage with a QR code on the site, and the price-on-request form collecting leads.
5. After launch: mark sold units in your materials, and send the tour link as the follow-up after every inquiry.

4. Bring brokers in early

In most markets, brokers bring a large share of pre-construction buyers. Make it easy for them to sell something that doesn’t exist yet: one link they can text, a private view with addresses and prices that the public doesn’t see, and clear commission terms. Read more in 3D tours for brokers.

5. Where a 3D tour fits

A tour isn’t your ad. It’s what the ad points to. Use it as:

• The follow-up link after every first call or inquiry.
• The embed on your project site, so buyers stay on your page.
• The QR code on the construction fence: people walking by can stand inside the home that’s going up behind it.
• The lead form: “price on request” sends interested buyers straight to your sales team.

For a row of townhomes, repeat units of the same plan are priced at 30% of the rate, so covering every unit is affordable. Six townhomes on two plans come to $10,250 on our Signature tier. See 3D tours for townhomes for more examples.

6. Mistakes to avoid

• Marketing before plans are final. Every change means re-doing assets.
• Showing only the hero unit. If the interior units have a different layout, buyers of those units need to see them too.
• Publishing the address too early. Many developers keep the exact location for qualified buyers. A private broker view handles that.
• No clear next step. Every asset should end in one action: reserve, request pricing, or book a call.

Related