Most builders assume PR is for big developers with big budgets. It’s not. It’s for anyone with a story worth telling, and every builder has one.
We sat down with Natasha Granath, founder of Sightlines PR, to talk about what PR actually looks like for a residential builder, what it costs, and how to know if you’re ready to give it a go.
Why property PR is worth the effort
Property news reaches around 10 million readers a week in Australia — second only to general news, and bigger than sport. That’s a lot of people actively looking for building and property content, and most builders aren’t in front of any of it.
Natasha puts the difference between PR and marketing simply: marketing sells a product at a price. PR builds authority and trust by solving a reader’s problem.
“It’s not about trying to sell your product. It’s more about trying to get people’s trust.” — Natasha Granath
Journalists are constantly looking for builders who can speak credibly to real industry pain points — construction costs, energy efficiency, market conditions — and that’s the door PR opens.
Finding your story when you don’t think you have one
Milestones are the easiest starting point: lodging a DA, releasing the design, opening sales. Cost-saving data, energy efficiency results, or anything your team knows that homeowners don’t are all genuine story angles too.
No live project to talk about? Natasha’s advice is to look at the builder, not the build. Origin stories, family business history, records broken, or a specific specialisation are all fair game.
“Figure out what’s your origin story, what sets you apart. Are there any bests, or records set? Have you built the most homes in this region of Australia?” — Natasha Granath
Matching the angle to your business
Not every angle suits every builder. High-end residential builders get the most mileage from design partnerships with architects, aimed at long-lead glossy titles like Vogue Living or Home Beautiful — Natasha noted these can take six to nine months to land, since those magazines plan entire editions in advance.
Mid-size builders and master-planned communities tend to do better with genuine client case studies. A happy homeowner telling their own story, in their own words, carries a kind of authenticity an ad never will.
Awards matter too, but only as a starting point, not a finish line. A win from the HIA or Master Builders confers authority — but a media release the month after you win is old news by the time it lands. The better move is a fresh angle built off the award: a specific design feature, a build record, or a story the original coverage didn’t tell.
What good builder PR actually looks like
Natasha shared an example from her work with Crown Group, where the goal was a TV news hit roughly once a month. One angle that landed: an early piece on vertical garden design, backed by drone footage nobody else had. Another, working with urban planning bodies, focused on future-proofing apartment design around shared spaces and working from home — a story that ran across print, TV and design publications.
Her takeaway: there’s always a story if you keep digging, and often it comes from partnering with someone else on the project — an architect, a landscape designer, a planning body — who brings their own audience and authority to the table.
What to budget, and how long to commit
Natasha’s guidance: large property developers typically put 3 to 6 percent of their project budget toward marketing, and a small percentage of that towards PR. For a mid-size builder, a starting point might be a small retainer of say $5,000 a month for a fixed three-to-six month campaign around a single project. And that can move up to $12,000 to $15,000 a month for broader scope, where there are various projects underway, media launches to host, and community engagement.
Three months is close to the minimum useful window. PR takes roughly six weeks up front just to gather ideas, interview people, and commission photography — and pitching results can land weeks or months after that. A one-month trial rarely has time to prove itself.
Where PR sits in the funnel
PR sits further upstream than most marketing activity. It first reaches people in the inspiration and research phase — long before they’re ready to contact a builder directly. Natasha compared it to planning a wedding: some people are forming ideas about what they want years before they enter a bridal store.
That earlier reach matters more as buying decisions get slower and more considered, which is exactly the trend builders are living through right now.
Your first move
If you’re testing the water, Natasha’s advice is to start with one question: what makes you different? A burning issue you want to educate people on, an opinion you want the industry to hear, or simply a standout team culture story can all be PR-worthy. From there, a conversation with a PR professional will tell you quickly whether there’s a workable angle.
Sea Salt Marketing works with residential builders across Australia and New Zealand to build brand and leads as one connected system. If you’re ready to talk about where PR — or any other channel — fits into yours, book a strategy session with us.
