October 27, 2026 · 7 min read
Month to Month, Billed in Advance, No Setup Fees: What the Terms Mean in Practice
The terms row reads the same on all six plans. Here is what it means on the first day, the first invoice, the month you change tiers, and the month you stop, plus why we run without a contract.
Every Urban Marketing Edge plan runs on the same three terms: month to month, billed in advance, no setup fees. In practice that means the month is paid at the start and the work begins on day one, the first invoice is the plan price and nothing else, a tier change is a step up or down the next month, and stopping is a decision rather than a negotiation.
The terms row on the plan comparison page reads the same across all six columns, which is why the only-show-differences toggle hides it. It is also the row brokers ask about most on a call, because they have signed twelve-month marketing agreements before.
Here is what each term does on a real calendar: the first day, the first invoice, the month the office changes its mind, and the month it stops.
Month to month: what the first month looks like
Month to month means the plan renews one month at a time. It does not mean the first month is a trial. The first month is the heaviest, because it builds the foundation the rest of the year runs on.
On Agent Starter, month one delivers the template set in the agent's brand, the 90-day quick-start plan, the dashboard, and the first month's themed content.
On Broker Growth and above, month one builds the brand voice and visual guide, with template lockups, alongside the dashboard setup and the first month's content. On Team Marketing Department, the white-labeled dashboard is set up for the brand and every seated agent.
On the luxury studios, month one sets the story framework or brand story with the office, then the first spotlight campaign or campaign-style pieces.
The first weekly meeting sets the month's themes and the newsletter date. By the end of the month, the office has a guide, a template set or custom creative, a dashboard in use, and a feed that has run for three weeks. That is why the terms can be month to month: the work has to earn the next one.
Billed in advance: why the month is paid first
Billed in advance means the invoice for a month is paid before that month's work starts. Two things follow, both in the office's favor.
The work starts on day one. There is no waiting period and no retainer-plus-invoice structure. The month is paid, the meeting is booked, the themes are set.
The month is the unit. The office is never settling a balance for pieces it approved and forgot. One invoice, one month, one calendar of work visible in the dashboard. Plain-language monthly reporting closes the month, so the next invoice arrives with the last month's results in hand.
No setup fees: what that removes
Many marketing agreements carry an onboarding fee or a build fee for the first month's templates. There is none of that here. The first invoice is the plan price: $1,150, $2,250, $3,850, $2,850, $5,500, or $8,550, and the foundation work in month one is inside it.
That includes the brand guide on Broker Growth and above, the template set on Agent Starter, and the dashboard setup on every tier. It also means the templates, brand files, logos, and every finished piece in the dashboard are the office's. They were built inside a month the office paid for, and they stay with the office if it leaves.
No setup fee also changes the risk of choosing the wrong tier. There is no sunk build cost to protect, so a move between plans is decided on what the office needs next month.
Changing tiers
Every plan runs on the same system: monthly content themes, the post approval step, the dashboard, the meeting, and plain-language reporting. The tiers change the scale and scope of the work, not the way it is done, which makes a tier change a step rather than a restart.
Stepping up, from Broker Growth to Team Marketing Department for instance, adds agent seats, the white-labeled dashboard, two more marketing-manager tasks, and the higher cadence, starting the next month. The guide, the templates, and the themes carry over.
Stepping down, when a listing-heavy season ends or a team shrinks, reduces the cadence and the seats the next month. Nothing already built is lost.
Adding or removing seats on Team Marketing Department and Private Luxury Story Studio follows the roster, one brand plus five agents with additional agents from $150 and $250 each per month, set for the month ahead.
Changing tracks, from a core plan to its luxury twin, adds custom creative, the story framework, property emails, and the strategy meeting to the system already running.
Put the current plan next to the one you are considering on the comparison page, turn on the toggle, and the rows that remain are exactly what next month would change.
Stopping, and coming back
Month to month means stopping is not renewing. There is no contract to unwind and no penalty. The office keeps the templates, the brand files, the logos, and every finished piece.
Two things are worth knowing first. The launch sets and the themes have usually had three cycles by the end of month three, which is the point where a broker can judge the work against what the office produced before. Judging at week five tends to judge the listing season and not the plan. And coming back starts the way the first month did: a month paid in advance, work on day one, no setup fee, with the guide and templates already built.
Why there is no contract
The honest answer is that a contract would let the work coast. A twelve-month term protects the vendor in month seven when the cadence has slipped. Month to month means every month has to look like the reason the office signed up.
It also matches how a brokerage runs. Rosters change, listing volume changes, a team leader takes on a second office. A plan that can step up or down with the office is worth more than a discount for signing a year. Without a contract or a setup fee, the cost of a wrong tier is one month, and the fix is a row on the comparison page.
By the numbers
NAR's 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers found 66% of sellers chose their agent through a referral or a past relationship. The work that reaches those people, the newsletter and the launch sets, has to run every month, which is the case for a plan that renews on its results.
Metricool's 2026 Social Media Study found brands published 24.04% more on Instagram while Reels reach fell 35%. A plan that can step its cadence down without penalty is built for a year when more volume is not the answer.
Recruiting Insight's Q1 2026 report projected about 300,000 agents changing brokerages in 2026. Seats that follow the roster month to month are how a team plan absorbs that.
How Urban Marketing Edge handles this
The terms are the same on every plan because the system is the same on every plan. Month one builds the foundation: the template set and 90-day quick-start plan on Agent Starter, the brand voice and visual guide on Broker Growth and above, the dashboard on every tier, white-labeled on Team Marketing Department and the luxury suites. Each month after that runs on themes set in the weekly meeting, the post approval system, the dashboard for requests and listing submissions, and plain-language reporting that arrives before the next invoice. A tier or seat change is decided in the weekly meeting and takes effect the next month. The terms row and every other row are on the plan comparison page, and each tier's page, such as Broker Growth, spells out what its month includes.
Questions brokers ask
Do I have to sign a contract for a real estate marketing plan?
Not with Urban Marketing Edge. Every plan is month to month, billed in advance, no setup fees. The month is paid at the start, the work begins on day one, and the plan renews one month at a time. Stopping is not renewing.
What does billed in advance mean?
The invoice for a month is paid before that month's work starts. The work begins on day one, and the office is never settling a balance for earlier months. Plain-language reporting closes each month before the next invoice.
Are there onboarding or setup fees?
No. The first invoice is the plan price and nothing else. The foundation work in month one, the brand guide on Broker Growth and above, the template set on Agent Starter, and the dashboard setup on every tier, is inside the plan price.
Can I change plans after the first month?
Yes. A tier change is a step up or down the next month on the same system. The guide, templates, themes, and dashboard carry over. Seats on the team plans adjust with the roster month to month.
What happens to our templates and content if we stop?
They stay with the office: templates, brand files, logos, and every finished piece in the dashboard. Coming back later starts the way the first month did, with the foundation already built.
When should we judge whether the plan is working?
At about 90 days, when the launch sets and the monthly themes have run three cycles and the reporting shows three months side by side. Judging in week five usually judges the listing season rather than the plan.
Book a 30-minute strategy call
If the terms are settled and the tier is the open question, the call answers it in thirty minutes. We look at the office's listing volume, roster, and who approves, then map the simplest plan for your content, themes, and monthly cadence, with the first month laid out so you know what day one looks like. No pitch deck, no pressure. Book a 30-minute strategy call, or read the six tiers on the plans page first.
