How to Run Facebook Ads for a Real Estate Listing

Quick Answer

To run Facebook ads for a real estate listing, accept that real estate ads use the Special Ad Category for housing, which limits targeting to broad age bands and a 15+ mile location radius. Use the Leads objective with a Meta instant form. Run vertical video tours and carousel layouts. Budget $20-75/day per listing. Expect $5-25 per lead, $200-1,500 per closed deal.

Real estate ads have housing rules

Meta requires real estate ads to use the Special Ad Category for housing. That means:

• No targeting by age narrowly (broad bands only)
• No gender targeting
• No ZIP-level exclusions (15+ mile radius minimum)
• No detailed targeting by demographic
• Lookalike audiences limited to 1%, location-based

This is a Fair Housing Act compliance requirement and Meta enforces it globally. Don't try to work around it.

Pick your campaign type by goal

Goal	Objective	Funnel
Get viewings booked	Leads	Lead form > calendar
Build an interest list (off-plan)	Leads	Lead form
Sell a listing fast	Leads	Lead form > agent calls
Build agent brand	Engagement / Reach	Long-term
Rental listings	Leads	Lead form

Lead form template

Headline: [Bedrooms]-bed [House/Flat] in [Neighbourhood] – [Price]
Description: [1-line description]. Book a viewing in 30 seconds.

Questions:
1. Full name (auto-fill)
2. Email (auto-fill)
3. Mobile (auto-fill)
4. When would you like to view? (this week/next week/next month)
5. Are you a cash buyer or do you need a mortgage? (cash/mortgage/not sure)
6. Are you currently working with an agent? (yes/no)

Thank you screen:
"Got it. Your agent [Name] will call within 2 hours to book your viewing. Save [phone] to your contacts."

Creative that books viewings

Best formats:

• 60-second vertical video walk-through, hosted on phone, captions burned in
• Carousel of 5-7 photos (kitchen, living, master bedroom, bathroom, garden, exterior)
• Single static of the hero exterior shot with price and address overlay

Three angles to test:

1. Listing-led (just the property)
2. Lifestyle-led (who lives here, the area, the school, the commute)
3. Urgency-led (open house Saturday, only 2 viewings left)

Targeting

Stack three:

1. Location radius (15+ miles around the property, this is enforced)
2. Broad age band (25-65)
3. Custom audiences: past inquirers, your email list, page engagers

Lookalike audiences of your past buyer or seller list (uploaded as a custom audience) are your strongest signal.

Campaign template

Campaign: [Address] – Viewings
Objective: Leads
Special Ad Category: Housing
Optimisation: Leads
Daily budget: $40

Ad Set 1: Local
- Location: 15-25 mile radius from property
- Age: 25-65 (broad)
- Placements: Auto

Ad Set 2: Lookalike
- 1% LAL of past clients (custom audience upload)
- Same location radius

Ad Set 3: Retargeting
- Past page engagers
- Past inquirers (custom audience)
- Email list

Creatives:
- Ad 1: 60-sec phone walk-through video
- Ad 2: 7-image carousel (room by room)
- Ad 3: Static "Open house Saturday" graphic
- Ad 4: Static price + address card

CTA: Get Quote (or "Learn More")
Form: Native Meta lead form

Multi-listing strategy

If you have a portfolio, run two parallel campaigns:

1. Property-specific ads (per listing) for high-intent buyers
2. Brand-level "looking to buy?" ads to capture demand before it gets specific

The brand campaign builds the email list. Property campaigns convert that list. Run both together.

Speed wins deals

The first agent to respond to a Facebook lead wins 78% of the time. Set up:

• Auto-SMS via Zapier within 60 seconds of form submission
• Auto-email with property PDF and viewing slots
• CRM task assignment with a 30-minute call deadline

If you can't respond inside 30 minutes, the lead is half as valuable.

Budget by market

Property price	Daily budget	CPL target	Days to first viewing
Under $300k	$25-50	$5-15	3-5
$300k-700k	$40-100	$10-25	5-7
$700k-1.5M	$75-200	$20-50	7-10
$1.5M+	$150-500	$40-150	10-14

What kills real estate ads

• Trying to use age or detailed targeting (instant Special Ad Category violation)
• Boring stock photos
• No phone number in the ad copy
• Sending to the listing PDF instead of a lead form
• Not following up within 30 minutes
• Single image of the front of the house (vertical video walk-through wins)

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