How to Target an Audience on Facebook for Real Estate

Finding the right buyers and sellers on a platform as vast as Facebook can feel overwhelming, but it’s still one of the most powerful tools available to real estate agents. The key isn't reaching everyone, it's reaching the right ones. This guide gives you the exact strategies to build hyper-specific audiences on Facebook, connecting you directly with clients who are ready to make a move.

First, Understand the Rules: Facebook's Special Ad Category for Housing

Before you build your first audience, you must understand a critical rule: all real estate ads fall under Facebook's Special Ad Category for Housing. This was implemented to prevent discriminatory advertising practices. For real estate agents, this means certain targeting options you might have used in the past are no longer available for housing ads.

What you CANNOT target in housing ads:

• Age: You can't target specific age ranges (e.g., 25-34). All housing ads are shown to people 18 and older.
• Gender: Targeting is not available for men or women specifically.
• ZIP Codes: You cannot target by specific ZIP codes. The smallest geographic area you can target is a 15-mile radius around a city, address, or point on a map.
• Detailed Demographics: You can't target based on factors like race, ethnicity, religion, family status, national origin, or disability.

Don't let these limitations discourage you. They simply require a more strategic approach. Instead of relying on restricted demographics, you'll focus on intent-driven signals, behaviors, and existing relationships. This modern approach often yields better results anyway, as you're targeting people based on what they do, not just who they are.

Start with Your Foundation: Building Core Audiences Based on Interest and Behavior

Core Audiences are your starting point. You build them directly within the Facebook Ads Manager using criteria like location, interests, and behaviors. Even with the housing ad restrictions, these are incredibly powerful for reaching a broad but relevant group of potential clients.

Step 1: Set Your Location

Since you can't use ZIP codes, you’ll have to think more broadly. Start by creating a 15-mile radius (the minimum allowed) around the city or neighborhood where your listings are located. You can also target entire cities, counties, or metro areas.

Example: If you're selling a home in Plano, Texas, you could set your location to a 15-mile radius around "Plano, TX." This will capture people in Plano and surrounding suburbs like Frisco, Allen, and north Dallas who might be looking to move into the area.

Step 2: Layer on Relevant Interests

This is where you can get creative. Think about what your ideal client is interested in or interacting with online. What websites do they visit? What apps do they use? What topics are on their mind?

Here are some powerful interest-based targeting ideas for real estate:

• Real Estate Portals: This is the most direct approach. Target people interested in major platforms like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Realtor.com, and Apartments.com. Their interest in these platforms is a strong indicator they're in the property market.
• Terms and Concepts: Think about the homebuying journey. Use keywords like Mortgage loans, Pre-qualification (lending), Mortgage calculator, First-time homebuyer grant, or Real estate investing.
• Moving & Furnishing: People buying a home are often also interested in Home improvement, Interior design, Home renovation, or specific furniture retailers like West Elm, IKEA, or Wayfair.
• Life Events: While you can't target a "newlywed" demographic, you can target interests people in transition have, like moving company interest or new house.

Step 3: Add High-Intent Behaviors

Behaviors target users based on their online activities. For real estate, the most valuable behavior available is "Likely to Move." Facebook identifies these users based on a combination of signals that suggest they’re preparing for a move. Combining "Likely to Move" with specific interests is an incredibly effective strategy for finding motivated buyers and sellers.

Putting a Core Audience Together - First-Time Homebuyer Example:

• Location: 15-mile radius around "Sacramento, CA"
• Behavior: Likely to Move
• Interests (AND): Zillow OR Trulia OR First-time homebuyer grant OR Mortgage calculator

This audience targets people in the Sacramento area who are showing signs of moving and are actively engaged with content and tools related to the homebuying process. It’s a perfect starting point for an ad promoting a new list of starter homes.

Level Up Your Targeting with Custom Audiences

Custom Audiences allow you to connect with people who already have a relationship with your business. These are "warm" leads who are more likely to trust you and convert. This is where you leverage your existing assets: your website, your email list, and your social media engagement.

Use a Website Custom Audience to Retarget Visitors

By installing the Meta Pixel on your website, you can create audiences of people who have visited specific pages. This is one of the most effective strategies available.

• All Website Visitors: Create an audience of everyone who has visited your website in the last 30, 60, or 90 days. This is great for general brand-building ads promoting your services.
• Specific Listing Page Visitors: This is hyper-targeted. Create an ad showing different photos or a video tour of a specific property and run it only to people who have already viewed that listing's page on your website. Remind them of what they liked!
• "Seller's Guide" Page Visitors: Someone who viewed your "What's My Home Worth?" page is likely thinking about selling. Target them with ads containing client testimonials or market updates to build your credibility as a listing agent.

Build an Audience from Your Customer List

You can securely upload a list of your contacts (emails or phone numbers) to Facebook. Facebook will then match that information with its users to create an audience you can target with ads. Remember to make sure you have permission to market to these individuals.

• Past Clients: Target your former clients to ask for referrals or share neighborhood-specific market updates, keeping you top-of-mind for their next move or for friends and family.
• Stalled Leads: Have a list of leads who expressed interest six months ago but never moved forward? Create an audience from this list and run a "now is the time to buy" campaign with a current market update.

Connect with Engaged Social Media Users

Your "warmest" audience often consists of people who are already liking, commenting, and watching your content. You can create Custom Audiences of users who have:

• Engaged with your Facebook Page or Instagram Profile.
• Watched a certain percentage of one of your property tour videos (e.g., people who watched at least 50% of your last video. They’re interested!).
• Sent your page a message.
• Saved one of your posts.

Target a highly engaged video viewer audience with a lead form ad saying, "Loved the virtual tour? Book your private showing today!"

Find New Clients with Powerful Lookalike Audiences

Once you have a high-quality Custom Audience, you can ask Facebook to build a Lookalike Audience. This is a group of new people who share similar characteristics and behaviors with the people in your source audience. It’s like creating a clone of your best clients.

How to Build an Effective Lookalike Audience:

1. Choose Your Source Audience: The quality of your Lookalike depends entirely on the quality of your source. Don't use a generic "all website visitors" list. Instead, use a high-intent audience, such as:
   • A customer list of your best past clients.
   • A Custom Audience of people who have submitted a lead form on your website.
   • A client list made up of people you represented in a specific price range. e.g., "homes over 750k last year".
   • A Custom Audience of people who have watched 75% or more of your video walk-throughs.
2. Select the Audience Size: Facebook asks you to choose a percentage, from 1% to 10% of the population in your target country. A 1% Lookalike is smaller and most closely matches your source audience. A 10% Lookalike is broader and less precise. For real estate, it's almost always best to start with a 1% Lookalike to find the most qualified prospects.
3. Layer Additional Targeting (Optional): You can still refine a Lookalike Audience a bit further. For instance, you could create a 1% Lookalike of your past clients, then layer on the "Likely to Move" behavior to find people who are not only similar to your clients but are also showing signs they’re ready for a move right now.

Creating a Lookalike Audience from a list of your past sellers is one of the absolute best ways to find new listing appointments. You're leveraging data from proven success to target more people just like them.

Final Thoughts

Successfully targeting an audience for real estate on Facebook is a strategic mix of using Core, Custom, and Lookalike audiences. By respecting the Special Ad Category rules and focusing on user intent and behavior, you can move away from casting a wide, ineffective net and start creating focused campaigns that connect you directly with motivated buyers and sellers in your market.

Once you’ve nailed your targeting, your success still depends on consistently delivering valuable content - from listing announcements to market tips. That’s where a solid content plan becomes so important. At Postbase, we built a modern tool specifically to streamline that process. Our visual calendar and intuitive scheduling were designed from the ground up to handle the video content, like Reels and property tours, that drives today's real estate marketing, making it easier than ever to plan, schedule, and stay in front of the perfect audience you've worked so hard to build.