How to Target Homeowners on Facebook Ads

Targeting homeowners on Facebook Ads feels like a guessing game if you don’t know which buttons to push. When you finally get it right, however, you can connect directly with people who actually need what you’re selling. This guide breaks down the simple, actionable steps and targeting layers you can use to consistently find and convert homeowner leads on Facebook, whether you're in roofing, solar, landscaping, or real estate.

First, Define Your Ideal Homeowner

Before you even open Facebook Ads Manager, you need a clear picture of the specific homeowner you're after. All homeowners are not the same. An advertiser for a high-end kitchen remodel is looking for a different person than someone selling affordable lawn mowing services.

Ask yourself a few simple questions:

• What’s their income level? Are you targeting luxury homeowners who can afford a $50,000 renovation or someone looking for budget-friendly repairs?
• Where do they live? Targeting upscale neighborhoods requires a different approach than targeting new suburban developments.
• How old are they? A first-time homebuyer in their late 20s has different needs than a retiree looking to downsize.
• What are their pain points? Are they dealing with an outdated kitchen, an overgrown yard, or drafty windows? Your ads should speak directly to solving that problem.

Having this profile in mind - let's call her "Suburban Sally," a 45-year-old living in a specific zip code with an interest in home remodeling - will make every following step much more effective.

Core Targeting Strategies in Facebook Ads Manager

With your ideal homeowner profile ready, it's time to build your audience inside Ads Manager. Layering these options together is how you get your ad in front of the right people.

1. Start with Demographics

This is your foundation. While you can't get as granular as you used to due to privacy changes, the basics are still incredibly useful.

• Location: Go beyond just targeting a city. Use Facebook's tools to target specific zip codes, drop pins with a radius around desirable neighborhoods, or even exclude areas you don't service.
• Age: Align this with your ideal customer profile. For instance, if you're a roofer, targeting homeowners aged 35-65+ often works well, as they are more likely to own older homes needing repairs.
• Home Ownership Status: Under Detailed Targeting >, Demographics >, Home >, Home Ownership, you can select "Homeowners." This is the most direct tool at your disposal. Combine this with other layers for the best results.

2. Layer on Interest Targeting

This is where you target people based on the pages they've liked, actions they've taken, and topics they’ve shown interest in. It helps you find homeowners who are actively thinking about home improvement.

Think about what your ideal homeowner would be interested in. Let’s look at some examples by industry:

• For Landscapers and Lawn Care: Gardening, Lawn care, The Home Depot, Lowe's, HGTV, Scotts Miracle-Gro Company.
• For Roofers or Remodelers: Home renovation, DIY Network, Houzz, Home repair, Interior design.
• For Solar Companies: Renewable energy, Solar energy, Sustainable living, Tesla, Home automation.
• For Real Estate Agents: Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, "First-time buyer grant."

Pro Tip: Don't just stack a dozen interests into one ad set. Start by grouping related interests together. Create one ad set targeting "big box store" interests (Home Depot, Lowe's) and another targeting "media" interests (HGTV, DIY Network). This allows you to see which audience segment performs better and lets you allocate your budget more effectively.

3. Use Behavior Targeting (With a Caveat)

Behavior targeting uses data from third-party partners to find users based on their offline activities and purchase history. While some of the most powerful options have been scaled back, some gems still remain.

• Likely to move: Found under Behaviors >, Residential Profiles, this is pure gold for moving companies, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and home inspectors. You're targeting people who are literally signaling they are about to become a homeowner or are selling their home.
• Home & Garden Spenders: Look for behavioral categories related to purchasing habits in the home improvement space. This tells you who is already spending money in your industry.

A word of caution: Behavior data isn't always perfect, so treat it as a powerful supplement to your demographic and interest targeting, not a replacement. Always test and see what works for your business.

Advanced Targeting: Reaching Your Best Customers

Once you’ve mastered the core targeting options, it's time to move on to techniques that can dramatically improve your return on ad spend.

Custom Audiences from Your Client List

If you have an email list of past customers, you have a huge advantage. You can upload this list directly to Facebook to create a Custom Audience. An email list of 200 happy clients is far more valuable than blindly targeting 200,000 strangers.

Why is this so effective?

• Upsell &, Repeat Business: Use it to market new services to people who already know and trust you. For example, a landscaping company can target past lawn care clients in the fall with a "Seasonal Cleanup" offer.
• Reactivation Campaigns: If you haven't heard from a client in a while, you can run a targeted ad campaign with a special "welcome back" discount just for them.

Lookalike Audiences: Your Secret Weapon

This is arguably the most powerful targeting tool on Facebook. After uploading your customer list to create a Custom Audience, you can then tell Facebook, "Go find me millions of new people who look and act just like my best customers."

Facebook's algorithm analyzes thousands of data points from your initial list - demographics, interests, online behaviors - and builds a new, much larger audience of users who share those traits. Lookalike Audiences built from a list of your paying customers almost always outperform cold interest-based targeting.

Start with a 1% Lookalike in your target country or region. This audience will be the most similar to your source list. As you scale, you can test broader audiences like 2% or 5%.

Navigating the "Special Ad Category" for Housing

If you're advertising anything related to housing, credit, or employment - this includes real estate listings, mortgages, and home repair loans - you must select the "Housing" Special Ad Category when creating your campaign.

This is non-negotiable and required by Facebook to prevent discriminatory advertising. When you select this category, some targeting options are automatically removed:

• You cannot edit age or gender. It's automatically set to 18-65+.
• You cannot target by zip code. You have to select a location with at least a 15-mile radius.
• Some detailed demographic, behavior, and interest options will be unavailable.

While this sounds restrictive, it just means you need to rely more heavily on broad interest targeting, compelling ad creative, and letting Facebook's algorithm do its work. Your ads will work - you just have to give the system a bit more room to find your audience.

Create Ads That Homeowners Actually Want to See

Fantastic targeting can't save a boring ad. Your ad creative and copy need to stop the scroll and speak directly to a homeowner's needs and aspirations.

Winning Ad Formats:

• Before and After Photos: This is the ultimate home services format. Show a neglected lawn becoming a vibrant garden, or a dated kitchen transformed into a modern masterpiece. It works because it instantly communicates value.
• Video Testimonials: A short clip of a happy client standing in their freshly renovated space is infinitely more powerful than text alone. It builds trust and social proof.
• Project Walkthrough Videos: Film a short tour of a completed project. For a roofer, show the clean job site and the finished roof. For an interior designer, showcase the beautiful flow of a room.

Compelling Copywriting:

Your ad copy should focus on the outcome, not just the service. People don't buy "roof repair", they buy "peace of mind during a rainstorm." They don't buy "lawn mowing", they buy "more free time on their weekends."

Pair benefits-driven copy with a clear call-to-action:

• "Get a Free, No-Obligation Estimate"
• "Schedule Your Free Consultation Today"
• "Download Our Guide to Picking the Right _______"

Final Thoughts

Reaching homeowners on Facebook is entirely possible when you stop guessing and start building strategic layers. By combining broad demographic data with specific interests, Lookalike Audiences, and creative that speaks to their goals, you can create a reliable system for generating high-quality leads for your business.

Once your ads start working, you'll see a lot more comments, messages, and questions coming in. We built Postbase to help businesses manage this influx without the chaos. With a unified inbox for all your social media platforms, we make it easy to reply to every comment and DM, so you never miss a potential lead from all the new traffic your ads are generating.