How do Facebook ads for real estate work?
Facebook ads for real estate run inside a Special Ad Category. If you advertise from the US, or show housing ads to people in the US, Canada or parts of Europe, you must declare the Housing category when you create the campaign, or Meta may reject the ad. The category covers listings for sale or rent, mortgage and home equity offers, homeowners and renters insurance, and house hunting services. It changes targeting: ages are fixed at 18 to 65+, all genders are included, and ZIP codes, location exclusions, lookalike audiences and some interests are unavailable. A city or a pin drop in the US brings a 15-mile radius with it. Behind these rules sits the Fair Housing Act, which makes it unlawful to publish a housing ad that indicates a preference based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. So realtors win on the listing, the creative and the follow-up.
This page describes public rules. It is not legal advice: check your own situation with a lawyer or your compliance officer.
Which real estate ads fall under the Housing category?
Meta defines a housing ad as an ad that promotes or directly links to a housing opportunity or a related service. You must pick the Housing category if you advertise from the US, or if your audience is in the US, Canada or certain parts of Europe. Here is how Meta sorts the ads a realtor usually runs.
| Ad | Housing category? | Where Meta lists it |
|---|---|---|
| Listing for sale or rent | Yes | Sale, rental or temporary housing listings |
| Home valuation offer | Yes | Home equity or appraisal services |
| Mortgage or financing offer | Yes | Financing options, including mortgage loans |
| Homeowners or renters insurance | Yes | Homeowners and renters insurance offers |
| Buyer or seller agent services | Yes | Real estate and house hunting services |
| Home-buying tips video | No | Tips related to homeownership or home buying |
| Fair housing education | No | Education about fair housing rights and responsibilities |
Meta adds that its examples are not a complete list and do not constitute legal advice. A tips video that also links to one of your listings directly links to a housing opportunity, so it falls back into the category.
What targeting is left for realtors?
Declaring the category does not narrow your audience to people shopping for a home. It removes the settings that could leave people out. Switch the panel below between a standard campaign and a Housing campaign to see what changes in the US.
- Special Ad Category
- Housing
- Location
- City or pin, 15-mile radius
- Age
- 18 to 65+, fixed
- Gender
- All genders
- Excluded locations
- Unavailable
- Lookalike audiences
- Limited or unavailable
- Detailed targeting
- Some interests unavailable
US rules, from Meta’s help center. Canada and some European countries apply their own limits.
Meta applies a 15-mile (25 km) radius in some countries and a 10-mile (17 km) radius in others around a city, an address or a pin. It also notes that some audience options, such as custom audiences, may only be available in Ads Manager.
What does the Fair Housing Act mean for your ad copy?
Section 3604(c) of the Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to make, print or publish any notice, statement or advertisement about the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin.
The law covers the ad itself, not only its targeting, and Meta’s Discriminatory Practices policy sits on top of it. Describe the home, not the buyer: the rooms, the square footage, the yard, the distance to transit. A line such as “perfect for a couple, no kids” points at familial status, one of the listed grounds.
Where can you see the housing ads other agents run?
The Meta Ad Library lets anyone search the ads currently running across Meta’s apps, and it has a dedicated view for ads about housing. Search your city or a competing brokerage to see which listings, formats and offers they put forward, then write yours.
How do realtors get leads without narrow targeting?
Let the creative do the sorting. A carousel of one listing’s rooms, a short walkthrough video or a home valuation offer speaks to the people who care, whoever Meta shows it to. Pair it with an instant form that asks for the timeline and the neighborhood, and call back while the lead is fresh.
Adwize prepares the campaign from one sentence and shows the objective, audiences, budget and ads paused for your approval, so you confirm the Housing category and the radius before anything spends. Once it runs, Adwize flags the ads that drift. To size the budget, use the Facebook ads cost calculator and the CPM calculator.