Real Estate Meta Ads: Compliance, Targeting, and Lead Quality

Real estate advertising on Meta is different from any other industry. You can't target by age. You can't target by zip code. You can't exclude demographics. These restrictions exist because housing is a protected category under fair housing law, and Meta faced legal consequences for enabling discriminatory targeting.

But within these constraints, real estate agents and brokerages are still generating quality leads at scale. The key is understanding what's allowed, what's prohibited, and how to build effective campaigns within the Special Ad Category framework. This guide covers compliance requirements, targeting strategies that work within restrictions, and lead quality optimization specific to real estate.

Whether you're an individual agent trying to fill your pipeline or a brokerage managing campaigns for dozens of agents, these strategies will help you advertise effectively while staying compliant.

Understanding Special Ad Categories

In 2019, Meta settled a lawsuit with the National Fair Housing Alliance and civil rights organizations. The settlement required Meta to create "Special Ad Categories" for housing, employment, and credit advertising. These categories impose significant targeting restrictions to prevent discrimination.

What Triggers Housing Category

You must select the Housing Special Ad Category if your ad:

• Promotes the sale or rental of a home or apartment
• Advertises a real estate listing or open house
• Promotes real estate agent or brokerage services
• Offers mortgage or home insurance products
• Advertises home appraisal or inspection services

If your ad fits any of these categories, you must select "Housing" in Ad Set settings. Failing to do so risks ad rejection, account suspension, or legal liability. Meta's automated systems will often flag ads that should be in housing category but aren't.

Restricted Targeting Options

In the Housing Special Ad Category, you cannot target or exclude based on:

• Age: No age targeting. Your ads will reach all ages 18+
• Gender: No gender targeting. Your ads will reach all genders
• Zip code: No zip code targeting. Location targeting must use a minimum 15-mile radius
• Detailed demographics: Many demographic options are disabled
• Behaviors: Most behavioral targeting is unavailable
• Interests: Some interest categories are restricted or removed
• Lookalike audiences: Standard lookalikes are not available (replaced by Special Ad Audiences)

These restrictions are non-negotiable. Attempting to circumvent them—like creating separate campaigns that don't mention housing to use restricted targeting—violates Meta's policies and fair housing law.

Available Targeting Options

Despite restrictions, you still have useful targeting options:

• Location: 15-mile minimum radius around addresses, cities, or regions
• Some interests: Real estate-related interests like "first-time homebuyer" or "home improvement"
• Custom audiences: Your website visitors, lead lists, CRM contacts (with some restrictions)
• Special Ad Audiences: Meta's housing-compliant version of lookalikes
• Broad targeting: Let Meta's algorithm find relevant people within your location

Targeting Strategies for Real Estate

With restricted options, targeting strategy becomes more about creative segmentation and letting Meta's algorithm work. Here are approaches that work within compliance constraints.

Location-Based Targeting

Location is your primary targeting lever. The 15-mile minimum radius seems limiting, but it's workable for most real estate markets.

Strategies:

• City center targeting: Drop a pin in the center of your market. A 15-mile radius from downtown often covers the metro area effectively.
• Multiple radii: Create separate ad sets for different market areas. Each ad set can have its own location, allowing you to customize creative by area.
• Listing-specific targeting: For individual listings, target a 15-mile radius around the property address. People searching nearby are more likely to be interested.
• Regional campaigns: For larger coverage, use city or state targeting. You lose precision but gain reach.

Interest-Based Targeting

Some interest categories remain available in the Housing category. Use them to narrow your audience:

• Real estate interests: "First-time homebuyer," "Real estate investing," "Home buying"
• Life event interests: "Engaged," "Recently moved," "New parent" (some may be restricted)
• Home-related interests: "Home improvement," "Interior design," "DIY projects"
• Financial interests: "Mortgage," "Personal finance," "Investing"

Test different interest combinations. Some work better in certain markets. Monitor which interests deliver quality leads, not just volume.

Special Ad Audiences

Special Ad Audiences are Meta's compliant alternative to lookalike audiences. They work similarly—you provide a source audience, and Meta finds similar people—but with housing-compliant methodology.

Creating Special Ad Audiences:

• Upload a customer list (past clients, closed deals)
• Create a custom audience from your website visitors or leads
• In the Housing Ad Set, select "Special Ad Audience" and choose your source
• Meta will find similar people without using prohibited attributes

Special Ad Audiences typically have lower match quality than standard lookalikes (due to restrictions), but they're your best option for expansion targeting in housing.

Broad Targeting with Algorithm Optimization

Sometimes the best strategy is minimal targeting. Set your location, skip detailed targeting, and let Meta's algorithm find converters based on your ad creative and conversion event.

This works because:

• Meta's algorithm learns from conversion data, not just demographics
• Your creative naturally attracts relevant people (homebuyers respond to home listings)
• Broad targeting avoids the risk of over-narrowing in a restricted category

Test broad targeting against interest-based targeting. For some markets, broad wins because it gives the algorithm more room to optimize.

Campaign Types for Real Estate

Real estate campaigns serve different purposes: brand building, listing promotion, buyer leads, and seller leads. Each needs different creative and optimization strategies.

Brand Awareness Campaigns

Goal: Establish name recognition in your market so when people think "real estate," they think of you.

Campaign setup:

• Objective: Reach or Video Views
• Audience: Broad targeting within your market area
• Creative: Introduce yourself, your expertise, your market knowledge. Video works well.
• Budget: Consistent, always-on presence at modest spend

Don't expect direct leads from awareness campaigns. The goal is top-of-mind presence. When someone decides to buy or sell, you want to be the agent they remember.

Listing Promotion Campaigns

Goal: Generate interest and inquiries for specific properties you're selling.

Campaign setup:

• Objective: Traffic or Lead Generation
• Audience: 15-mile radius around the listing, relevant interests
• Creative: Property photos/video, price, key features, neighborhood highlights
• Budget: Higher spend for premium listings, time-limited (until sold)

Listing ads also generate buyer leads who may not want that specific property but are actively searching. Capture their information for follow-up on other listings.

Buyer Lead Generation

Goal: Generate leads from people who want to buy a home (even without a specific listing).

Campaign setup:

• Objective: Lead Generation (Instant Forms) or Conversions
• Audience: First-time homebuyer interests, recently engaged, relocation-related interests
• Creative: Market reports, home buying guides, "Find your dream home" offers
• Budget: Consistent spend to maintain lead flow

Lead quality varies significantly. Include qualifying questions on forms: timeline, budget range, pre-approval status. This helps prioritize follow-up.

Seller Lead Generation

Goal: Generate leads from homeowners considering selling.

Campaign setup:

• Objective: Lead Generation or Conversions
• Audience: Home improvement interests, home valuation interests, "selling a home" interests
• Creative: Free home valuation, market analysis, "What's your home worth?" offers
• Budget: Higher spend in seller's markets, lower in buyer's markets

Seller leads typically have longer timelines than buyer leads. Many are "just curious" about value. Nurture sequences are essential—stay in touch until they're ready to list.

Lead Quality Challenges in Real Estate

Real estate leads from Meta Ads are notorious for quality issues. The combination of low-friction instant forms, broad targeting restrictions, and long purchase timelines creates a challenging lead mix.

Common Quality Problems

• Unqualified leads: People who can't get financing, have no down payment, or have unrealistic expectations
• Long timelines: Many leads are 6-18 months from actually buying or selling
• Low intent: People who clicked out of curiosity, not genuine interest
• Wrong geography: Due to 15-mile minimum radius, some leads are outside your service area
• Fake information: Instant forms with auto-fill lead to accidental submissions and fake entries

Improving Lead Quality

Strategies to increase the quality of leads you generate:

• Use Higher Intent forms: Add the confirmation screen that makes users review their information before submitting
• Add qualifying questions: "Are you pre-approved for a mortgage?" "When are you looking to buy/sell?" "What's your budget range?"
• Require manual email entry: Turn off auto-fill for email to get real addresses
• Send traffic to your website: Higher friction means higher intent. Website form leads often outperform instant forms.
• Use video creative: Video viewers are more engaged. Video-based campaigns often produce better leads.

Lead Nurturing for Real Estate

Given long timelines, most real estate leads need nurturing before conversion. Build systems to stay in touch:

• Email sequences: Market updates, new listings, educational content over weeks/months
• Retargeting campaigns: Show new listings and updates to people who've already engaged
• CRM tracking: Log lead source, timeline, and qualification status. Follow up at appropriate intervals.
• Personal outreach: For qualified leads, personal calls/texts/emails outperform automation

The lead you generate today might buy from you in 8 months. Stay top-of-mind through consistent nurturing.

Creative Best Practices for Real Estate

Real estate creative needs to work within a crowded market. Every agent is running ads with property photos. Standing out requires strategic creative approaches.

Property-Focused Creative

• Lead with the hero shot: The single best photo of the property should be your primary image
• Use video walkthroughs: Video tours outperform static images for engagement and lead quality
• Highlight key features: Call out what makes this property special—view, pool, renovations
• Include price (when appropriate): Price-qualified clicks are more valuable, but test both with/without price
• Show the neighborhood: Include shots of local amenities, schools, parks for context

Agent-Focused Creative

• Show your face: People hire people, not logos. Put yourself in your ads.
• Share your expertise: Market insights, neighborhood knowledge, transaction experience
• Use testimonials: Happy client quotes and video testimonials build trust
• Demonstrate value: "I've sold 50 homes in this neighborhood" beats "I'm a great agent"

Value Offer Creative

Offer something in exchange for contact information:

• Free home valuation reports
• Market analysis for specific neighborhoods
• First-time homebuyer guides
• Relocation packages
• School district comparisons

Lead magnets attract people earlier in their journey. They're less qualified immediately but build your nurture database for future conversion.

Measuring Real Estate Ad Performance

Real estate has long sales cycles—often 3-6 months from lead to close. Standard Meta metrics don't capture the full picture.

Short-Term Metrics

• Cost per Lead (CPL): Your primary efficiency metric
• Lead volume: Total leads generated per campaign
• CTR: Indicates creative relevance
• Form completion rate: Higher rates suggest better-qualified traffic

Long-Term Metrics

• Lead-to-appointment rate: What percentage of leads schedule a call or meeting?
• Appointment-to-client rate: What percentage of meetings become clients?
• Cost per closed transaction: Total spend / closed deals from Meta leads
• Average commission from Meta leads: Revenue generated per Meta-sourced deal

Track attribution carefully. A lead generated in January might close in September. Your CRM should connect lead source to final transaction for accurate ROI calculation.

Realistic Benchmarks

Real estate benchmarks vary widely by market, price point, and lead type:

• Buyer leads: $10-50 CPL typical, wide quality variance
• Seller leads: $20-100 CPL typical, longer nurture cycles
• Listing inquiries: $5-20 per inquiry typical
• Lead-to-close rate: 1-3% is common for digital leads

A 2% close rate on $30 CPL leads means $1,500 cost per closed deal. If average commission is $10,000, that's a strong ROI. But this math only works if you have effective follow-up and nurturing.

Key Takeaways

• Always select the Housing Special Ad Category for real estate ads—non-compliance risks account suspension and legal issues
• Work within targeting restrictions: 15-mile minimum radius, no age/gender/zip targeting, limited interests
• Use Special Ad Audiences as your lookalike alternative in housing campaigns
• Include qualifying questions on lead forms to improve quality
• Build nurturing systems—real estate leads have long timelines
• Track full-funnel metrics from lead to closed transaction for accurate ROI
• Test broad targeting vs. interest targeting—sometimes less is more in restricted categories

FAQ

Can I target by zip code if I'm an agent serving a specific area?

No. The Housing Special Ad Category prohibits zip code targeting regardless of your reasons. You must use a minimum 15-mile radius. If you need more precision, run separate ad sets with different radii centered on different points within your market.

What happens if I don't select the Housing category for my real estate ads?

Your ads may be rejected by automated review. Repeated violations can result in ad account suspension. You also risk legal liability under fair housing laws if your targeting discriminates against protected classes.

How do I improve lead quality when I can't target precisely?

Use Higher Intent instant forms with qualifying questions, send traffic to your website instead of instant forms, use video creative to attract more engaged viewers, and build strong follow-up sequences that qualify leads through conversation rather than targeting.

Should I run separate campaigns for buyers and sellers?

Yes. Buyer and seller motivations are completely different. Separate campaigns allow you to customize creative, landing pages, and follow-up sequences for each audience. You can also allocate budget based on market conditions—more seller campaigns in seller's markets, more buyer campaigns in buyer's markets.