Council Post: How Real Estate Investors Can Use Facebook Ads To Find Off-Market Properties

By Chad Keller, Motivated-Leads.com Founder/Real Estate Investor.

As a real estate investor, you no doubt turn to Google Ads, including pay-per-click (PPC), to help reach your audience and produce solid leads. You probably also use other tools, like optimized blog posts, landing pages and website copy to target relevant searches and capitalize on searcher intent. Phrases like “sell my house fast” and “sell my house as-is” probably play a big role in your digital marketing strategy to capture traffic from Google, connect with would-be home sellers and move them down your funnel. 

However, if you’re not using Facebook Ads in your strategy, you’re missing out on one of the most critical tools at your disposal.

Why Facebook?

Why turn to Facebook to reach your audience? As a refresher, here are a few stats on Facebook’s prominence in the online world, all from Meta’s mouth:

• 2.80 billion monthly active users

• 1.84 billion daily active users

• 2.6 billion family daily active people

• 3.3 billion family monthly active people

So, there’s a major market on Facebook, but how effective is the platform for reaching those you need to connect with? According to eMarketer, Facebook allows you to reach up to 59% of social media users (all platforms).

You might be thinking, “That’s great, but why does it matter? Social media users aren’t necessarily internet searchers, are they?”

The truth is that the same people on Google are also on Facebook. Most people searching for a way to sell their house fast or as-is also have Facebook accounts. What’s more, there’s an even larger untapped market of people who have not yet searched (and likely never will) for a way to sell their homes fast. 

How do you reach that market, though? How do you convince them that it’s time to sell their off-market homes if they aren’t actively searching for ways to do so?

1. Show Them It’s Possible

First, it’s important to understand that many people in your potential audience have no idea that they can sell their homes. These properties are not market-ready — they need renovations, they’re hoarder homes or they’re upside-down in their mortgages. It’s your job to show them that not only do they have hope of changing their situation, but that it’s possible to sell their home quickly and easily.

2. Show Them Their Homes

It’s not enough to use Facebook Ads and relative search terms. Remember, these people are not actively looking to sell their homes, so keywords are irrelevant. You need to show them their homes and then communicate your message. 

How do you do that? Just use images and videos of homes in need of repair, those with serious renovation-related needs and even images of hoarder homes filled with clutter and filth. It’s all about getting viewers to connect with the image and then with your message. 

You need to break through the mental wall these individuals have erected — the notion that “my house can’t sell because it’s too dirty, cluttered or old.” To do that, you’ll need to use both interior and exterior images. You should also use a variety of settings so you can appeal to people in rural, suburban and urban areas.

3. Connect With Your Message

Once you’ve shown those Facebook users homes in similar conditions and locations to their own, they’re primed for your message. You’ve started the conversation and made them realize that other homes on the market are like theirs; that their home can sell. Now it’s time to move them forward with your messaging.

This is often tricky, but it can be handled. Think of it as being similar to a bandit sign hung on a telephone pole. The message is simple, succinct and direct:

I Buy Hoarder Houses

Call Me Now!

Keep your message similar. You want it to be simple and to resonate with your audience. You’ve shown them their problem, told them that there is a way out and now you’re positioning yourself as the solution. Don’t dilute that message with anything extraneous.

4. Encourage Sharing

One of the best things about Facebook Ads for real estate investors is that you’re able to reach not just property owners, but their friends and family. Use relevant ads to encourage these people to share your message with those they know in these situations. According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust the recommendations of family and friends.

The Wrap-Up

In the end, real estate investors can and should be using Facebook Ads to find more motivated sellers of off-market properties within their area. These are people who might have never searched for a way to sell their home fast on Google because they did not realize such a thing was even possible. By using Facebook Ads, you can reach them, show them there is a solution to their problems and then position yourself to be that solution.