How much should a real estate agent spend on Google Ads to start?

Start small, around $20 to $50 a day on a tight set of local keywords. That's enough to get real data without risking too much. Run it for at least a few weeks before you judge results, because the first week always looks worse than where the campaign settles once it learns.

Are Google Ads or Facebook Ads better for real estate agents?

Neither, and that's the wrong question. They do different jobs and work best together. Google catches people searching right now. Facebook keeps you top of mind with people who aren't ready yet. Retargeting connects the two. Run them as one system instead of picking a side.

Why did my Google Ads not generate any leads?

Usually one of four reasons. You sent clicks to your homepage instead of a focused landing page. You bid on broad keywords like real estate instead of specific local ones. You stopped before the campaign had time to learn. Or you had no fast follow-up, so the leads went cold. Fix those and it changes.

What keywords should real estate agents target with Google Ads?

Specific, local, high-intent phrases. Things like homes for sale in your neighborhood or sell my house in your town. Avoid broad, vague terms that drain your budget and bring unqualified clicks. The more specific the search, the more ready the person typing it.

Google Ads for Real Estate Agents: The 2026 Guide

Q: Do I need a landing page for real estate Google Ads?

Yes. Sending paid clicks to your general website is the fastest way to waste money. Build a focused landing page that matches the search and asks for one thing, like a home valuation or a neighborhood home list. One offer, one form. That's where clicks turn into leads.

Google Ads catches people the exact moment they search for homes or a home value. Run as one layer of a real system, with a focused landing page and fast follow-up, it becomes one of the most predictable ways to put high-intent leads in front of you.

Why this topic today

Agents ask me about Google Ads in one of two tones. Either "I burned $800 and got nothing, this is a scam," or "I keep hearing I should, where do I even start." Both of those come from the same problem. They were treating ads like a slot machine instead of one piece of a system. So let's fix that. This is a spoke off our 7 lead sources that work hub, and it lives inside the bigger lead generation pillar.

What Google Ads actually does that nothing else does

Here's the one thing to understand. Google Ads catches people at the exact moment they're searching.

Somebody types "homes for sale in [your town]" or "what's my house worth in [your zip]." That person is not browsing. They're looking. Right now. Google Ads puts you in front of them at the top of that search, the second the intent is there.

That's different from how your other marketing works, and that's the point. Your video and your social content build trust over time and keep you known before you're needed. Your Facebook ads warm up people and keep you top of mind. Google catches the ones who are ready today. These layers work together. None of them replaces the others. The agent who runs all of them is the one who's both remembered and findable at the moment of need.

So don't think of Google Ads as the thing instead of your content. Think of it as the net at the bottom of the funnel that catches the high-intent searcher your content has been warming up all along.

Where most agents waste the money

Almost every agent who tells me ads don't work made one of these mistakes.

They sent clicks to their homepage. Somebody searched for homes in a neighborhood, clicked the ad, and landed on a generic agent website with a smiling headshot and a phone number. They left. The fix is a focused landing page built for that one search, and we go deep on that in landing pages that convert.

They bid on giant vague keywords. "Real estate" as a keyword will eat your budget alive and bring you tire-kickers. You want specific, local, high-intent phrases. "Homes for sale in [neighborhood]." "Sell my house fast in [town]." Narrow beats broad every time when you're spending your own money.

They quit in nine days. Ads need data before they get smart. The first stretch is you paying for the algorithm to learn. Pull the plug too early and you paid tuition and skipped the class.

They had no follow-up. This is the big one. A Google lead is a phone number or an email, not a closing. If nobody calls that lead back fast, the money's gone. Speed-to-lead decides everything here, which is why your lead conversion system matters as much as the ad itself.

How to start small and not get hurt

You do not need a huge budget. You need a small one and the discipline to read what it tells you.

Start at something like $20 to $50 a day on a tight set of local keywords. That's enough to get real signal without betting the rent. Run it for at least a few weeks before you judge it, because the early numbers always look worse than where it settles.

Point every click at a landing page that matches the search and asks for one thing. A home valuation. A list of homes in that neighborhood. One clear offer, one form, nothing else competing for attention.

Then track the only number that matters, which is cost per actual lead, not cost per click. Clicks feel good and pay nothing. Leads are the scoreboard.

The agents I coach who stick with this usually find their cost per lead settles into a range they can live with once the campaign has had time to learn and they've tightened the keywords. It rarely looks good in week one. It often looks great by week six.

Krista breaks down how paid traffic fits the whole marketing machine in her real estate marketing strategy story, and it's worth watching before you spend a dollar.

Google and Facebook are teammates, not rivals

I need to kill a myth here, because agents waste so much energy on it.

People love to argue Google versus Facebook like it's a cage match. It's not. They do different jobs and the real money is in running them together.

Facebook and Instagram ads are how you stay in front of people who aren't ready yet. You warm a whole audience, you build familiarity, you stay top of mind. We cover that side in Facebook ads for real estate leads.

Google catches the ones who got ready and went searching.

And retargeting is the glue. Someone clicks your Google ad, doesn't convert, then keeps seeing your face on Facebook and Instagram for the next two weeks. Now you're everywhere they look. That's not three separate strategies. That's one system with three jobs.

The agent who only does Google misses everyone who isn't searching today. The agent who only does Facebook misses the ready buyer at the moment of decision. You want both, plus your organic content underneath it all. That's how you stop chasing and start getting chosen.

The honest part

Google Ads is not magic and it's not passive. It's a tool that rewards attention.

You'll need to check it weekly, kill the keywords that drain money, and keep your follow-up tight. If you can't commit to following up fast and consistently, don't turn ads on yet. You'll just be buying leads to ignore, and that's the most expensive way to feel busy.

But run as one layer of a real system, with a focused landing page, local keywords, fast follow-up, and your content warming the market around it? Google Ads becomes one of the most predictable ways to put high-intent buyers and sellers in front of you. Predictable is the whole goal. That's the difference between a business and a hope.

Start small. Read the data. Follow up like your income depends on it, because it does.