Direct "Front-Line" Experience

The biggest mistake realtors make is hiring a "generalist" agency. A generalist might be great at selling sneakers, but they don't understand that real estate is a hyper-local, relationship-driven business.

• Why it matters: You want someone who has worked 1-on-1 with businesses exactly like yours.
• The Litmus Test: Ask them how they handle geographic targeting. If they suggest targeting a whole state or "the metro area," walk away. A pro will segment by specific zip codes and use tight location radius targeting to ensure your budget isn't wasted on areas where you don't actually want seller leads.

‍

Focus on "SQLs," Not Just "Clicks"

Most consultants will brag about "impressions" or "click-through rates." In the real estate world, those are vanity metrics. You can’t pay your brokerage fees with clicks.

• The Standard: A great consultant tracks Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs). These are leads that have been vetted and represent a genuine opportunity for you to close a deal.
• The Strategy: Ask how they qualify leads through the ad copy itself. They should be using "qualifying copy" to filter out window shoppers and strategic demographic exclusions to reach actual homeowners in the right stage of their journey.

‍

High-Converting Landing Pages are Non-Negotiable

Traffic is only half the battle. If your consultant sends people to your website home page, they are wasting your money. Period.

A specialized real estate consultant will build landing pages that include:

• Critical Info: Everything a seller needs to feel comfortable sharing their property address, reason(s) for selling, and contact information.
• Trust Signals: Prominent reviews, testimonials, and trust badges. (Google review ratings, BBB Rating, State/Local Awards, Ect).
• Human Element: A section about the business owners to build rapport before the first call.
• Clear CTAs: "Call to Action" buttons placed strategically throughout the page.

‍

The "Account Ownership" Red Flag

This is the single most important piece of advice: You must own your Google Ads account. You're spending the money, the account and performance data collected is yours.

* The Red Flag: If a consultant says they will run your ads through their master account rather than having you pay the platform directly, do not hire them. They want to boost their credit card points and not the quality of leads you're receiving each month.

• The Right Way: You should provide your own credit card to Google for the ad spend, and you should have administrative access to the account at all times. If you ever part ways, you should keep your data, your campaign history, and the account as a whole.

‍

Be Realistic About Your Budget

In 2026, the real estate space on Google is competitive. And for good reason. Intent of the end user. People are ready to sell when they search for specific real-estate related terms. If you are a home buyer, wholesaler, or "fix and flipper," a $500/month budget won't cut it.

To see a scalable, reliable return, I typically recommend a budget of $10k–$15k per month. This allows for a mix of "Standard Search" (for high-intent keywords) and "Performance Max" (Google's AI-driven automated campaigns) to cover  a fair share of the home seller search demand market.

‍

‍

Case Study: Scaling a Top Brokerage

To see what this looks like in practice, look at a recent project I managed for a top-tier home buyer group. They had no clear strategy and needed a scalable system to break into a new market.

• The Move: We implemented a 90-day "Lead Nurture" funnel and localized search strategy.
• The Result: More deals closed month-over-month with a Return on Ad Spend of 2.4x, We didn't just get them more leads; we shortened their sales cycle by 42% too.

‍

Ready to stop wasting money on "junk" leads? We can help you audit your current setup or build a location specific strategy from scratch.

‍