One of these things is not like the others – but if rumors (and an admission from Facebook itself) are to be believed, Facebook may have set its sights on the housing market.

In March, when Facebook agreed to a settlement with civil rights groups over discrimination in the way it allowed advertisers to target audiences, the company said, ‘Anyone who wants to run housing, employment or credit ads will no longer be allowed to target by age, gender, or zip code.’

But another statement from the settlement was of even greater interest to members of the housing industry. The sentence in question?

‘We’re building a tool so you can search for and view all current housing ads in the U.S. targeted to different places across the country, regardless of whether the ads are shown to you.’

Say what?!

In fact, according to a recent article, Facebook intends to build a platform that aggregates advertisements for housing products and services, including homes for sale, new developments, or even a lottery for an affordable housing opportunity.

And experts suggest that Facebook’s approach, at least as of now, doesn’t seem to encroach on other real estate platforms’ models.

Because while Zillow currently averages 157 million monthly users, had 7 billion visits in 2018, and $1.3 billion in 2018 revenue, the vast majority was RealtorsⓇ and lenders paying to access Zillow’s consumer users. Facebook, on the other hand, has 210 million U.S. users, 1.52 billion daily active users overall, and $55.8 billion in 2018 ad revenue, the vast majority of which was ad revenue.

And that broad reach gives RealtorsⓇ confidence not only in the compliance of their future Facebook ad spends, but also in how it will benefit them.

So Facebook’s distinct advantage may not just rest in its penetration, but also in its ability to make life milestones social and interactive – an invaluable advantage. Facebook can leverage its ‘Keeping Up With The Joneses’ allure while potentially providing an actionable solution.

One expert predicted the following scenario: ‘When Facebook users are experiencing their peak FOMO while viewing pictures of their friends’ shiny new homes, I think that they will soon likely see a button that says something like ‘now go search for your new home.’”

But another expert views the news differently, suggesting that while ‘ … peer pressure may induce Americans to buy purses or even vacations, housing is an entirely different – incredibly intentional – experience. Buying or selling a home usually follows a ‘life event’ like a new child or job change. And it is always such a large undertaking that people who are in the market to do it are, well, in the market. That is, they’re spending their time on Zillow.’

While it remains to be seen how, exactly, Facebook plans to enter the real estate marketplace, one thing is clear: Facebook, Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com have got nothing on the experienced, dedicated real estate professionals at DeLeon Sheffield Company. Technology is nice – and inarguably indispensable – but proves no match for the personalized attention our clients get when buying or selling their home.

Because at DeLeon Sheffield Company, ‘We’re More Than Realty; We’re Family.’