How to Sell Land on Facebook Marketplace - Listing a Property For Sale

Why use Facebook to sell land?

Facebook is used by approximately 200 million Americans, and about 75% of them use Facebook on a daily basis. It’s not a surprise then that you can effectively advertise real estate for sale on Facebook.

Facebook's Marketplace is the ‘classifieds’ area of Facebook and you can sell just about anything there, including land. Facebook Marketplace isn't designed for real estate, you won’t find a specific category for land. Don’t worry, we’ll show you how you can still get lots of views, saves, and shares for your land listing on Marketplace.

You’ll be using your Facebook profile to list the real estate for sale. That means this is a very personal way to advertise your land compared with other places to list it online. This can help create trust with buyers, but it also may create privacy concerns for some land sellers.

What’s unique about Facebook is that people will find your ad and share it with friends that are looking for land. This helps to get the word out for you. Facebook Marketplace is a great way to share socially and should be one of the first places you list your real estate for sale.

Pros

• Very high traffic website
• Profiles create trust
• Social sharing
• It's free to post on Facebook

Cons

• No specific category for land
• Responding to ‘tire kickers’
• Need to repost often
• Privacy - having your personal Facebook account linked to an advertisement

Before you start using Facebook Marketplace

Get quality photos

Like most of the ways to market your land for sale, you’ll need quality photos to sell effectively on Facebook. Photos can easily be the difference between a great Facebook ad and one that's so-so. That means getting your land professionally photographed is one of the best investments you can make. Still not sure if you need professional photography? Check out Should I Hire a Real Estate Photographer?

Set your asking price

You’ll have to decide what asking price you want to set before you get very far in creating your Facebook ad. You’ll want to check a few sources to get a sense of what land’s selling for in your area.

Post land for sale on Facebook Marketplace - a step-by-step guide

1. Create a new listing

You can access Facebook Marketplace on either your desktop or mobile device. On desktop, the icon is on the left hand navigation menu. On mobile in the Facebook app, it’s on the navigation menu at the bottom of the screen.

Once you’re in Marketplace you can create a Facebook listing. To get started on desktop, click Create A Listing. On mobile, click on the Selling icon, then Create New Listing.

Next, Facebook will ask you to choose a listing type. For your land listing, click Item for Sale or Items.

2. Photos

Once on the listing page, you have the option to add up to 10 photos. Great photos including aerial drone imagery can differentiate your listing from the competition.

Once the photos are uploaded, you can rearrange them. Pay particular attention to which image is first (the featured image in the top left corner). That’s the only photo that people will see unless they click on your listing, so it should make it clear exactly what you’re offering. Oftentimes, this will be an aerial shot identifying the property boundaries.

3. Title

Next comes the title. Create an appealing title that will grab people’s attention. You’re likely competing against many other listings and standing out starts with the title. The title should make it clear what you’re selling and what’s most appealing about it.

For example, Build 🏠 on Scenic Hilltop in Frostburg emphasizes the lot for sale is buildable and that it offers a scenic view.

Six 🌲Wooded Acres near Water 💦 lets people know right away that it’s a wooded lot and highlights being near the water as the main selling point.

The emojis used here are a final touch that add some color and interest to the title. The key is to use them sparingly - one or two per title - otherwise it can seem like spam. Here are a few more emojis we like for land listings: 🏔️🐟🔥🏕️🚜🏹

Head to EmojiFinder.com for a full list of emojis you can use.

4. Price, Category, and Condition

Unfortunately, there isn’t a dedicated category for land sales in Facebook Marketplace. Instead, we recommend creating it in the ‘Miscellaneous’ category. Condition isn’t really relevant for a land listing, so just choose ‘New’. Enter your asking sales price, and you’re ready to move on to the description.

5. Description

The first couple of sentences of your property description will do more to sell your property than anything else. What’s unique about this property? What can the land be used for? Is the real estate near conveniences like shopping or attractions like a lake or state park?

You may have owned this property for many years, but try to see the land as a buyer coming across it for the first time. Things that may seem obvious to you might be overlooked by a buyer that doesn’t know your property or the area. Here’s an example of short a description that calls out the most important features:

6. Property Details

It’s also helpful to list relevant facts about the property. This helps to reduce responding to ‘tire kickers.’

These are people who are not serious, but still want to ask questions like ‘what’s the property tax amount?’ or ‘how many acres is this?’

Here are some details you can list in this section:

• Parcel Size (acres)
• Street Address
• City
• County
• Zipcode
• State
• GPS Coordinates
• Assessor’s Parcel Number
• Zoning
• Annual Taxes
• HOA (Y/N; annual fee if applicable)
• Utilities (list which are available)

7. Wrapping up

The most important part of the final section is Location. In case you don’t live near the land you’re selling, keep in mind this is the location of the real estate. This is important because Facebook defaults your location. Location is critical because it allows Facebook to show your ad to people in that area.

This section also allows you to add product tags and SKU numbers - both of which you can ignore.

Finally, there are options to boost your listing and hide the ad from your friends if you prefer. Approve your listing and start getting in front of local buyers!

Repost your Facebook ad frequently

Facebook Marketplace allows you to renew your listings every 7 days. Set yourself a calendar reminder to renew your listing every 7 days. The views you’ll get will drop off significantly as the days pass, so it’s important to stay on top of this.

You can only renew a few times before you have the option to relist your ad. Then, you’ll be able to renew it a few more times before repeating the process.

Responding to potential buyers

Be prepared to receive a lot of casual messages from people who are not serious buyers. Facebook enables this by providing buyers with pre-written phrases such as ‘Is this still available?’ All buyers have to do is click send.

Others will ask questions that could be easily answered from the listing description. Still, it’s worth providing a quick response to all reasonable questions as it’s hard to tell who may be serious.

Tip: Download the Facebook Messenger app on a smartphone if you have one. With the messenger app on your phone, Facebook makes it easy to respond quickly even if you’re on the go. Any response - even just to say you’ll answer their question in detail later - helps to build trust with your buyer.

Some buyers may ask for a phone number to call you about your listing. It’s OK to provide this if you’re comfortable. If you don’t like taking calls from unknown numbers, you can reply with something like ‘Certainly, may I ask what phone number you’ll be calling from?’

Should I boost my Facebook Marketplace listing?

Posting land for sale on Facebook Marketplace is free. If you want your ad to be seen by even more people, Facebook gives you the option to boost your listing for a price. The main advantage of this is that Facebook will show your ad in other places such as News Feed. That means your ad can be seen by people even if they are not browsing Marketplace listings.

So, should you boost your ad? You certainly can if your budget allows and you want your listing to promote your property. But the additional views you’ll get will be within a relatively short time period.

Selling vacant land is about being patient and consistently promoting your listing until the right buyer comes along. If you’re on a tight budget, you can maximize views and engagement without paying to boost by following the directions of this guide. Take the time to create a great ad and then renew it frequently.

Seller badges - your reputation precedes you

Facebook Marketplace recognizes sellers who follow best practices by awarding badges. The two that are most relevant for real estate sales are the Very Responsive and Highly Rated badges.

The Very Responsive Badge is earned by replying to messages on your listings in under an hour on average, on at least 80% of your message threads. The Highly Rated badge can be earned by receiving at least 4 ratings that are equal to or greater than 4/5 stars in the last 30 days.

Most people won’t be selling enough real estate to earn these badges. But they can be earned from any listing including household items or electronics. Look around the house, maybe it’s time for a garage sale!

Advanced Facebook - buy and sell groups

You may notice that Facebook Marketplace gives you an option to ‘List to More Places.’

Clicking on this link will bring up a list of Facebook groups that you belong to. It will also recommend some for you to join. You can post to up to 20 groups which can provide extra exposure for your ad.

Many areas have local buy and sell groups with large memberships although almost anything can be listed for sale, so it’s not very targeted. Still, your ad will get more views and it takes very little additional effort once you’ve posted it.

Other groups are specifically for buying and selling land. Some cover the whole US, like the Vacant Land for Sale by Owner group which has over 75,000 members. Other groups are local or regional, and while they may have fewer members, these groups are much more targeted. Your listing may actually be seen by more of the buyers you want to reach in these local groups.

Alternatives to selling on Facebook

Other ways to advertise land for sale

There are other free websites to sell land online. Zillow is a great place to list land for sale as it's the number one visited real estate website.

Craigslist is another option for listing land for sale for free. Craigslist has a dedicated category for vacant land making it one of the best ways to advertise land.

A paid option that can have good results is a flat fee MLS listing. This is when the seller will pay a fee to a broker instead of a commission. The fee is paid upfront.

The main reason to list your real estate for sale on the MLS is exposure. The MLS is far-reaching because high-traffic websites like Zillow automatically publish MLS listings. If you don't take advantage of the MLS you're potentially missing out on buyers.

To learn more about listing your real estate on the MLS without a real estate agent, see Should I list my land for sale on MLS?

Looking for more ways to sell land by owner? Check out 6 Free or Cheap Ways to Sell Land Without a Realtor.

Selling land for cash

The other option for selling land online is to sell your land fast to a cash buyer like us. The reality is that while there are many options for selling land online, it's not easy. It takes a lot of time to create advertisements, post them to various websites, and then respond to interested buyers. After that, you have the sales contract to negotiate and the closing to arrange.

Most sellers will also find there are costs associated with selling land online. These costs might include getting professional photos or paying to list on some of the premium websites. And all this effort comes with uncertainty about whether you'll actually find a land buyer or not.

If you'd like to receive a no-obligation cash offer for your land, you can complete our simple and straightforward cash offer form. Why not find out the cash value of your land before starting the process of listing your land for sale online?

Conclusion

Facebook Marketplace allows you to easily create ads that will be seen by many people. It is particularly powerful because Facebook is a social network that allows people to share your listing with their friends. For all of these reasons, there are many competing listings on Marketplace. So, it’s very important to be patient and consistent in renewing your listing and responding to buyers quickly.