If you think TikTok is just an app for teenagers sharing dance videos, you’re overlooking a big shift in how today’s home buyers discover and research home options. The platform has become a search engine for people making some of the biggest buying decisions of their lives.

Home buyers are using TikTok to find design ideas, watch walkthroughs of floor plans, and get a sense of what it’s like to live in a certain community. They read comments, view move-in day videos, and look for honest reviews from real homeowners. They want to see the construction process, the finishes, the neighborhood, and the experience of working with a builder before scheduling a tour.

This trend isn’t just for first-time buyers or younger generations. Buyers of all ages are using short videos to replace traditional research methods like Google and builder websites.

Here’s the opportunity: while potential buyers are actively looking for home content on the platform, many builders haven’t joined in yet.

Why Most Home Builders Haven’t Adopted TikTok Yet

Most home builders haven’t taken TikTok seriously. They might think it’s not where their buyers are, they don’t know what kind of content to make, or they just don’t have the time to figure out another app. This is understandable, but it creates a real competitive gap.

Builders who are currently using TikTok are reaping the benefits of getting there early. Ad costs are lower because fewer companies in home building are competing for attention. There’s less noise, so even decent content can gain some popularity. Builders who establish a presence can become familiar and trusted names before their competitors even arrive.

This is how digital marketing works. Those who arrive early gain momentum, while others are still deciding whether to join. By the time those builders understand TikTok’s value, entry costs will be higher, competition will be tougher, and audiences will already have their favorite accounts. The chance to get in early is still available, but it won’t last forever.

How TikTok Fits Into a Home Builder Marketing Strategy

Understanding what TikTok does well is just as important as deciding to use it.

The platform is great for building brand awareness and attracting potential buyers early in their journey. If you expect TikTok to bring ready-to-buy leads directly into your CRM, you will probably be disappointed and give up on it before it can work for you.

Think of TikTok as an introduction, not a closing tool. When someone scrolls through their feed, they might see a video of your model home, a quick tour of a community, or a behind-the-scenes look at your construction process. This sparks their interest. They might follow you, visit your website, or remember your name. Later, when they search for a builder, you will already be familiar to them. That’s when your website, retargeting ads, and sales team can lead the conversion.

In early 2025, one of our builder partners launched a TikTok content and advertising campaign. The impressions, views, and traffic from TikTok were impressive; the most significant outcome was that they sold 11 homes in the past six months to people who explicitly stated they found the builder through TikTok. (P.S., that’s roughly 5% of their total home sales last year.)

TikTok Search vs. Google: How Home Buyers Research Today

TikTok started as a platform for entertainment, but it has evolved into something more significant for marketers: a next-generation discovery engine.

Some users are skipping Google entirely for some searches. Home-related content is one of the areas where we see this shift the most. People search differently on TikTok than they do on Google, and knowing this difference is important if you want to appear in the right place at the right time.

Google searches usually happen later in the buying process. When someone types “Home builders in [city],” they are comparing options and looking for specific answers. TikTok searches occur earlier when buyers are still undecided about what they want. They are seeking inspiration and genuine experiences. Searches like “New construction walk-through,” “Custom home building process,” or “Modern farmhouse interior ideas” show a different kind of intent that’s based on exploration instead of decision-making.

The results on TikTok also feel different than a list of links on a search engine results page. Video content seems more personal, more real, and more trustworthy than website descriptions or stock photos. When a buyer watches a homeowner tour their new build or sees a time-lapse of construction progress, they start forming impressions and preferences. This early influence is valuable, even if it doesn’t show up as a lead.

Best TikTok Content Ideas for Home Builders

The rules that work on other platforms don’t always work on TikTok. The builders who see results are the ones who learn to follow the platform’s rules.

Short-Form TikTok Videos That Grab Attention

When you start marketing on TikTok, you have to understand just how quickly you need to grab attention. You have about three seconds before someone scrolls past your content. Your first frame has to stop them. Intros like “Here’s what $500K gets you in [city]” or “3 things home builders won’t tell you” are effective because they spark curiosity.

Using TikTok Trends and Audio to Increase Reach

Trending sounds and voice-overs are also more important than you think. The algorithm favors content that utilizes popular audio, so instead of fighting it, go with the flow. TikTok’s built-in voiceover tools can make your content more accessible and boost engagement. Keep an eye on what’s trending in your industry and find ways to use those formats in your content.

Why Authentic Videos Outperform Polished Ads

One major mistake builders make is overproducing their TikTok content. The fancy ads that do well on other platforms usually don’t work here. Users skip over anything that feels like a commercial. What works better is content that looks like it was shot on an iPhone, because it probably was. Authenticity consistently beats perfection on this platform.

Influencer Marketing on TikTok for Home Builders

Influencer collaborations are another option worth exploring, especially if you’re starting from scratch. Partnering with real estate agents, interior designers, or home content creators who already have an established audience can significantly increase your reach. These creators have built trust with the exact people you’re trying to reach, and their endorsement can do more than a branded ad.

How TikTok’s Algorithm Finds the Right Buyers

Rethink how you target your audience. Traditional filters like age and income have their uses, but they work less effectively on TikTok than on other platforms. Interest-based targeting is more effective here because the algorithm learns from patterns. Instead of specifically defining who should see your content, let TikTok find the people who would really respond to it. The platform does a surprisingly good job of matching content with the right audience when you let it do its thing.

How Home Builders Should Approach TikTok Advertising

Buyers on TikTok don’t want traditional ads; they want authentic content. This means that your first step in strategizing for TikTok advertising should focus on creating videos that blend seamlessly into the overall user experience.

Start with organic content

Before investing in anything, you need to know what your audience actually responds to. Organic TikTok posts give quick, clear signals about what grabs attention, what gets overlooked, and what prompts comments or shares. Look at this phase as your testing ground.

Test different content types

The most successful builders on TikTok try out different things instead of guessing what will work. Test a few content types to determine what your audience prefers. Some examples include:

• Construction progress videos (people love the behind-the-scenes)
• Design reveals (high contrast before-and-afters perform extremely well)
• Homeowner testimonials (authentic voices build trust quickly)
• Community tours (perfect for exploring the area first)

Identify what performs best

Once you post a good mix of content, patterns will start to show. Maybe your design-focused videos do better than the others. Maybe people comment a lot on construction time-lapses. Whatever it is, these top performers show what buyers want more of. Use this information to decide which videos are worth promoting.

Boost top-performing content with ad spend

Instead of creating ads that resemble traditional advertisements, promote your best organic posts. These posts already grab attention, so your advertising budget stretches further. TikTok ads perform best when they feel natural to the platform, so sharing already successful organic content gives you an immediate boost.

Start small, learn, and scale

You don’t need a huge budget to succeed on TikTok. Start with small promos, watch the performance, and change your targeting or messaging based on what you find out. It’s all about putting money into what you know works.

How to Measure TikTok Performance for Home Builder Marketing

TikTok can generate a lot of views for a fraction of the cost you’d pay on other platforms. This is exciting, but views alone don’t sell homes. It’s easy to get distracted by vanity metrics, especially when the numbers look impressive. The real measure of success is whether that attention leads to action.

Focus on the metrics that actually relate to your business goals:

• Click-through rate shows whether your content is engaging enough to take people from the platform to your website.
• Website visits from TikTok traffic show how much of that attention is turning into real engagement.
• Form submissions and contact requests are the clearest signs that your TikTok presence is supporting your pipeline.
• Look at cost per site visit instead of cost per view. Getting someone to your landing page is much more valuable than having them watch three seconds of a video.

These metrics give you a realistic view of what TikTok is doing for your marketing. Tracking the right numbers helps you understand what’s working, what needs adjustment, and whether the platform deserves more of your budget.

Once you identify content that performs well organically, that’s your cue to invest in ads. Start with a small budget, test different audiences, learn from the results, and invest more in the successful ones. This reduces wasted spending and builds a TikTok strategy based on actual performance instead of just assumptions.

Why Home Builders Should Start Using TikTok Now

TikTok is changing how buyers find, research, and form opinions about home builders.

What works on TikTok doesn’t work on other platforms. It values authenticity over polish, speed over buildup, and real content over scripted ads. Builders who do well here know TikTok’s role is to create awareness and inspiration, not to close leads on the first interaction.

Home builders who continue to ignore TikTok are missing out on a whole new generation of buyers. As more builders see its value, the cost of attention will increase, and the advantage of being an early adopter will diminish. The best time to start building a TikTok presence was last year. The second-best time is now.

If you’re evaluating whether TikTok belongs in your home builder marketing mix, we can help you build a strategy grounded in performance not hype. Contact us to start the conversation.