How Is AI Changing Real Estate?

Whether you like it or not, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing our entire world. We use AI for everything from interacting with our cell phones to where our cars can drive themselves. So is Artificial Intelligence going to change the shape of the real estate industry? Yes, and in fact, it already has. So what is to come?

Image Source

AI Is Disrupting The Real Estate Industry

Almost everyone has heard of Zillow. So how have they changed things up with AI? Zestimates. Zestimates are an algorithm calculated value of your home. The algo uses data from public information, submitted data from users and takes into account things like current market conditions, location and home facts. Is it 100% correct – no, but it can be a good place to start gauging your properties value.

Check out what Adrian Fisher has to say about AI and Real Estate:

In the future, agents will no longer need to accompany clients to show a home, and clients can tour a property at their leisure. Agent-less showings will become more popular as AI-powered robots will be able to show clients around properties anytime and answer questions they may have.

In the future, consumers may prefer to do business with bots instead of real people. According to Salesforce, 69% of consumers prefer chatbots for quick communication with brands.

Zenplace, for example, is a company that offers consumers an AI-driven home tour experience. The startup developed a bot that comes with a tablet attached to a pole on wheels. It streams a live feed of a real estate agent who conducts the tour and steers the robot. This simulated robot increases the number of showings that realtors can hold within a day.

AI will enable buyers to view homes on their own, give feedback, and allow the agent to help clients decide why it may be a suitable property. Robots won’t take over, as a human touch will still be necessary. Instead, this technology will be helpful to agents that cover a lot of territory and have a busy showing schedule.

Read Adrian’s Full Article Here

So it looks like agents may be a thing of the past, or at least headed that way. In fact studies show that most home buyers now start their new home search online before even contacting an agent.

Do You Really Need A Real Estate Agent Now?

Things are really changing, and changing fast. In our opinion, sellers and buyers are tired of paying out so much cash for what most agents do, just list and put a property on the MLS (Multiple Listing Service).

Here is what G. Brian Davis from Bigger Pockets has to say about it:

Consider these questions: Does everyone need a real estate agent? Are the services that agents provide worth $10,000? How long are sellers going to continue spending that kind of money to list and sell a property?

Not much longer.

Services like Owners.com in the United States and Your Online Property Agent in the U.K. have started offering flat-fee services in the $400-1,000 range depending on how much extra attention and services you want. All services include an MLS listing, buyer funds verification and background check, property showings calendar and offer negotiation support. Premium services include local agent support, professionally written descriptions, sales contracts, and similar bells and whistles.

So what do sellers give up by using these services? The biggest difference is they would have to show the property themselves. But who can sell the house better than the people who live there?

Expect to see these online brokerages increasingly put the pressure on real estate agents.

Read Brian’s Full Article Here

So it really appears that the pressure is on agents, especially the ones that under perform. We all know somebody that has had some sort of horror story with a realtor.

Are Agents Going To Become Obsolete?

In our honest opinion, not any time in the near future. Agents do still provide a valuable service (well, at least some of them). There are sellers that don’t have a clue as to how to sell a home or even know where to begin.

Monica Nickelsburg makes this important point:

Real estate companies such as Zillow, Redfin, Opendoor, Compass, and others are investing heavily in the burgeoning “iBuyer” market that lets people quickly buy and sell homes online. Those transactions still require a real estate agent.

Read Monica’s Full Article Here

Summing It Up

So that’s just a little about how AI is changing the real estate industry. There are many more things that are coming and are on the horizon. One thing for sure, not as many people are going to have to rely as heavily on real estate agents as they use to.

If you have a house anywhere in Chamblee or the surrounding areas that you want to sell – give us a call! You don’t need an agent to sell to us. Just give us a call at (770) 756-8680 or check out our website to complete a brief form and we will contact you soon.

Scroll to Top